Fall gardens created during summer

Many gardeners get their hands dirtiest during the summer months; however, even though summer might be the busiest growing season, gardening is a year-round activity.

Gardening is an activity that is good for the mind and creates fresh produce that benefits the body. Serving from garden to table can benefit families and allow gardeners to be proud of their own home-grown fresh fruits and vegetables.

“It’s so satisfying growing some of the foods you serve at home,” said Oklahoma State University Extension consumer horticulturist David Hillock. “Planting a fall garden will enable families to enjoy those fresh flavors even longer.

It is important that before the fall season arrives, gardeners decide what they want to plant and harvest during the fall before the first chill of the season, Hillock said.

“People who garden develop an appreciation and a desire for fresh, nutritious fruits and vegetables,” Hillock said. “Some of the best quality conditions for the soil yielding the fruits and vegetables. garden vegetables in Oklahoma are grown and harvested in the fall when warm, sunny days are followed by cool, humid nights.”

This mixture of hot days and cool nights produce the best conditions for the soil yielding the fruits and vegetables. However, even though the weather allows for great soil conditions, gardeners still need to tend to the soil themselves.

See Gardens on 6

Calif Poncy Staff Reporter

Over the next few weeks, The O’Colly sports staff will release its Big 12 preseason rankings in the form of team previews. This time, it’s the Houston Cougars, which our writers picked to finish 11th.

After finishing its stint in the AAC with an 8-5 record, the Houston Cougars were forced to make many changes as they prepared to move to the Big 12.

Like fellow new members UCF, Cincinnati and BYU, UH saw massive turnover in the transfer portal, and it dug heavily into the portal to find replacements. But the hole made by the loss of star running back Alton McCaskill to the transfer portal is a difficult one to fill.

During his freshman season, McCaskill burst onto the scene, rushing for nearly 1,000 yards on 189 carries.

Like many of his teammates, McCaskill used his strong showing as a springboard to leave town, heading to Colorado where he will still have three years of eligi-

While it’s easy to look at the Cougars’ losses at key positions and write them off, coach Dana Holgorsen and his staff were able to bring in several players with Big 12 experience, something the seasoned leader of UH said the team emphasizes. Holgorsen mentioned incoming quarterback Donovan Smith, formerly of Texas Tech, as someone the team brought in for this reason.

“I felt like it was important to bring a guy in with Big 12 experience, and we did that at a number of other positions as well,” Holgorsen said.

Smith is expected to win the quarterback competition against Lucas Coley and be Houston’s Week 1 starter, and with Smith’s experience at TTU, the former Red Raider should provide the Cougars’ offense with a steady hand at quarterback.

“Donovan has impressed me,” Holgorsen said.

“I think his best days are ahead of him, he’s only been playing quarterback for a couple of years, so he’s got the upper hand right now based on 21 games of experience.”

Smith is replacing longtime Cougars starter Clayton Tune, who is now a member of the Arizona Cardinals.

What are the games of the week in the Big 12 in 2023?

calibur program like Penn State for the first week of the season, but, c’mon, who isn’t going to watch Deion Sanders’ Colorado debut at TCU.

It’s an 11 a.m. game on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff, and with not many other great matchups in week one, Colorado facing the national champion runner-ups may be the best game on Saturday.

College football is near, which means waking up for ESPN’s College GameDay way too early and sitting in that same spot on the couch until Sunday. There are great games each week across the country, and especially in the Big 12 this season with 14 teams in the conference. Here’s the best games each week to mark on your calendar.

Week 1: Colorado at TCU Sure, West Virginia is the only team brave (or dumb) enough to schedule a high-

Week 2: Texas at Ala- bama

If you don’t think it’s Texas-Alabama, it’s because you’re at Gaylord Memorial that day.

Alabama has only lost twice at home in the past 10 years. One when Joe Burrow made a stop on his Heisman tour in 2019 and the other in 2015 to Chad Kelly. Can Quinn Ewers be the third? He might’ve been able to beat the Tide at home last season before a broken collar bone took him out in the second quarter. Alabama looks different this year, too. There isn’t a Heisman favorite taking snaps. In fact, the starting quarterback hasn’t been named. So, this could be the year Texas starts a season-long “We’re back” tour in Tuscaloosa.

Week 3: TCU at Houston Though BYU-Arkansas is an intriguing matchup on name-recognition alone, I expect the Razorbacks to thrash the Cougs in Fayetteville.

Meanwhile, the other new Big 12 Cougs will host TCU in the first conference game of the season. The environment is sure to be something on its own. Either Houston fans pack the stadium in its first game in the conference, or TCU alumni invade. The game should be good, too. This could be the first glimpse into whether the Horned Frogs are ready to run-it-back or if Houston is a legit threat in the conference.