CompostaBlog

What: 2009 Horticulture Industries Show Conference
When: January 16 & 17
Where: Holiday Inn City Center Fort Smith, AR

It’s time to register for the 2009 Conference. December 12 is the pre-registration deadline for the conference and hotel.

“Conserving the Future – Managing Risks” is the theme for the 28th Arkansas and Oklahoma Horticulture Industries Show. This two-day grower meeting and trade show is sponsored by the University of Arkansas, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa Community College, the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture. It has consistently provided growers the latest information on vegetables, fruit, herbs, Christmas trees, farmers market crops and public gardening issues. Growers from Oklahoma, Arkansas and surrounding states are welcome to attend.

On Friday and Saturday, each day will feature a keynote speaker following with six different grower organizations of H.I.S. providing concurrent educational programming on the following topic areas: Christmas Trees, Vegetables, Fruit, Herbs, Farmers’ Market Growing/Sustainable Agriculture, and Public Gardens/Master Gardeners. Attendees to the two-day event will receive a CD-Rom containing all programs presented during the event.

A file with information concerning the event can be opened by using Acrobat Reader. It can be downloaded at the following address: http://www.adobe. com/products/ acrobat/readstep 2_allversions. html or you can visit the website: http://www.hortla. okstate.edu/ his.htm for more information.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Donna Dollins via email or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you this year!

405-744-6460
Donna.dollins@ okstate.edu

Okay, so last year I was begging for rain. They said Oklahoma was the driest it had been since the dust bowl. But THIS year, oh my… like they say, be careful what you wish for…

The two raised beds are entirely tooo small to grow all this ‘big stuff’ zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, all my favorite summertime munchables. I need to make some new beds for next year… (note to self)

As you know from reading about the creation of my garden the raised beds were filled completely with compost, grass clippings, shredded leaves, and a bit of horse manure from the local race track thrown in.

Well, have I learned a lesson about compost ingredients this year. Last year most everything just couldn’t take the dry summer heat, no matter how much water I lavished on it. THIS year I found what that new ‘soil’ was really made of! Entirely too much nitrogen. I have leaves on the zucchini the size of antediluvian fossil records. I’ve got zucchini the size of my coffee table and I’m NOT kidding.

If anyone doubts what good compost can do, come see my garden.