(gentle music) ("La Primavera" by Vivaldi) - Welcome to "Oklahoma Gardening".

Join us as it's time to plant tomatoes out in the garden.

We've got the April Bug of the Month, I'll share with you about the Itoh peonies.

("La Primavera" by Vivaldi continues) Then we'll learn how FAPC can help you get started producing your own agricultural products.

("La Primavera" by Vivaldi continues) Underwriting assistance for our program is provided by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, helping to keep Oklahoma green and growing.

("La Primavera" by Vivaldi continues) "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.

("La Primavera" by Vivaldi continues) I love sharing with you guys the cool things that plants can do.

("La Primavera" by Vivaldi continues) We're back here at the Student Farm.

("La Primavera" by Vivaldi continues) I wanna share with you a tropical plant that you might find in some Oklahoma landscapes.

("La Primavera" by Vivaldi continues) It's important to know which plants we are dealing with so that we can continue to maintain them successfully for years to come.

("La Primavera" by Vivaldi fades) Earlier in the season, we talked about different ways of starting your warm season vegetable garden.

Well, today I wanna talk about two plants that you definitely wanna start from transplants, and that is tomatoes and peppers.

And that's because they need a good head start in order to start producing before it gets too hot in our summer months.

And so here you can see we've got our transplants laid out and I just wanna go through some of the plants that we're gonna be planting in our table garden here.

So since we have a table garden, we looked for some varieties that were a little bit shorter.

Obviously we didn't want anything that was indeterminate, that was gonna be five or six feet tall because those would just be way over our head to harvest.

So we've got some very small varieties here that we're looking at.

And the first one I wanted to show you here is called Orange Hat tomato.

And this is a cute little tomato.

If you think there is no way that you have space in your landscape or on your patio to grow a tomato, well, this is one you need to check out because this actually only gets about six to nine inches tall.

Yes, you heard me right, six to nine inches tall.

So this is gonna stay very compact.

And in fact you can already see it's got some tomatoes that it's producing already.

Now this is gonna produce an orange cocktail type tomato.

So it's just gonna be prolific with all these little orange tomatoes on there, but a cute little tomato.

So we've got several planted in here, about five in just this small space because they do stay so compact.

Now in front of me here we have a Fish Pepper.

So this is a unique pepper.

It is gonna get a little bit taller, but it is going to have a unique ornamental look to it.

Not only is it edible, but it is ornamental as well.

So the Fish Pepper kind of has a history of being an African-American pepper that was passed down and used a lot in Caribbean dishes.

So it's gonna add a little heat to your dish.

But what's unique about it and what's ornamental about it is you'll see that there's some variation, not only on the leaves, but when you start to see that fruit being produced, it's gonna start out kind of a creamy color with some green striping in it.

As it matures, that green's gonna get more of a darker color and eventually, like all peppers that start turning color, eventually it's gonna have more of an orange color with brown striping, and then it eventually will turn a solid red color to you.

So very ornamental to add to your edible landscape here also.

Now we also have this pepper.

This is called Dragonfly.

This is a four lobed bell pepper.

But don't be fooled by picking it when it is green because this is actually a purple bell pepper.

And they are gonna be not only ornamental, but also edible as well.

You can eat these while they are green, but again, wait for them to be purple.

Now the nice thing about this and what's really set it apart from the other purple peppers that are on the market is the fact that it has a real thick wall, thicker wall than some of the other thin wall purple peppers that are on the market.

So this is a nice one to add to your garden if you're looking for something that is more like a bell pepper.

Now in front of me here we have another tomato, and this one's called Early Resilience.

So this one's gonna get a little bit taller, about two and a half feet tall, and it is a Roma type tomato.

So it's gonna be really great if you're looking at canning or preserving some of your tomatoes, this is a great option for you.

Again, it's an All America selection, beating out some of the bestselling Roma tomatoes that are on the market.

Now next to it we have a San Joaquin Pepper, and this is a jalapeno pepper.

So it's gonna be a little spicy, but not too bad if you like that jalapeno flavor to it.

So San Joaquin is known because it is one that's gonna produce a lot all at one time, which can be a good or bad thing.

So if you're somebody who likes to can, maybe it's nice to have all of those jalapenos so that you can go ahead and process them at one time.

Or perhaps you're having a big party this summer and you wanna have some stuffed jalapenos for dinner one night with your crowd.

This is a great option for that.

If you don't wanna harvest everything all at once, you can just leave them hanging on the plant.

So jalapenos will eventually turn red as they mature even more.

- So make sure that you are harvesting those that maybe are a little bit further on and further into that red color versus some of the green ones if you're trying to allow your harvest to last a little bit longer.

Now in front of us here we have a patio choice yellow, which is again, a great option for somebody who is looking for a smaller tomato to grow.

So patio choice and the orange hat are both great options, even for containers.

This particular one patio choice is only going to get about 18 inches tall.

So a little bit taller than the previous one, but not too much that it couldn't still be in a container.

So we've got two that we're gonna plant here in our table garden.

And just as a reminder, you can see these transplants have gotten a little leggy.

So when you have something that is this long and you can see it's windy here in Oklahoma.

As a reminder, what you might wanna do is trim off some of these lower branches here.

So as a reminder, with tomatoes, you can plant those deeper in the ground because what they'll do is develop adventitious roots.

So you can actually start to see these little white kind of nub sticking out on the stem here, and that is the beginning of the formation of those adventitious roots.

So we're gonna go ahead and you can see if I put half of this plant underground, I'm significantly reducing the amount that might be exposed to the wind.

So hopefully our transplants will be a little tougher out here in our Oklahoma wind than what they would otherwise if we had planted these.

So I'm gonna plant this this direction so that it will be over here, and I'll plant this one going this way up over this direction.

So in order to do this, what you're gonna do is just make a trench basically.

And actually before I do that, I'm gonna kind of sprinkle in some slow release fertilizer in here so that I can work that in as I'm planting.

But I'm gonna just make a trench with my hands.

We're using potting soil, obviously, here in a raised bed, so we're gonna bury that on its side.

And this actually works out really nice because these are already kind of bent to go upright.

I'm gonna go ahead and cut this last stem off right there, and maybe even one more.

So I'm leaving these top two stems and then I'm just going to pack this potting soil back around it.

And there we have it.

You wanna make sure that that root ball stays covered so that it doesn't dry out as it starts to develop more and more of those roots.

So I'm gonna do the same right back here.

I'm gonna go ahead and cut some of these lower ones off again.

Again, we got a nice root system here, but we're gonna be able to develop even larger roots later on.

Now if doesn't have a natural bend to it, you're just gonna kind of gently push that plant up a little bit.

And then actually, I'm gonna make that a little bit deeper here.

You can do it on a slight angle so that you don't wanna break that stem.

If you break that stem, then you've kind of ruined your transplant, but you just wanna bury it and it will start to develop those roots.

So again, these are gonna get to be about 18 inches tall.

They got a little stretched as they were growing as transplants in the greenhouse, but they should do just fine.

So at this point now, I just gotta put some other fertilizer and get the rest of these planted up.

And then of course, we wanna make sure that we label our plants and water them.

(soft music) - Hi, this is Dr. Andrine Shufran at the Insect Adventure with another bug of the month.

We are looking at the base of some newly sprouting plants, and what we're getting a lot of questions about these days is the little bugs in the massive numbers that are gathered around the base of all sorts of different plants and then they move up higher in the plants in the summer, in June or so.

Some people think they look like ticks.

That's a great concern.

Some people think they look like lady beetles, and that's also not something we wanna spray for.

What they are is a type of true bug, like a stink bug or an assassin bug with the big long straw for a mouth part.

And they're over wintering down here at the base of the plants in all the leaf litter.

And so you'll see lots of them together and you'll see all life stages.

There's teeny tiny little red dots, and those are the newborn nymphs.

And then you'll see ones that have part wings and then ones that have whole wings.

And these are all red shouldered bugs.

And bugs are different from other insects in that they look very much like the adult, even when they're babies.

They just don't have their wings yet.

And so it couldn't be a larvae for anything else.

- If it's a larval tick, it's gonna still have eight legs.

It's always gonna have the eight legs.

If it were a lady beetle or a lady beetle larvae, the thing about beetle larvae is that they are completely different from the adults.

And if you haven't had a chance to go check out some larvae of lady beetles, you'll see that they look like teeny tiny alligators with orange spots.

Very fast moving, very fast moving, but no wings.

They'll get their wings when they develop into the adult lady beetle and be able to fly around.

And so when you see lots of little tiny red bugs that are at the base of your plants in your garden and they're all gathered close together, those definitely aren't ticks and they aren't lady beetle larvae.

And they aren't lady beetle adults.

They're actually red shouldered bugs or box elder bugs.

And they're not doing any harm to you, your pets, your family, or your plants.

They're just sort of there to use the space.

(upbeat music) - If you're new to gardening and looking to impress your neighbors with your gardening skills, you might try adding a peony into your landscape.

Now, peonies bloom these beautiful large flowers in springtime and while they look like delicate plants, they're actually really tough perennials in our Oklahoma landscape.

They are originally from China, however, they're well adapted to the US being hardy from zones three to seven.

Now, a lot of times when we think about hardiness, we think it's, you know, maybe we're concerned about the winter months and the cold temperatures, but peonies actually need that chilling requirement during their dormancy in order to get them to come back out and re-bloom.

Now, there are a couple of different types of peonies to consider and kind of classification of peonies, if you will, but if you're wanting to plant one that's well adjusted, I would suggest looking at a Paeonia lactiflora.

Those are some of the hardiest peonies that you can plant in your landscape, and they are a herbaceous type of peony, so they're gonna get about two and a half feet tall.

And what that herbaceous implies is that basically they're going to have herbaceous growth that comes up each spring with these flower buds, and then they will into the fall months, and then they will just die back to the ground and then they'll resume in next spring.

Now, there's also, you may have heard of tree peonies and tree peonies have a little bit more of a woody growth, so they are deciduous, so they are gonna lose their leaves, but you're gonna see some woody branching shrub growth that it will regrow from those shrub branches later in the spring also.

However, this particular one next to me here is called Itoh, which is basically a hybrid between the lactiflora and also the tree peony.

So it has a little bit sturdier branches that are coming up.

However, it is still herbaceous, but they're just a little bit sturdier, so you don't have to worry about staking them as much.

You can see that they're covered with buds that are coming on, and usually they have one primary bud and then they'll have about three secondary buds.

Now, what's kind of contrary to a lot of times what we might think, it's that primary bud that's actually smaller.

So that first flower bud that you get is gonna be smaller, but those secondary buds, when they start blooming, they're gonna be much larger.

You can see they still stay smaller than a tree peony.

A tree peony will give about four feet tall, whereas these Itoh peonies will get to be about two and a half feet tall also.

So it's going to be covered.

It's just now starting.

This particular one is called Smith Opus 2.

Now the flower of peonies can look different.

You can get single flowers, you can get semi double, and even double flowers that just have numerous petals on them.

They also come in a range of colors.

So this particular one has kind of, it starts out as real rosy color and it's got a deep burgundy down in the center of it.

And then as it goes and ages a little bit more, you're gonna see that it turns to kind of a blush pink.

We've got one here that's a little past its prime, but you can see how it's really lightened up in color.

So you're gonna get a combination of colors on a single plant on this particular one.

But some have yellow cream.

They even go into peaches, and then again, like this rose colored as well.

Now as far as the environment to plant your peony, you wanna make sure that you're planting it in nice, moist soil that is well drained.

It does like fertile soil, but they're pretty tolerant of our Oklahoma soils as long as they aren't, don't have wet feet.

The other thing is, is they can handle full sun.

Like anything, I think we all appreciate a little break from the full sun in August, so it could appreciate ours are planted right here on the edge of the trees, but I have seen them growing in full sun as well here in Oklahoma so they can tolerate our Oklahoma summers just fine.

- Now most peonies, you're gonna get about two and a half weeks of bloom time out of 'em, but in that period, you're gonna get a lot of flowers.

And as the plant matures, those flowers are gonna get larger.

So the more well established they are, the larger your flowers.

And some of 'em have a quite nice fragrance to 'em as well.

You just wanna make sure if you're cutting 'em and bringing 'em in the house, check 'em for ants, because a lot of times, ants can get on those flower buds too.

But otherwise, it's a great addition to your landscape.

(soothing music) (soothing music continues) (soothing upbeat music) (soothing upbeat music continues) Today, we're back here at the OSU student farm, and as you can see, we haven't planted our basil just yet.

But this is the prime time to actually start with FAPC and learn more about the safety that we need in order to harvest later on.

And joining me today is Dr. Jadeja, who is the microbiologist, right?

Is that correct?

- Yep, and also Extension Food Safety Specialist.

- Okay, we definitely have the right person to talk to today, so thank you for joining us.

So really, if somebody's thinking about turning a produce into a marketable product, it starts before you plant, right?

- Yes, you are absolutely right, because produce is typically considered high risk food item in terms of foodborne illnesses.

So we are responsible.

We need to make sure that when we are growing and harvesting produce, we do everything in our power to reduce the potential cross-contamination issue with pathogenic bacteria.

At FAPC, we do provide training and provide resources that how can we grow produce safely and keep produce and our community safe.

- Okay, and that of course starts with probably hand washing stations and that sort of stuff.

But there's a lot of details that go into that.

So let's talk about some of the basic trainings that you guys provide first of all.

- So we do provide, like our trainings can be divided into two major categories.

One category of training is we provide classes that those are required for meeting the regulatory requirements such as Produce Safety Alliance Class.

So with new Food Safety Modernization Act Rule, anyone who is growing and harvesting is subject to certain type of food safety regulation, and this is one of the required class that people need to take depending, based on the size and amount of produce that they're growing.

And that's just one type of class.

But our main work start, once the people take classes with us, we do provide one-on-one assistance in implementing some of the programs, because all food safety regulations are somewhat complex, and overwhelming, and when someone is wearing 10 different hats doing everything on their farm, they need all the help that they can get to simplify that process.

And that's when we step in and then we provide assistance in implementing those food safety programs for the farms.

- Okay, and these are legal things that you're reading through, right?

So they're not the easiest things to probably read.

But it also matters based off of the size of your market, in state, national.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Farmer's market, right?

- And then also farmer's market and then the regulations.

For example, we're talking about growing and harvesting produce.

So growing and harvesting is done.

Then there is one set of regulations that we need to comply.

- Okay.

- Then you go to a next phase, like for example, basil, like we want to dry those basil and then sell it.

Then there is a different sets of regulations that we need to worry about.

There are three major categories of regulations that we need to worry about.

One is going to be federal requirement.

So if we were to comply with those federal requirement, we can sell our product nationwide without any restriction.

State requirement, so if we are just complying with the state requirement, we are limited to sell our product in the state of Oklahoma.

And the third one, that is, if you are a very small operation, you just want to get the hang of it, you just want to understand that how to start your own business, then Home Food Freedom Act, that's one of the newer law, is an excellent opportunity for someone to start their home-based business without any type of regulatory oversight, and they can start producing that product and sell it up to $75,000 per year.

And FAPC can provide training and resources for all three different type of routes that you want to take.

So if you want to go for federal, then in that case, we do have a pilot plant that is inspected by FDA, and then people can utilize that to produce or corporate that product in our pilot plant.

And if you're just going for Home Food Freedom Act, we are one of the approved training provider by Department of Agriculture so that people can take that training and then produce and sell their product.

- And I would imagine as you kind of go up from, you know, the farmer's market to maybe the national market, there's gonna be more rules, more regulations.

And probably more methods that come with an expense to the operator, right?

- Yes.

- You are absolutely right.

There are additional requirements.

So what we have talked about so far are just the regulatory requirements.

- Okay.

- But for example, I would like to sell my product to a distributor.

I would like to sell my product to a retail store chain.

Then they will have additional requirements.

Those are called third-party audit requirements.

Those are voluntary requirements, but if you want to sell that product to them, you are required to comply with those requirements.

And then those include GAP certification, those include SQF or BRC, GFSI, Global Food Safety Initiative.

- A lot of acronyms in your business, right?

- Yeah, yeah, certifications.

- Yeah, and I know it can get complicated, and obviously we're not gonna cover all of it today, but this is definitely something that you guys provide.

And many different courses that are broken down into palatable, right, (laughs) so that it's not so overwhelming.

- Yeah, at Fabs, we provide anywhere from 65 to 90 workshop a year, and depending on the year, we can train anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 industry participants or stakeholders.

So yes, we do provide lots of different type of trainings.

Our pilot plants are being utilized by varying size of stakeholders.

And also we provide one-on-one assistance to numerous stakeholders in Oklahoma.

- And I think that's what the critical component is.

You actually will help the person on their farm.

And kind of look through some of those best practices for them so.

And that's everything from hand washing stations to produce washing stations, right?

- Yep.

- Well, thank you for sharing a little bit about this with us, and I guess people can reach out via your website for more information.

- Yes, and we are always happy to help.

- All right.

- Thank you.

(soothing orchestral music) - [Host] There are a lot of great horticulture activities this time of year.

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

(soothing music) Join us right here next week on "Oklahoma Gardening" as we feature the upcoming Tulsa Garden Club's Annual Garden Tour.

- Hi, welcome to my television show.

Today we're talking about planting tomatoes and peppers.

(soothing music) - [Host] 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.

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 into our OK 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.

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