(gentle music) - [Narrator] "Oklahoma Gardening" is a production of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service as part of the Land Grant Mission of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University, dedicated to improving the quality of life of the citizens of Oklahoma through research based information.

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

Today on our best of "Oklahoma Gardening", as you might be searching for that unique gift to give that gardener in your life, we review some of our favorite garden gadgets from backpacks to bear claws, we've got it all.

So, stay tuned as we show you some cool tools.

(gentle music) - Always in spring time we're so excited to get to the plant nurseries and there's a lot of creative marketing that's out there and I know that I'm captivated by some of it as well and I know it sometimes it just kind of sparks my curiosity as to whether it really will work or not.

But, before you spend your money we thought we would spend ours to kind of see how some of these products work and so we have a few examples of them here.

We're not gonna do all of them today, but we are gonna start with the Bob Ross Chia Pet and then growing herbs in a Mason jar.

But, there's a lot of different products, everything from a terrarium in a jar, to growing herbs in a bag, to something that you just have to add water.

We even have some seed capsules here that you can throw out into your garden, but we're gonna start those in some flats and see whether they really germinate and how well they produce.

So, stay tuned as we get into some of these products.

Like I said, we're gonna first start with our Bob Ross here.

So, when you first opened any of these kits, you'll find a lot of times those instructions and those are important to kind of look over.

Usually they're pretty simple and they are written towards a person who may not know anything about gardening, so they're pretty straightforward.

So, the first thing that we need to do is actually submerge this in water for about 30 minutes and make sure it gets nice and soaked.

So, we've got a pot of water here that we're just going to allow it to soak.

You can see there's a hole, so one way to really submerge that even more is make sure you get that air and allow that water to go down into it.

So, while our chia Ross is soaking in water, we're gonna go ahead and look at three other little kits that we got and each of these are somewhat similar, but slightly different as well.

So, we've got one that we can grow herbs in, one that's a sprout terrarium and then one is for succulent houseplants.

So, kind of something for everyone there.

But, one thing I noticed that I wanted to point out when I was purchasing these was, if you look at them, there was a whole rack of both of these and there was, I don't know, maybe 10 or 12 of these and they were very dusty on top.

And just the fact that there was so much dust on top of this herb one kind of signal to me that maybe it was something that was carried over because the succulent one doesn't have a plant in it, but these other two actually have seeds.

So, if it's something that's been carried over from season to season that can be a little concerning to know that it might be an old product and one way to tell is usually there are some markers on the bottom identifying the seed germination and we do in fact have that and so on this one that was really dusty, you can see on the bottom of it, that the seed germination test for the seeds that are inside here was conducted in 2018, which tells me that this was packaged up three years ago.

And so, that's not to say that it might not still work and germinate, but that just kind of lets you know how old those seeds are in there.

So, if you don't have success, it might not be your fault, it might be that the seeds have been mishandled in that time, been exposed to a lot of different temperatures and things like that and so there is that possibility.

That's not to say that this kit won't still work.

You might just have to use your own newer seeds.

Now, this kit you can see and it's printed on here, so it's kind of blurred, but on the side here, it says, seed test of July of 2020.

So, we know that this was just done this summer from seed that they harvested and then packaged up and ready to go, so this is a newer product.

So, we would expect the seeds to not have any problem with germination.

We'll begin with this herb one first and open it up and see what we've got inside here.

- So in this kit, we were able to get two Mason jars with lids.

Two small packets of seeds.

One is mint seed and other is basil.

Of course, we've got a simple instruction card as well.

And then this one kind of the intention of it is to be able to grow some herbs and then cook with them.

So they give you a kind of a little recipe book and it's got about four recipes in it.

So the instructions are fairly straightforward.

So the first thing we're gonna do is go ahead and unscrew both of these.

It doesn't mention ever using these lids again.

So I'm assuming we won't use them and that they were really just intended to hold the soil in there, but starting out seeds, sometimes you want to hold that moisture.

So I feel like maybe you could use them, but it doesn't say to do that.

So the first instructions are to go ahead and put a half a cup of water in each of these, so that we can get that soil media nice and wet.

And looking at this, I'm a little skeptical that half a cup is quite enough moisture to add to this.

Now the thing about this, is they are glass.

And so it's hard to remove that moisture.

You don't want it to be soggy, but after looking at half a cup on this one that we just did, you can see the top of it is still rather dry.

So I think I'm gonna add a little bit more before that actually I'm gonna do something.

I'ma put the lid back on it and shake it to see if I can get that moisture redistributed around there.

It's helped a little bit, but I would still say it's a little dry.

So I'm just gonna add just a touch more to one of these.

So I'm gonna amend what they recommend and add a little more moisture.

Just say maybe an eighth of a cup more if that much.

Here we go, eighth of a cup more versus what they say, but I'm gonna go ahead and leave one with the half a cup and one with a half a cup plus another eighth of a cup so.

So now that we've got moisture in both of our containers, we're gonna go ahead and add our seeds and it recommends planting about seven to 10 seeds.

And I would say we probably have twice that amount in this packet so you could probably get two uses out of this.

This is the basil seed.

So we're gonna go ahead and plant.

And what we're gonna do is kind of scatter a few of those seeds along the top.

And it's really hard to see because they are small dark seeds.

And we're just gonna kind of, it says to, work that into the top forth inch of that soil.

Now again, this is the one that we didn't have the extra moisture to.

And so you can see this is fairly dry media up here at the top too still so.

Now in the other one we're gonna add our organic.

It says organic mint, lemon balm so.

(wrapper crumpling) Lemon balms a nice plant and a good one to have in the house because it's going to have a lot of fragrance.

We're gonna sprinkle those on top there as well.

And again, you can just tell by looking at the difference, this is darker versus this lighter.

So we know that there's moisture up in this potting soil.

So we're gonna kind of move those around.

At this point we're done, we've got our seeds planted in here.

Now again we planted more seeds than what we want to actually allow to grow.

So the instructions say to add two teaspoons of water every other day for the first week, and then after that, you'll increase the amount of water because hopefully the plants will have started to germinate and then they're gonna need more moisture.

So after that, you're gonna add about two tablespoons of water every other day.

And as you see those sprouts start to germinate, we're gonna do this process called thinning.

And it mentioned this in the instructions, which is basically simply going in with either a small pair of snips or your finger now and removing all, but the three or four strongest plants, because that's really all that's allowed to grow in this root space that we have here, hopefully after about six weeks, we'll have some plants that we can harvest some of those leaves off.

So we'll see how these go.

In the meantime, we're going to make sure that we put these in a sunny window that allows for about six to eight hours of sunlight or underneath the grow light.

(water dripping) So we're gonna drain our chia pet because we've got the clay that's nice and saturated now after 30 minutes, but we don't actually wanna have moisture inside of it at the moment.

So something that I thought was sort of just part of the packaging is actually a drain tray.

So we're gonna make sure that we don't throw that away.

We're gonna place our chia pet on there.

And at this point you can see our seeds here after soaking for at least 10 minutes, have a nice kind of gel to them.

And so that gel is gonna help adhere the seeds to our chia pet.

We call these chia pets because we're using chia seeds.

And the interesting thing about this is the chia seed actually really likes moisture.

So it will absorb that moisture creating this sort of gelatinous seed coat, which forms like as glue as you put it on your chia pet.

- So in our situation here, it's a little bit more moist than what we want so we probably should've added some seeds because you can see it's starting to drip off a little bit.

Bob's hair is wanting to grow a little longer than what we anticipated, but it'll work out.

And then the other thing is we have some leftover mix of the seed in the moisture here too.

So this is just kind of waste for the time being.

So once you've got a good coat on him, it's sorta like spreading jelly on your Chia Pet here.

We're gonna let this set for two days, 'cause we're just gonna let it kind of adhere to that clay pottery and then after that, what we're gonna do is then fill this up with moisture inside of here, so that clay is porous.

And so that water will actually get to those seeds and help those seeds germinate.

And you want to empty out your tray daily so that there's no water standing in there.

So another thing you can do to help with the germination process, and it actually mentioned this is to put a plastic bag over it.

That will keep that humidity inside, again, allowing those seeds to germinate.

And you should see that pretty quickly right after that.

Once you start to see your seeds begin to germinate, you'll have about four to six weeks to enjoy your Chia Pet.

(upbeat country music) - Hello.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to a kit I just finished creating called Gardens to Go.

It's got 18 activities for elementary-age children to do related to gardening and also related to horticulture in general and a little bit of insects.

So everything you need is in this kit, except for basic stuff like some glue and scissors and crayons.

And when you open it up, you'll see that there's an instruction book along with a bunch of goodies, all right?

Everything fits in here, all 18 activities.

So each activity comes with instructions and a list of supplies needed, so you know exactly what you need before you start the activity.

You can do 'em in any order you want.

Some of them are pretty quick.

So this is perfect for grandkids that go over to the grandparents for half an afternoon, or a cousin's camp, or if you wanna use this as a little science enrichment for school.

So you're doing everything from soaking lima beans, to cool stuff like learning about papyrus and where it came from.

And then you get to decorate your own papyrus bookmark with actual hieroglyphics that you'll learn about.

And this, you'll learn later, it says "Go Pokes."

There's also a little greenhouse in there with little pellets you can soak and grow your own basil, which the seeds are included.

You can learn how to make a hamburger and talk about how all the ingredients go back to plants.

We've got stuff like an insect life cycle, an insect sucker, leaf rubbings.

You can learn about the parts of a flower.

And then there's some little fun stuff, like this is a tagua nut from the rainforest and you get to draw on it.

It's actually called vegetable ivory and you get to have your own little piece.

So again, everything you need is in the kit except for basic craft supplies.

This is a really cool thing you can do with your kids or grandkids during summer when you have breaks, when you wanna do a little bit of school, and everything you need is in the kit.

So if you know a kid who really likes nature, a Gardens to Go kit will be right up their alley.

And here's information on how to purchase your own.

(gentle guitar music) - Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

One is that we always think about starting cool season vegetable crops indoors, but you can also start your flower, cool season flower crops indoors, okay?

Not all plants transplant well, so you need to read the seed packet and make sure that you can sow those seeds indoors and transplant them outdoors.

Some plants that are are transplantable are Nasturtiums, sweet pea, and stock.

So something else to keep in mind this time of year are your birds.

So it's time to get your bird houses all cleaned out and get your feeders full.

And I just wanna demonstrate for you this neat little funnel scoop that you can put your seed in and then directly fill your feeder.

(gentle guitar music) And voila, just like that our feeder is full.

So another little tip that I wanna give you is this handy little tool right here.

And this, you can purchase this wherever you purchase your pruners, but this is the easiest way I have found to sharpen my pruners.

So you just take it and just a few swipes across your blade, and that will sharpen your blade.

So I suggest that you keep your tools sharp.

- And clean during your gardening season to make your gardening go a lot easier.

(upbeat music) - Last time I introduced you to Gardens To Go, which was a lunchbox kit with 18 activities for elementary aged kids that had to do with gardening.

Now I have created a level two kit which I call Plantology and it comes in a backpack.

And it's made for grades six through 12 or more advanced elementary kids.

So this kit comes with a booklet with 12 activities described, and these are more intensive activities that require a little bit more time, a little bit more work.

So one of the activities is classification.

You learn how to classify.

So I'm giving you aliens instead of plants, so you don't have any preconceived notions and you end up making a dichotomous key with this, and then there's newly discovered aliens that you put into your key later.

So it's just like real life.

Another activity.

We talk about tree rings and how you can tell how old a tree is by the tree rings.

Well, one way you can tell how old a tree is without cutting down the tree, is to take cores.

And so all of these lines are basically what the tree ring would be.

So we practice here and you notice that if you know how old the tree is when it's cut down, you can count back to when it was germinated.

And then by overlapping trees of the same species that were grown in the same area you can see like, okay, this tree, you know, it didn't go back as far as this one.

So if we know this one was cut down in 84, you know, we can go see how when it was germinated, and we can see the different ages by relating them.

And you get some actual tree core samples and you can actually find out where they overlap.

And so you can answer questions about when was a cabin built if we cut it down on this year?

When was the tree germinated if we cut it down that year?

Another thing you can do is we have a sprinkler gauge.

So you can put this in your yard.

They tell you to put one inch of water on your lawn every week.

How do you know when you've hit an inch?

You put this in different places, see how long it takes to get to an inch.

Another activity is we have a little hydroponics kit here.

This is rock wool.

So it's not actually soil, but you can grow plants in it.

So we're just using water to grow plants.

So there's hydroponics.

We have a little activity where you make a flower out of toothpicks and Q-tips and a straw and tissue paper complete all the way from the roots to the pollen.

We have another activity where you become a plant and you roll the die to see what the weather's gonna be.

And depending on how many leaves you have and what the sun was like, and how much water you lost due to transpiration, you have to figure out how to save the sugars you created and save it up and either buy a root or a leaf to get through the season as you're growing.

And then if you save up enough sugars, you get to make a flower, which is what you need for your species to reproduce.

And in real life, they die at the first frost a lot of times.

So after you get 15 rolls of the die, you have to roll two.

And if you get doubles, that was the frost.

You never know when it's going to end, just like real life.

And my favorite part about this is a resurrection plant.

These are from the Chihuahuan Desert on the US-Mexican border and they don't get much rain.

So they can go into a really, really dormant state.

But, if you just add water a few hours later they open up.

And you can see how they photosynthesize, but take away the water and in a day or two, it'll go back to being that dried up looking state.

So again, these Plantology kits are for level two gardening kits.

So this is for like middle school to high school.

And it has 12 advanced activities like you see here.

We do still have the level one Gardens To Go kit, which has 18 activities in a lunchbox.

And if you're interested in either one of these just contact me.

(calm music) - As we head into the summer months and our tomatoes continue to grow, it's important to maintain those tomato plants.

While they might've slowed down their production, they're probably are still pretty vigorous about their vegetative growth.

And so we wanna make sure that we are trellising them or staking them in some manner.

It's important to get that fruit up off the ground and also the foliage and that allows for better air flow.

So all of that will reduce potential for pathogens from splashing up and also for harboring that in there if it doesn't get dried out, especially on these hot humid days.

Now there's a couple of different ways to trellis your tomatoes and you've seen us use different applications over the years.

We've done bamboo, we've done the stake and weave.

This year we've chosen to use just a panel.

Basically a metal panel to stake our tomatoes too.

So as you can see, we've got them started.

They've been going for a while, but as they continue to grow, it's time to check in on them.

Now, as it gets hotter, I don't like being out in the garden as much because it's hard with this heat and stuff, and so we've got some a tool here that's gonna help.

- Speed up this process.

So, this tool is called a tapener.

So, it's a combination between a tape dispenser and also a stapler, but you'll see the unique design that it's got this really wide mouth that allows it to get around the plant.

So, basically you're going to put the plant and the steak in there, squeeze that handle down and at the same time, it staples it and cuts it, leaving your plant tied up.

So, if you click it again, just barely half click it, it will grab the next piece of tape.

And it's ready to go again.

So, to put this into application, we'll just pull up one of our vines here.

So, you just kind of grab a bite of that vine.

It's not actually damaging the vining, see the tape is going around it, the tape pulls out as you stretch it in there further.

We've also got it on the backside of that metal.

We squeeze it down, it staples it and cuts it.

Again, ready to go for the next one.

Now you can use this on vegetables, but you can also use it on a lot of other plants.

So, whether you have ornamental vines, perennials, anything that might need somehow, some way to attach to a trellis this works.

Of course, tape comes in different colors, so you don't have to use red if you don't want to.

Now keep in mind when you buy these products, you are going to need also the tape and the staples as well in order for it to work.

And there are a couple of different versions on the market, so this is just one particular.

We like it.

It's a little bit smaller, but it makes it nice and easy to get in there.

But the smaller means that it's not going to be able to hold as many staples or as much tape.

Here's a little bit larger one, that's gonna allow you to have more tape, which means you can go further.

So, if you're really doing a lot, you might want to invest in the larger one.

Again, it does the same sort of thing.

So, regardless both of these, have these large mouths that allow you to get around the plant and the trellis at the same time, which makes the task of tying your plant to the trellis a lot easier, especially in these hot summer months.

(classical music) Hello, everyone, it's me again with another cool tool.

So, I picked these bear claws or leaf scoops up at just one of our local stores in the garden center area.

They're fairly inexpensive, but I find that they're very well made for the price.

So, they have these nice tines here that you can rake, but they have this big surface area for you to actually scoop, your leaves to put them in your containers.

Now, if you're like me, in the past I've used my leaf rake here and then I would scoop it up and use my hand up against the rake and that's how I would scoop my leaves.

This little tool here is going to help you out a lot because you're gonna be picking up a lot more leaves or debris in your garden.

So, I hope you give them a try.

(acoustic music) - [Narrator] Well, the garden has settled into winter, now is a great time to take advantage of those warm days and work on some neglected projects.

Next week on the best of Oklahoma Gardening, we take a second look at some DIY garden projects that are sure to inspire you.

(acoustic music) 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 Oklahomagardening.okstate.edu.

And we always have great information, answers to questions, photos and gardening discussion on your favorite social media as well.

Join in on Facebook, Twitter 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 okgardeningclassics, 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 still water gem.

We would like to thank our generous underwriter, the Oklahoma department of agriculture food and forestry.

Additional support is also provided by Pond Pro Shops, Greenleaf Nursery and the Garden Debut plants, the Oklahoma Horticultural Society and Tulsa Garden Club.

(acoustic music)