Master Gardener: Seed to Supper Farm expands to increase vegetable production for donations

We started our Seed to Supper Farm in 2022. We had this idea about starting a farm for some time but then were able to partner with the research division of OSU to actually get some space for this project.

The OSU Research division has about 22 research stations across the state. At these research stations, they are researching crops and how to improve production of those crops, as well as how to improve cattle production, etc.

One of those research stations is located on about 100 acres in Bixby, where they were generous enough to loan us almost 2 acres for our proposed farm. Recently, they cleared some additional land so we could have close to around an estimated 3 acres.

We are using this land to help teach Tulsa Master Gardeners how to grow vegetables on a larger scale than they might be able to experience as a home vegetable grower. When I say a larger scale, we recently planted over 600 onions.

Last year, we installed 4-inch water lines from a well to supply the water needs of our farm. During our first year of production, we grew about 5,000 pounds of produce. Last year, we were closer to 15,000 pounds. Better irrigation and planning as well as an awesome group of dedicated volunteers were responsible for that increase.

All the produce that is grown on our farm is donated to area food pantries. We were even able to host some of the boys from the Tulsa Boy’s Home at our farm last summer, and it was great. They were able to come out to the farm and harvest their own corn. We then helped them cook the corn and ate at the farm. It was a great day.

This year, we are back at it. We’ve doubled the number of rows in about half of our space, and planting has begun.

Here’s what we are growing in the way of cool-season vegetable crops: onions, potatoes, spinach, turnips, collards, beets, Swiss chard, kale, radishes and cabbage. Onions were the first to go in the ground in mid-February. Everything except the cabbage is being started from seed and most of the seeds went in the ground last week. With soil temperatures up around 50 degrees, we were good to start planting. We are growing over 100 cabbage starts to put in the ground in a week or two along with four 100-foot rows of potatoes.

Cool-season crops are crops that do better when the temperatures are cooler. Cool-season crops not mentioned so far would include broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas and rhubarb. No particular reason we didn’t plant any of these crops, but we are hoping to provide a lot of a limited variety rather than a lot of variety without much volume, if that makes sense.

Cool-season crops are fun for several reasons. First of all, it gets you out in the soil earlier in the year than if you were just doing warm-season crops. Plus, there’s just less pressure from weeds and pests during this cool-season growing period, making it much more enjoyable.

Another great thing about growing cool-season crops is that it lets you work in another round of planting later in the year. Or you can use that space for a fall garden where you grow crops such as pumpkins, acorn squash, butternut squash, beans, etc. Either way, it’s a good way to put your land/growing space to good use. There are lots of options.

As far as the warm-season crops go, we are planning on growing peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, eggplant and okra. We’ve already started the seeds for transplants of the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. We’ll plant our warm-season crops somewhere around mid-April depending on how the weather is doing. We also plan on growing sweet corn again this year, which will be going in the ground, too.

So, as we enter this growing season, we’ll keep you in the loop with what we are doing, and maybe it will help you plan out your growing year, as well. The bottom line is that it is time, and we are all excited to be back out there with our hands in the soil. At some point, we hope to have an open house and invite you all out to see what we are doing and maybe get some ideas for your garden space.

There are also a few spots left for our Urban Gardener/Seed to Supper Vegetable growing class if you would like to learn how to be a better gardener. This class is for those just starting to grow vegetables or those just wanting to up their gardener game. Or, if you are wanting to purchase some vegetable plants for your home garden, we have a good selection in our annual Plant Sale/Fundraiser right now. Also, our Lunch and Learn Series of classes starts this month. Check our website (tulsamastergardeners.org) for more info. See you in the garden!