(gentle music) - [Casey] Welcome to Oklahoma Gardening.

Today we hear about some new technology being used for plant disease identification and how you can help.

Then we head over to Tulsa to visit Global Gardens that is helping kids learn about gardening, cooking, and so much more.

(bright music) 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.

(uplifting music) I love sharing with you guys the cool things that plants can do.

We're back here at the student farm.

I wanna share with you a tropical plant that you might find in some Oklahoma landscapes.

(uplifting music 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.

(uplifting music fades) As the summer begins to warm up, we start to see some things that might be happening to our vegetable garden and the plants in our garden.

Joining me today is Dr. Andres Espindola, who is a researcher here and is working on some new technology to help better diagnose diseases.

Dr. Espindola, thank you for joining us, and please tell us about your research you're doing.

- Thank you.

Thank you for inviting me.

Our research mostly focuses on molecular technologies for detecting plant pathogens, and we are interested in developing new technology for virus detection.

For example, whenever a grower submits a sample and it reaches the diagnostic lab, every time we want to detect the virus, we have to run a separate test.

So if we want to detect 10 viruses, we have to run 10 separate tests.

- And those are usually based off of what you think it might be, right, those tests?

- Correct.

- Yeah.

- So based on signs and symptoms of the plant that arrive into the lab, we have to short-list the number of tests that we do.

For example, instead of doing five separate or 10 separate samples, we sequence the whole sample and then we get the results doing bioinformatics.

- And so those results come back, and you can then say, hey, it is this disease or that disease, or maybe multiple, right?

- Correct.

We can detect those five and even other diseases that haven't been found before.

So that's the goal.

For known diseases and potentially unknown pathogens that might be there, it's cheaper, it's faster, and we can simultaneously detect more pathogens.

- Okay.

Interesting.

- Yes.

- Very interesting.

So this is some new research, right, that y'all are doing here.

Is it applicable to all plant diseases, or what are you looking for?

- [Dr. Espindola] So currently, this research is funded by the Bio DAF, the Specialty Crop Block Grant.

And we are focusing on diseases of tomatoes and peppers.

And we have selected four viruses as a proof of concept.

- Okay.

- But it's applicable for many hosts.

For example, it could be applied for other crops, and then we have to design the pipeline for being able to detect on those crops.

- Okay.

All right.

So who all is this research gonna impact?

The homeowner or the industry?

- The goal is that this research, eventually, as it gets transferred to diagnostic labs or the diagnostic clinic, the tests become cheaper, and we can test for multiple viruses simultaneously.

And that's our aim.

Now, this is research, that's what we're testing.

That's why we have this proof of concept that we want to see for a few viruses, how it works, improve the technique, and then once it is ready for transfer to technology, we'll do, and eventually it becomes cheaper to test for multiple viruses.

- Okay.

- We are encouraging people that have tomato plants or pepper plants to submit samples to us because we need these samples to test our technology.

Okay.

- And we need samples that might have virus infections.

- [Casey] Okay, so for homeowners, if they have something funky going on with their tomatoes this year, they should submit those samples.

- [Dr Espindola] They should submit their samples to the diagnostic clinic, and then they will get to us eventually.

- Okay.

- For the research, yeah.

- Well, let's go check with Jen about how to submit those samples.

- Excellent.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - [Casey] Hey Jen, I'm glad to see you out of the lab out here in the field.

- Good to see you.

- It's always good to kind of review how to submit a sample.

I'm sure you're busy with a lot of samples, but as vegetables continue to grow, you probably get a lot more coming in.

- Yeah, this time of year we'll start to see quite a few vegetable problems.

All the rain, they're putting on a lot of new growth and starting to see some different insects.

- Problems and also some disease pressure.

- Okay, so if we have something kinda funky happening on our tomatoes or peppers or other cucurbits, tell us a little bit about how to submit those samples.

- So if you are seeing something like distortion, twisting, curling, weird spots and blotches where we might suspect a virus, because that is in the foliage, that's the only part of the plant we need, we don't need the whole plant.

And so overall, these tomatoes look pretty healthy, but I'm gonna show you how to take a sample- - Okay.

- Just so we get the right thing in the lab for testing.

- [Interviewer] All right.

- So, more is always better.

A lot of people might have a tendency just to take a leaflet.

Remember that tomatoes have that compound leaf, so if we can cut off the whole leaf.

- [Interviewer] Okay.

- Younger growth is more likely to have virus in it than older, lower growth.

And so just two or three whole leaves, and then you can place them on some newspaper, if you wanna open that bag.- - Okay.

- [Jen] We're gonna fold up the newspaper around it, make a little packet.

If it's a little damp, that'll help keep it from molding before we get it, and then you can put that inside the plastic bag.

You can take it directly to your county extension office and they will send it to us for virus testing, or if you wanna mail it yourself, you can visit the Plant Diagnostic Lab website and the mailing information is there.

- [Interviewer] So at this point, we just put it in an envelope and give it to our extension office?

- [Jen] Yeah, and if you're gonna wait a day or so before you take it to them, just keep that in the refrigerator to keep it fresh, and then just mail it in by regular postage and we should get it in a couple of days.

Once it comes into the lab, the county extension office will be notified by email, and it's usually a couple days to do our testing.

And then we will pass samples like these to researchers so that they can use them to help validate some of the new methods they're working on.

- [Interviewer] Okay, but for somebody that's submitting a sample, you're gonna respond with a, you know, a potential disease that they've discovered.

- [Jen] Right, we'll send that information back to the county extension educator and they can relay it to the client with any management recommendations there might be.

- Well, Jen, thank you for sharing this information.

I know a lot of people will be utilizing your services.

- Okay, great.

(bright gentle music) (bright gentle music) (bright gentle music) - Today we're here in Tulsa to learn more about Global Gardens and what they're doing here at Eugene Field Elementary and other schools around Tulsa.

Let's go inside and check it out.

(upbeat rock music) Hey Kalie.

- Hey.

- Thanks so much for having us here at the Gardens.

We've been here a few years ago, but so much has changed since we've been here.

Can you tell us a little bit about Global Gardens and what y'all are doing here?

- Of course, I'm glad you guys are here.

So, yeah, this is one of 10 Global Garden sites.

We're at 10 different elementary schools, both TPS and Union, and we serve schools in different capacities.

At this school, we serve every student at the school, pre-K through fifth grade, with both during school and after school programming.

Some schools we offer only during school, some are only after school.

It's a mix depending on what the school and funding can allow.

- Right, so you really cater to the schools that you partner with.

That's awesome.

- We do.

- This is your home site, right?

- Yes- - Your original.

- This is our original site, it started about 17 years ago, here at Eugene Field, it started much smaller and then has grown since then.

- [Jen] Literally the garden is growing.

- [Kalie] It really has.

- [Jen] So I don't think this space was quite organized like this when I was here last.

Tell us a little bit about what you're doing up here in this front area.

- [Kalie] Yeah, so what you see here is our during school section.

So each of these gardens corresponds to one classroom at the Eugene Field.

So each classroom of students has their own garden bed out here, and they come with their Global Gardens educator.

We meet out here for one time each week for about 45 minutes- - Wow.

- With students, they're gardening, they're getting to do a seed-to-play experience at least twice a year.

So that's planting, and then caring for the plants, and then harvesting.

- [Jen] Okay, so you're doing fall and spring gardening?

- Fall and spring, even in winter, we can get out here.

In winter, we're taking care of the compost, we're taking care of the worms, we're covering the soil to keep it nice and warm.

And then we're also doing garden-related science experiments inside, as well.

- Okay, so tell us, this is always at elementary schools, are you working with a certain age range with the- - Yeah.

- What grades are we talking?

- For right now, it's just pre-K through fifth.

- Okay.

- For our during school, our after school is third through fifth graders, we've served some middle school as well, and currently, we're widening an alumni program to serve some of those older kids.

- All right, well, tell us a little bit about how you work with the teachers, 'cause I know it's adding even more onto their plate sometimes.

So that's where your garden educators come in hand, right?

- Right, yes.

So each one of our Global Gardens classes is led by our garden educators who come in and they are really the ones who teach the lesson.

They're the ones facilitating their planning, they're the ones caring for the garden.

So the classroom teachers do get to come with their classes out to the garden, and it's kind of a partnership.

We ask the teachers, "What are you teaching right now with your students?

"What science standards can we help you with?"

And we create curriculum to kind of work with those teachers and supplement their lessons.

- Since.

- Okay.

- So if on the inside, third grade is learning about life cycles, we're gonna learn about life cycles here in the garden.

We're gonna learn about ladybugs, about earthworms.

Right now we're learning about praying mantises.

And then with the Global Gardens classroom, we're raising praying mantises- - Good.

- And releasing them into the garden.

- Okay.

I know it's so much more about more than just the plants.

It's about the water cycle and the wildlife that might come into the garden.

In fact, I saw a bunny (laughing) I think earlier out here.

- Yes, we have a possum out here too.

- Oh, do you?

So do you work with other STEM-related organizations?

Where do you come up with your curriculum and stuff?

- Yeah, our educators.

- Okay.

- They are the main ones who come up with the curriculum.

We use those Oklahoma science standards to kinda give us a framework with what we should gear towards.

And then really, our educators, we do partner with TRSA, Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance- - Okay.

- And the Opportunity Project.

But for curriculum creation, a lot of that's our internal staff and getting ideas from: What are the students interested in learning about?

That's really where it comes from.

If our kids are interested in ladybugs, we're gonna focus more on ladybugs.

We can do math out here in the garden.

There can be literacy done in the garden.

Really, the garden is a great vehicle to learn whatever avenue of thing.

- Very cool.

Well, it looks like you've got even more back there.

Can we go take a look at that back there?

- We do, yes.

- Okay, let's go.

- Of course.

(birds chirping) Well, welcome to the afterschool side of your garden.

You just visited the during school, where we serve every student in the school.

This is our afterschool area, where we serve about 30 kids two days a week- - Okay.

- Here at our afterschool program.

So you're gonna see a lot of different gardens here.

And each of these gardens are split up so that every kid here at our afterschool program has a plot of land that they're taking care of.

- Oh nice.

- You're also going to see students' art on these different signs.

They've themed each of their gardens based on what they wanna grow or what they wanna do with what they grow.

So we have our soup garden, and that is all ingredients that Alex wants to put in his soup.

- Okay.

(laughing) - [Gardener] Once they're ready.

Over here we have plants for insects garden.

Those are all plants that help our insects out.

We have a rainbow garden.

We have a family garden.

So every student has kind of decided what would represent myself or what would represent who I am, what I wanna do with these plants.

- Okay.

- And they theme their whole garden based on that.

- So is this a little more self-directed with y'all's guidance that they can do what they want with it?

- That's well said.

It definitely is.

- Okay.

- So our during school program is really STEM-focused- - Okay.

- And has student voice.

But our afterschool program is a lot more student voice and choice focused.

- Okay.

- [Gardener] So we definitely lead a framework of what we wanna do with our afterschool students.

We have gardens, so we're gonna be doing gardening.

- Right.

- But we kinda leave it up to students.

What are you interested in in the garden?

What do you wanna do with what you grow?

- Right.

- So we have some students in groups who are really interested in bugs, so we do a lotta bug collection, bug hunting.

We have some students who are really interested in cooking, so we do a lotta cooking.

We have some kids who are really interested in arts, and you'll see our student art all over the garden.

- There's art everywhere, yeah, and I love- - Yes.

- [Host] The colorful flags that you have behind you here too.

- [Gardener] Yeah, on the back side of each flag, you're going to see that students drew things that they're hopeful for.

- Okay.

- Or things that represent them.

So every student in this school has a voice in this garden- - Okay.

- And ownership.

- Well, so clearly, these kids are not all gonna grow up to be gardeners or horticulturists.

Maybe in science, hopefully.

But let's talk about some of the skills that they're gaining through this process.

- Definitely, so Global Gardens, we're super excited because kids are learning so many skills.

Yes, they're learning gardening skills, but they're also taking home STEM identities with them.

They're learning that you can be a scientist.

Scientists can look like many different things.

We teach them that cooking is a science, that chefs are just hungry scientists.

We are doing engineering.

We build pea trellises.

We're doing arts.

We're doing the critical skills it takes to be peaceful with one another.

How can we problem solve?

Anytime you have any amount of people in a space, there is going to be (host laughing) a problem eventually.

And so sometimes our kids get in arguments, or they're upset, or they bring a lot of heavy stuff with them- - Right.

- From just their day, from their lives, from school.

And so we give them a space where they can process that.

- Okay.

- Each of our programs start with community circle, where kids can share.

They can breathe in the good things and breathe out the bad and kinda let each other know, "This is where I'm coming from today.'

- Yeah.

- And then we also teach the Peace Table, which is our conflict resolution model.

So it's where students are sharing how they are feeling, and they hear what other students are saying, and they're able to come up with a solution together.

They don't necessarily have to say sorry, but they do have to figure out: How are we going to coexist in this space?

Do we need to take a break?

Do we apologize?

Can we work together on something else?

- Right.

- So we're definitely teaching that critical skill of relationship building, problem solving.

We do a lot of goal setting here in the garden.

What do I want to plant eventually?

- Right.

- How am I going to take care of the things I plant?

- [Host] Patience with those goals- - Oh my goodness.

- Coming to fruition, right, yeah.

- Patience.

What happens if the things I plant didn't work out?

- Yeah, yeah.

- What do I do with that?

- Yeah.

- What happens if the food I make wasn't my favorite?

How can I do it differently next time?

- We teach a lot- - So failure is not a failure.

It's just another try of doing it a different way.

- Exactly, yeah.

The main thing we wanna teach is that attitude of trying new things.

Can we try touching a new bug for the first time?

Can we try this stem activity?

Oh, some kids say that science is scary, but what if we tried a new way?

What if learning could be fun?

- I love that.

Curiosity and discovery and what you can do with that both in the garden and in your life going forward in the future.

- Yeah.

We've noticed that students are able to take that curiosity and not only apply it to learning, but then toward their lives as well.

Why am I feeling angry?

Or why is this happening that way?

How can I problem solve?

- Well, I can only imagine that this isn't just involving the students.

It's kind of contagious right at this point?

- Definitely.

- Let's talk about like, are the families, the parents, are they seeing a difference or are they getting involved with this?

- Definitely.

Our kids are taking their problem solving skills home with them.

How can I solve problems among my siblings?

And then of course, we're in a garden, so there's going to be food and produce.

So we do a lot of cooking here at Global Gardens.

Every during school student is cooking at least twice a year.

- [Interviewer] That's awesome.

- [Teacher] Often many more.

Same with our afterschool students.

They're growing, they're planting things they're gonna be harvesting and cooking.

So in program, they learn a lot of really healthy recipes, or they're trying veggies they've never heard of before.

Like radish, turnip, what can we make with sweet potatoes?

What can we make with beets?

And they're gonna take extra produce and those recipes home with their families.

- And the process of reading a cookbook, right?

- Yeah, we have our cookbook.

So Global Gardens has worked really hard the past couple years, collecting all the recipes we make with our students and we put them in this cookbook.

There's about 50 to 60 recipes in here that are student tested.

So we collected them all and then we made them all with students again, twice.

Double checking that yes, this is how you make it.

This does taste good.

So these are kid approved.

We also have a community garden at our union school, Rosa Parks Elementary.

And a lot of the families there also contributed recipes to our cookbook.

- Awesome.

Well, I think Christi is inside cooking with some of your students.

- That's right.

We should go test it out.

- Awesome.

(bright music) (bright music) (bright music) (bright music) (bright music) - We're here in the kitchen at Global Gardens with two students, Lillie and Jonei, who are gonna share with us some of the recipes that they have made, been making from their new cookbook.

So Lillie and Jonei, do you wanna share a little bit about like what grade you're in and some of the things that you've been growing?

- Yeah, sure.

- I've been growing Sunflower radish.

And my name is Lillie and I'm in the fifth grade.

- My name is Jonei and I've been growing okra and carrots and sunflowers, and I'm in the fifth grade as well.

- So it sounds like you guys have been busy growing a lot of foods out in the garden, and that sounds fun.

You don't just get to grow the food, but then you get to come in the kitchen and make and eat some of the foods that you've grown, right?

- Yes.

- So do you have favorites from your cookbook?

- [Both] Yes.

- What are some of your favorite foods?

- Radish.

Red radish pancake.

- The beet pancakes?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, those looked really good.

I saw those in the cookbook.

- Mine is radish salsa.

- The radish salsa?

I saw that one too.

That looked really good too.

So what are you gonna be making for us today?

Carrot Top Pesto?

Yeah, that one looks really interesting.

And what I loved about that recipe is so many people just throw away the tops of their carrots.

They'll eat the carrots and then just get rid of the tops.

But you all are gonna make a recipe where you can actually use those, right?

- [Lillie] Yes.

- [Christi] So what do we need to do, or what do you need to do to cut 'em?

- [Lillie] First, chop off the green first.

- [Christi] Okay.

Are you gonna use the stems and the leaves or- - Both.

- Both?

Okay.

We're gonna let you go ahead and get with your cutting.

I see that you're gonna cut the leaves or tear the leaves off of the kale.

- Yes.

- And then are you gonna cut it after that?

- Yeah.

I'm gonna take the stems off and just cut 'em.

- And then just cut 'em?

Okay.

And then, for the carrot tops, do you just... How are you cutting those?

- Small.

- Just small pieces?

(light jazz music) Okay, and now that you have the carrot tops and the kale cut up, then you need the basil?

- Mm hm.

- Mm hm.

- Okay.

Go ahead and let you add that.

- Thank you.

- [Host] Okay now, with the basil, you're just putting the leaves in there right?

- Yes.

- Okay.

And then you need the lemon?

- Mm hmm.

- Yes.

- [Host] And I'm guessing you could probably just use lemon juice if you have that, if you don't have the lemon?

- [Cook] Yeah.

- [Host] Okay, and now we wanna go ahead and start putting some of our ingredients into the blender?

- [Cook] Yes.

- Okay, so we've got the kale, the carrot tops, and then if you go ahead and put the basil in there.

And then, do you wanna add the lemon juice?

- Yes.

- Do you wanna add it?

Do it quickly.

- Okay, and then what do you wanna add next?

The Parmesan?

- Yes.

- And then it looks like you've got some salt and pepper?

Okay and garlic.

- Mm hm.

- Okay, and then you've got some walnuts.

(nuts clinking) Okay, and then it looks like the other thing we've got to add is olive oil.

- Oil.

- So about how much olive oil are you adding?

1/4 of a cup?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

And I think olive oil is one of those things that we can adjust, right, once it's blended to see how if we need to add more to it.

- Yes.

- Okay, so now that we've got all the ingredients added to it, then I guess we'll need to take that over and get it blended up.

- Yep.

(light jazz music) (blender whirring) - Now that the pesto is all blended up, now we can, if you guys wanna start mixing in the butter.

- Yeah.

- And you're just gonna kind of smash that butter up and then you'll add the pesto to it.

Is that right?

- Yeah.

- [Host] Okay.

And while you all are getting your pesto on your bread, I'll share with the viewers that if any of you would like to know this recipe or any other Global Gardens recipes, you can find this, "The Global Garden Cookbook" on the Global Gardens website.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

Amazing.

- Mm hm.

- Well, thank you, Lily and Janae for joining us today.

(light music) - Anytime.

(light music continues) - If you would like to get your own copy of "The Global Gardens Cookbook," visit their website.

(light music continues) There are a lotta great horticulture activities this time of year.

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

(light music continues) For the next two weeks, OETA will be conducting fundraising.

We'll be back with a brand new episode of "Oklahoma Gardening" on June 15th.

(light music continues) This says eat or, no.

(laughing) Yep, something.

- Let's go try it out.

- Awesome.

Yeah, sorry, I forget my part.

(laughing) - [Speaker] All right.

(light music continues) - [Casey] 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.

(light music continues) 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 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.

(light music continues)