Working in the garden growing up wasn't my favorite thing to do, as my brother and I had to help my Dad in the hot sun planting, hoeing and weeding. But once it started producing, it was fun taking a salt shaker out, pulling off a tomato and biting off a warm salty taste. Of course the tomato juice ran down our arms and shirt, but it was worth it.
Once I became an adult, I tried to plant a garden, usually only a few plants like tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, cantaloupes and watermelons; just one or two of each. Nothing spectacular, just enough for me and my daughter. Eventually, work and where I lived made it impossible to plant and grow a garden.
October 2017 I moved from Alabama to Oklahoma, being retired I decided to plant a container garden in 2018. I gathered all the empty containers Jennifer, my daughter, had and proceeded to plan what I wanted to plant.
The first hurtle was dirt. In Alabama, rain made the dirt soft and undergrowth rotting made it fertile, but Oklahoma dirt is hard and red; so I had to buy bagged dirt. Being used to Alabama rain I didn't water enough. Needless to say, my first Oklahoma garden was a disaster. That's when I discovered Oklahoma wind and heat. Did you know tomatoes won't produce if it's too hot and dry?
I can't remember where I saw that Oklahoma State University (OSU) had an Extension center in Guthrie and that the center was offering a 3 or 4 month course to become a Master Gardener; at a low cost. I signed up for it quickly! It was worth it! It's still trial and error, but I believe I'm making progress.
