The Backyard Gardener: Spring in Ponca City

By Kat Long

Whether you are a hater (yes, allergies) or a lover of springtime in Oklahoma, here we are in April. Be on the lookout for Seed Swaps, Plant Sales and all manner of workshops on gardening, yard beautification and pollinator protection. All of these things are important to the Backyard Gardener.

Hello all. Kat Long, the Ponca City Backyard Gardener has landed in the Ponca City Monthly. And I am so happy to still be writing my garden ramblings after seven years. So, let’s chat about gardens, seeds, bees, chickens and anything else that comes down the garden path. Why backyard gardening? Because sometimes growing things isn’t pretty, but it can be functional. Much like a backyard. I hope to give you permission to garden and grow edibles in a way that suits your lifestyles. All the lifestyles. So, let’s begin with seeds and sowing.

SO MANY SEEDS

There are so many kinds and varieties of seeds. If you are a newbie to the seed arena, don’t get overwhelmed. It is a slippery slope from wanting to buy seeds for the garden to collecting seeds because they look fabulous. They are two separate hobbies. Promise. Excellent seeds to begin with are the usual suspects: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and green beans. Good tomato breeds are cherry tomatoes like Super Sweets or Yellow Pear cherry tomatoes. For the bigger tomatoes try a Beefsteak variety or a Cherokee Purple. And you don’t have to grow from seed. Buy the plants if seed is just too much work for your life.

For the really adventurous seed starter, check with others in the garden community at the annual Seed Swap @The Library here in Ponca City. 2020 Seed Swap is Saturday, April 4th from 10:00 to 1:00 pm. Seeds, 28 April 2020 sometimes plants and always other gardeners to chat with about all the growing things. You are invited. You might find a seed or two that does really well in Ponca. And there arealways basil, parsley and lemon balm seeds.

Malabar Spinach

WHEN TO SOW THE SEEDS

Next, after you acquire your seeds, whether you saved them, bought them or brought them home from a swap, pay close attention to the information about the seed.

SAVING SEEDS

If you saved the seeds, make sure to write on your envelope or storage bag these things:

1. Growing Conditions – Sun? Shade? Fertilizer? Liked lots of water? Sahara conditions? Etc…

2. Year – and month if you are collecting the same seeds twice a year.

3. When did they sprout? Two weeks after planting? Two months? Temp? Weather? enough information so you know some history on the seeds you are saving and possibly swapping.

Kat Long

BUYING SEEDS

I always try to buy organic seeds. The seeds just seem to be hardier and sprout easier. Also, I am not a fan of this new trend of inoculating the seed in a case to make them hardier or grow better. A seed will grow or it won’t. The more you know about the seeds, the better the chances of them sprouting and growing.

Story: A few years back I bought some Malabar Spinach seeds because it looked cool. It was a vining spinach-like plant. I planted them in April with all the other seeds. The other plants came up, but no Malabar. May comes and goes. And then the June heat hit. I started noticing these little purple leafed vines in the yard and thought “Great. A new weed to deal with.” Then it dawned on me it was the Malabar Spinach finally sprouting. Malabar needs hot weather (look up Malabar Coast weather) to grow. And then, wow. It is all over the place. I saved seeds from the plants and the Malabar sprouted earlier the following year. The last time I planted it was 2018 and it sprouted in early May and was finished and seeded by August. The seed story matters.

OTHER RESOURCES FOR INFORMATION ARE:

The Kay County OSU Cooperative Extension office in Newkirk: 580-362-3194

OSU Extension Fact Sheets: extension.okstate.edu/factsheets