Hi Hank! That's a lot to ask. I am sure that there are many experts around that will be happy to answer your questions. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. As a resource, I use this forum for a lot of information and the website below.

http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/View/Collection-215

I am going to direct seed (when the rain stops someday) Blackeyed peas and okra. They love the heat and do well this time of year.

Otherwise, I am not a member of the OK Food Coop but I often look at there lists and monthly catalog.

Happy gardening.

Hank, in regard to seeds, there are some things you can still plant, like zinnias, cosmos, morning glories, things that really like the heat. For your fall seeds, I would wait until around August to start them, or even the first of September. Fall is also the time you can scatter seeds for your spring blooming plants like larkspur, for instance.

I winter sow perennial, biennial, and hardy annual seeds (those that reseed in the garden), in little mini-greenhouses that I make from 2-litre soda bottles. I have some instructions for doing it if you want me to e-mail it to you.

I don't grow veggies, so Dawn or some of the other veggie growers can hop in here to answer those questions. I do know there are certain vegetables that make good companion plants and some that shouldn't be planted near each other.

If you can get someone on here to share a start of elderberry, they sucker prolifically and you can get some free plants. I have one and it has two or three suckers on it, and it's only 3 years old. I planted it for the birds, though, not for personal use. I have a wildlife-friendly garden, where I don't spray or use any kind of chemicals other than fertilizer (and I do my best to stay with organics). This way, whatever bad bugs come along, there are good bugs to help out. If you spray, you will be killing the beneficial insects as well.

Strawberries are stoloniferous. They multiply by creeping stolons that root at each node along the ground. Was that what you meant?

Blueberries used to be limited to the cooler zones than ours, but in the last several years, new cultivars have been produced that are more heat tolerant. Make sure you get one that will bear the heat. Dawn can probably tell you which cultivars those are. I would like to get some in the future - it's on my list anyway. I think Top Hat may be one variety that is good and is a dwarf. Blueberries do like acidic soil, so you will have to provide that for them.

I think most grapes do well in Oklahoma. I had a grapevine but lost it in the drought. My bad - I should have watered it more, but didn't.

It sure is good to see you here and asking lots of questions. Makes even us "oldtimers" use our thinking caps!

Susan

I wouldn't interplant any other veggie with Tomatoes. They are subject to many fungal diseases for one and need good air circulation at the very least to ward off the pathogens............While we grow only the usual suspects in the veggie department now, I think we have grown about everything over our 22 years from broccoli to zuccini. Some of the veggies home grown aren't any better tasting then store bought so save the space. Ones (IMO) worth growing from scratch are: spring peas, red new potatoes (both too late to start this year), corn (Parks Butterfruit is a 10-absolutely nothing compares - nothing!), tomatoes ( Jet Star is one of our favs), summer crookneck yellow squash, Green Bell Peppers (Jupiter variety is my favorite for stuffing) and don't forget the herbs; Genovese Basil, Culinary Sage, and Chives are must haves. We've also grown fruits, but they were all too maintanence heavy for us to continue growing them. Insects take such a toll on so many fruits. Because of our long growing season it would have been a constant spraying of insecticides to get much of a viable harvest. I just didn't want to spray that much toxicity around my home........Maryl

Hank,

As Mary previously stated, it is best to give tomatoes lots of airspace to help prevent the foliar diseases to which they are so susceptible.

The OSU factsheets that Julie mentioned have pretty much all the information you will ever need. If you can't find the info you need there, though, you can ask us. There are factsheets on different aspects of gardening in general and there are factsheets on specific crops, planting and transplanting dates for spring and fall gardens and much more. I've linked them below.

Over the years I have grown almost everything. I don't bother with many cool season crops because we have too many hungry deer in the winter time.

The crops growing in my garden right now include onions, leeks, chives, rhubarb, artichokes, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, corn, green beans, pumpkins, winter squash, melons of all kinds, (including muskmelons, cantaloupes, casabas and watermelons) and lots of herbs. If it ever stops raining for more than 10 minutes, I still need to plant okra, southern peas (blackeyed peas, crowder peas, lady peas, etc.) and sweet potatoes.

Plants you can still sow from seed right now include: green beans, melons, pumpkins, summer and winter squash, pumpkins, okra, southern peas, and corn. You probably could plant carrots now and get a good stand, but I think carrots planted later in the season don't have as good of a flavor or texture as those planted earlier.

Some crops that do well in fall gardens in our climate include brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, turnips, spinach and other greens, and garlic. There is an OSU factsheet on fall gardening and fall planting dates.

Some fruit is grown from cuttings, like blackberries and raspberries. Blackberries grow well here. Raspberries can be harder to grow in our heat. Blueberries do well here, if you have naturally acidic soil or if you are willing to do a lot of soil amendment to get the soil to the right pH for them. I have no experience with elderberry.

Many people here in southern Oklahoma grow some of the common fruit tree crops, like plums, peaches, cherries, pears, nectarines, figs, and persimmons. Apples are harder to grow here because we have so many cedar trees which are the host plant for cedar apple rust.

Good luck,

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: OSU Factsheets