- Welcome to Oklahoma Gardening.

Today we are excited to showcase our Youth Gardening Contest winners.

We had such outstanding entries that we couldn't squeeze them all into one show.

We've been busy traveling the state and today we are sharing four of the eight unique gardens.

Underwriting assistance for our program is provided by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, food and Forestry, helping to keep Oklahoma Green and growing.

Oklahoma Gardening is also a proud partner with Shape Your Future, a program of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Shape your Future provides resources for Oklahomans to make the healthy Choice the easy choice.

Oklahoma Gardening 50th anniversary.

I love sharing with you guys the cool things that plants can do.

- People in Oklahoma love their gardens.

- I feel like this is the People's Show.

We all know we're working towards the common goal and that's to produce the best quality television and information for our audience.

This year, in celebration of our 50th anniversary, we decided to have a youth gardening contest.

And thank you to all of our viewers for reaching out and submitting so many wonderful entries.

We are excited to have partnered with Shape Your Future on this - Endeavor.

And you guys are kind of sweetening the pot a little bit for our winners, right?

We are.

We get to provide some passes for Riversport OKC and then the Oklahoma City Zoo too.

And that's exciting for these young kids.

But let's talk a little bit about why Shape Your Future was wanting to co-sponsor us with this.

Absolutely.

Well Shape Your Future is a program of tset, the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust.

And we love gardening and getting families and kids out in the garden to participate to get physical activity.

It's great for mental health.

You get fresh produce and there's just a lot of benefits when it gets started when kids are young.

Well, Kelsey, I know I started gardening at an early age and I'm so excited that Shape Your Future - Was willing to co-sponsor this youth gardening contest.

Let's check 'em out.

We are down in New Castle, Oklahoma joining Caden Smith, who is one of our youth garden contest winners.

And Caden, tell me a little bit, you had an interesting entry because you did a construction project.

This is it, right?

- Yep.

- Tell me a little bit about how you built this raised bed.

- We started first digging it to put the bricks.

Then we made a little trench for the gravel.

Then he had to level all the gravel.

The hard thing was the corner getting it leveled and how bendy we wanted it.

- Yeah, - That was the hard thing.

- Well, and you're dealing with a little bit of a slope, but yet your wall is pretty level.

I gotta tell you, I've seen professionals not do as good of a job, so it was kind of tricky going around that corner.

Huh.

So after you got it built well before you got it built, was there a little bit of undoing and redoing to get it that hole?

A bunch.

Especially on the bottom of the gravel.

Okay.

All right.

So once you got it built, then what did you have to do?

Where did your soil come - From?

Soil from digging in a bunch of bags of potting soil.

- Okay.

All right.

So a lot of this trench soil, you just kind of threw it back there, so it was already ready to go for you.

You very good.

And, and then going in with the plants.

I know your mom's a little bit of a helper with the plant side of things, but it looks like you picked a few nice plants.

Can you tell us about a couple of - 'em?

There's begonias up front.

The hostas will grow a little bigger.

The evergreen over, there'll get four feet wide filled that little space up.

- Okay.

Daffodils it looks like in there.

Yeah.

So yeah.

And this is a fairly new garden, right?

So we've gotta give it some time to really fill out.

When did you build - This Last fall.

- Okay.

All right.

Now this was the first project you went solo on, but I think you've been a part of some of the other stuff behind us.

- Is that correct?

- Yes.

So what's your favorite part about the construction side of things?

- Yeah.

Seeing the before and after pictures.

- Yeah.

And, and all of the hard work that goes into that.

You recognize that value of it now.

Well Caden, congratulations on being one of our winners and I got a little gift here from Shape Your Future.

They've included some river sport passes for River Sport OKC.

And then also we've got an Eskimo Joe's Oklahoma gardening T-shirt in there for you.

Cool.

So thank you and congratulations.

Today we are down in Choctaw County near Fort Towson and joining me is Taylor Vandiver and we are here to see her garden that she started.

And you've gone with containers.

Let's talk a little bit about that.

- So we have been planting over there for about seven eight years.

Okay.

That's your family garden over there, right?

Yes.

And so to, we decided to do go or container gardens this year because we are trying to give over there a little bit of a break.

Yeah.

So we, we cycled the big container.

It was a water trough and the horse, we had uphill stepped in it.

So what do you do with a water trough that's got a hole in it, right?

You recycle it?

Yes.

So we used it full peppers.

We did grow radishes in it, but there was not enough holes in the bottom of it and it holds too much moisture.

All right.

So did you put more holes in it for the pepper then?

A few more.

A few more.

Not a lot more, but we'll probably put more in it next year.

Okay.

And then these wheat, we know people who use them as salt licks and we just bought them.

Okay.

And we decided to grow peppers, tomatoes and zucchinis in them.

- Excellent.

Well it looks like you got a good crop, but when did you plant these?

This - Spring around April May.

- Okay.

All right.

And of course it gets a little warmer, a little - Down here.

- Yes.

Because we're just north of the Texas border practically.

And it looks like you've got a nice crop of tomatoes coming on.

Tell me a little bit, - You've got some different types of tomatoes.

Yes.

So we went, the Tractor Supply and we got four or five different types of tomatoes.

That one is a chokey red.

The one over there should be a yellow pear tomato.

Okay.

Yellow pear.

And then you got some bigger ones that are Yes.

Good for sandwiches it looks like.

And so tell me, with all of this, one of the big things when people grow in containers is how do you fill that container of soil and you kind of got a formula you came up - With?

So we started off by putting just soil in the bottom of it.

And then we used the rabbit manure.

- Okay.

- And then we put a little bit, not a lot, but a little bit of wasted hay.

- Okay.

- And then later on we had to add some more soil because it wasn't enough.

- Okay.

- So we added some more soil.

We don't have to water it very often because we're getting a lot of rain, but it is going really good so far So you've got a lot of wasted hay compost in there that's kind of been broken down before you add it in, right?

Yes.

Very good.

Well it looks like they're really loving it.

Your tomatoes are taking off and of course it's a lot, you know every, the whole state's wet, right?

Yes.

But it's a lot more humid down here naturally.

And so they seem to be doing well.

You haven't had any disease problems or anything?

Nope.

You tell me a little bit.

You said you just kind of - Spaced them out.

Can you share that?

So they was a lot closer together and me and dad decided to space 'em out because, well, thinking that's what wasn't making, letting the tomatoes get white fast.

So we spaced them out.

Okay.

And we also spaced out those zucchinis and those couples over there.

Very good.

How did you get into gardening and why do you like doing this?

So we have been gardening ever since I can remember.

And some of the things that we plant, we, me personally I don't like, like the peppers.

I don't like peppers.

So dad eats 'em.

We give 'em to his boss and we give them to our nanny and grandpa.

They really enjoy them.

And the tomatoes, some the bigger tomatoes, we plant a can and they like salsa.

Okay.

And spaghetti sauce.

And then the zucchinis, we will probably just fry and eat.

Everybody loves a good fries.

Yes.

- Zucchini.

Right.

So obviously you've got a lot growing this season.

Yes.

What are you - Planning on doing - Next - Year?

Next year we'll probably do some more.

Put probably the stuff that we did this year, probably a little bit more.

And we'll probably gonna try potatoes again.

Okay.

So we planted potatoes and we used wasted hay.

And then we, later on we added some more wasted hay.

And once we added the wasted hay again, it did not, the plants came up, but the potatoes did not.

- Oh, okay.

They never really formed - For you.

They never really formed.

- Gotcha.

- And there was one I think that formed and it was no good.

It was rotten.

- Oh, okay.

Well, so what does that make you feel?

What do you think, what do you get discouraged when something like that turns out that way?

No, because - We can try again next year and it Yeah, it is what it's, it's what?

It's, we can't control everything.

All the rain we've been getting and we just opened up the gate to 'em and the chickens and the muscovys, they just went in there.

- Okay.

Well I noticed you've kind of got this gated a little bit.

Yes.

Tell me why do you have it gated?

- So this was originally for the hay and this was all just hay.

- Okay.

- And then once we used the hay during the winter, we decided that this is where we was gonna garden.

And we had it close so that the sheep and the donkeys and the goats can't get in here.

Now the chickens and the muskogee that are wearing loose can get in here 'cause we're using cattle panels, but they don't really mess with stuff like the goats and the sheep and the donkeys do.

- Gotcha.

Gotcha.

They probably wreak havoc in here.

- Yes.

- Well, Taylor, it's great that you're into gardening.

And also I know you're big into the 4H here.

Yes.

And this isn't quite your 4H project.

No.

Tell me a little bit about your 4H project.

- So my 4H project is rabbits.

Okay.

And I have started a new one, which I have a ESA rabbit.

Her name is wo, she's a French Lop.

And I have taken her to 4,000 school to the pre-Ks.

They loved her.

I went them a story, I did it around Easter time.

Oh nice.

And then I took her to a terminally ill cancer patient.

And then I also took her to a patient who had had multiple hip replacements.

And I had a dress, it was purple and I put it on her and they just loved seeing co in it.

And it was incredible.

And this year I'm hoping to take her to a nursing home.

Yeah.

And look, I like working with the elderly people better than the little kids.

'cause they listen better.

They really do.

- Well this is a great thing that you could also add to that is show them how to garden.

And I bet they might like a homegrown tomato every once in a while too.

Taylor, thank you so much for sharing this with - Us.

You are very welcome.

- We are here in Wakomis, Oklahoma to visit two brothers who entered our youth gardening contest.

And joining me first is Charlie Benson.

Charlie, thank you so much for entering on contest.

- Yeah.

- And you guys have a pretty unique project here.

You're doing cut flowers.

Tell me about your particular crop first.

- Well we have pro cut sunflowers right here and down the line.

And we have teddy bear sunflowers at the end.

- Okay.

So sunflowers are popular.

You pick or you cut them for people.

Right?

- Yeah.

- So tell me a little bit about what it's, what's involved in growing sunflowers?

- Mainly we grow them spaced apart and succession sowing.

So that when, because whenever you cut them, they're one and done.

- Okay.

- So as soon as we cut these, then we're gonna have to have these ready.

- Gotcha.

So it's important to keep having a crop available to pick and sell for locals.

Right.

So what is it about sunflowers?

Do you hear a lot of feedback from your customers that you gotta have sunflowers, right?

Yeah, - Because the sunflowers and then we have ranuculus that are also, those are our best sellers.

- Okay.

All right.

Do you have to stake these at all or are they shorter in stature?

- They're shorter.

They only come up to about like here.

- Well it's a nice diversity of plants that you have here and I'm sure your mom appreciates the help.

Thank you so much for sharing this.

I'm gonna go catch up with your brother if you don't mind.

Okay.

Hello.

Josiah.

It looked like your crop might not quite be in yet.

- Well, it's actually just ended.

- Oh, okay.

- You're a little late to the party.

- Oh no.

Tell me about your crop.

- We're growing ranuculus and it's actually ended already because we actually grew it in fall.

- Okay.

- At the end of the season.

So we grew it in the fall and put it in these rings called low tunnels for the winter.

And my mom was really big about like, yeah, I'll go check it when it's nice outside, you can go check it when it's snowing.

- So ranuculus is a cool season crop, obviously that's why you're planting in the fall, but it doesn't like freezing temperatures.

So you're the one that gets to come out here and check on them.

- Yeah, most of the time I'm too lazy to even get all dressed.

I just come out here barefoot.

- Hey, that's how most gardeners do it.

So tell me a little bit what happens when they start blooming?

Kind of what's that timeline that they're blooming and what are you doing now?

- Probably mid early spring.

Okay.

They start blooming.

And the funny thing about these is that they're one of our best selling crops.

But we were getting sold that before.

We didn't have any.

Okay.

We've had, we had these two big rings.

- So are the ranuculus roots still in here?

Do you leave them there or do you have to dig them up?

- No, we had to take the ranuculus roots that are called corms.

We had to take them up because if we leave them in while we're planting the zinnias and when we water the zinnias, they'll actually rot.

So we have to take 'em up to dry 'em in the greenhouse.

And then when the, when the next season's ready, we first of all soak them and then plant them.

- Okay.

So you've got those away that you're storing those and they'll come back later in the fall.

In the meantime you're gonna be sowing some zinnias here, which are a popular cut flower also.

- Right.

Really popular around here.

Yeah.

- So you have quite the mix.

I know this sort of started as a family thing.

Tell me a little bit about the family garden also and what else you've got growing here.

- Well I got started because my mom first got started 'cause she wanted something to do to occupy her time while I sister.

'cause she has RET syndrome so she can't really leave or do anything.

She just wanted to kind of help out with the family.

- Yeah.

- And money-wise.

So she started this kind of flowering stuff because first of all she can stay home, tend to my sister and also do something.

She, first of all loves something to like make her feel like she's helping out a bunch.

- Well that's pretty terrific.

And of course you guys caught the bug, right?

Yeah.

So you each have your own crop.

Tell me a little bit about how that harvesting looks during the season.

Do you come out here daily or weekly and about the market - Also?

Well, we have to come out here daily because we gotta tend to all these plants.

We gotta weed them, make sure we first we got, then we gotta water them and then we gotta keep up with cutting them deadheading, anything like that.

And when we do like markets and stuff, well since we're farmers like, and we're kind of our own business, we can kind of choose what we wanna do every day.

So some days we plant, some days we pull up.

Some days we're just making more bouquets to fill up the farm stand.

And when we do with bouquets is we just pull out the plants, we cut the plants that we think will look good in a bouquet.

- Very good.

Well you've got some beautiful bouquets in the market over there.

And I know you're involved in the Garfield County 4H, is that correct?

- Yep.

- So tell me a little bit of how you kind of tie this into some of your 4H activities.

- Well this isn't really something I can do with, you know, like doing something hands-on, but this is more something I can write about and like tell about.

So what I do a lot with this is I do 4H record books.

I've done local and state.

I've came actually second place in state.

I've won my, a couple of my local ones.

- Fantastic.

Well congratulations on being selected as our youth garden contest winners.

And thank you so much for entering.

We are now in Yukon, Oklahoma joining Kylie Detrich in her backyard garden and she is one of our youth garden contest winners.

Kylie, thank you so much for having us down here.

It's a great garden that you have.

Tell me a little bit about how you got it established.

- So we started in February with our tomato plants, starting them in red solo cups from seed.

And as they grew we gave them fertilizer and stuff they needed to grow.

And then we did bell peppers, which we have cayenne peppers, bell peppers and jalapenos.

Okay.

And then we went, we did our green beans 'cause it always takes green beans, extra time to grow.

And our squash we planted from seeds and we're, this year we're starting to plant them vertical so that way bugs can't get in or squash bugs can't take over.

And we're trying to keep as many leaves that are touching the ground trimmed.

So that way there's no bugs.

I've seen - That method being used before.

So have you noticed more or less squash bugs on either of them?

- I haven't really seen any squash bugs or bugs 'cause we've tried to keep 'em up off the ground.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Very good.

Well, and you've got quite a group of tomatoes here.

Tell me what kind of tomatoes you're growing also.

- We're growing celebrity tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, beef steak, tomatoes and better boy tomatoes.

- Okay.

All right.

And you've got quite a mix of plants here.

Tell me what's kind of your favorite?

- My favorite are the cucumbers.

'cause you can make pickles out of them and it takes a while to make the pickles.

But once they're made, they're really yummy to eat.

And I like to share 'em with friends and family.

- Okay.

And And do you make any other products out of all your other stuff?

- So with our tomatoes we make salsa and with our basil we make pesto.

- Okay.

Very nice.

Have you had any other problems or challenges in your garden?

'cause you've been doing this for a few years.

Right.

- So with our, the past few years with our cucumbers, we really haven't gotten any produce.

'cause we got, last year we got fungus really bad and aphids and that just took it over and wiped it out.

And then our green beans last year, we found out that the rabbits really liked them and they chew 'em off to the nub and we had to put a fence around them so that way they wouldn't get in and chew, chew 'em up and eat it.

- Okay.

So I, you've got kind of a hog paneling around the whole thing, but around your green beans specifically you have chicken wire for those rabbit problems.

Okay.

Very good.

Well, so you've learned how to adapt to some of those challenges, huh?

- Yes.

- So how long have you been gardening and how'd you get into it?

- I've been gardening since 2008.

It's been really fun getting out here and getting my hands and feet dirty and helping mom and dad plant the seed and them teaching me and guiding me every step of the way and how to do it and how to better the garden and how to improve it.

- Well, and and I noticed one of the things that's unique about your garden is you kind of got this black plastic laid down.

So does that help with the maintenance of stuff?

So last - Year, in the past years we used a black cloth.

And with using that is you have to weed a lot more and get rid of a lot of grass and stuff that doesn't belong in the garden.

And using this plastic, it's easier to, for the wind to not blow away and we don't have to pull up as many weeds as you do with the cloth.

- Excellent.

And of course you got drip irrigation, it looks like running next to those.

- Yes.

- So that helps keep the water down low so you're not losing it to evaporation and that sort of stuff.

Well I know you're very active in the 4H.

Tell me a little bit about you've incorporated your garden into your 4H projects.

- So I've taken some of our bell peppers and I've taught the kid the clover buds in our Yukon 4H group, how to cut the top of the bell pepper off and plant it in a cup of dirt and water it and it'll grow a bell pepper plant.

And then with Courtney Keck, I done done the same thing, but with carrots and onions and bell peppers.

- All right.

So you're regrowing your groceries that way also?

Yeah.

And I know you've mentioned a little bit about you harvesting this and you make products and of course your family uses some of it, but this is a big garden.

What do you do with if you have any excess?

- So the excess that we have, I give it to the Manna Pantry and I also take it to church and all the people there, they love getting fresh vegetables and it just really brightens their day when I bring it in.

And I also give some to my family when they come and visit.

- Well, of course 4H helps with community service and that outreach, but you actually won an award.

Tell us a little bit about that award you received.

- So I did a state 4H record book on horticulture and plant science.

And you, in order to get the award, you have to be selected for a state record book interview and I got selected and only the top three finalists get selected for an interview and then they pick one person out of the three people to get the award.

And I got to go across the stage at 4h Roundup and receive the award.

- Well congratulations, Kylie, on winning that award and all the success with your garden here and also for being one of our Youth Garden contest winners.

Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Thank you.

We were so impressed with the quality and quantity of submissions that we got for our youth gardening contests that we just couldn't squeeze it all into one show.

So join us next week for our second episode of the Youth Gardening Contests.

There are a lot of great horticulture activities this time of year.

Be sure and consider some of these events in the weeks ahead.

Don't miss next week as we bring you part two of our Youth Gardening Contest winners right here on Oklahoma Gardening.

We were so impressed with the entries and the number of youth that are out there, gardening, that we couldn't just have one show.

We decided to have a second show.

So join us next week for our second show of the Youth Gardening Contest to find out more information about show topics as well as recipes, videos, articles, fact sheets, and other resources, including a directory of local extension offices.

Be sure to visit our website at Oklahoma gardening dot OK state.edu.

Join in on Facebook and Instagram.

You can find this entire show and other recent shows as well as individual segments on our Oklahoma Gardening YouTube channel.

Tune in to our okay Gardening classics YouTube channel to watch segments from previous hosts.

Oklahoma Gardening is produced by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service as part of the division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.

The Botanic Garden at OSU is home to our studio gardens and we encourage you to come visit this beautiful Stillwater Gem.

We would like to thank our generous underwriters, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, food and Forestry, and Shape Your Future, a program of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust.

Additional support is also provided by Greenleaf Nursery and the Garden Debut Plants, the Oklahoma Horticulture Society, the Tulsa Garden Club, and the Tulsa Garden Center.