Old Timey Cornfield pumpkin is tasty, as I'm sure you read. It withstood the squash bugs. Hit me up via email if you'd like to have some. The seeds just finished drying.

bon

I bet your garlic will be okay. I can't even dig mine out. There is always some that comes back after I've harvested.

Kennebec is my favorite potato for dependability. I like the flavor of Yukon Gold better. But Kennebec always produces a lot and they are a good size too. The common reds, like Pontiac Red and Red LaSoda seem to do quite well too.

My newest mainstay for beans is Woods Mountain Crazy Bean. I am a sucker for dependability and productivity. This one has great flavor too boot.

I believe that any okra will do great here. I grow Stewarts Zeebest.

http://seedsavingnetwork.proboards.com/thread/20/stewarts-zeebest

George

George
Tahlequah, OK

Here is a link that might be useful: Woods Mountain Crazy Bean

There's a trick to starting both peas and broccoli in this climate. There have been numerous discussions over the years that you should be able to bring up. I like Super Sugar Snap peas and Packman broccoli, although there are others that do well. For broccoli the day-to-maturity (from transplant to harvest) should be less than 60 days. Add 6 weeks to that for starting seeds. I start mine in midFeb. Start peas the same time but only give them 2 or 3 weeks before planting them out.

I don't necessarily think that there's much of anything in terms of vegetable varieties that is "the best" for Oklahoma. There are many varieties that do well here, and I think that with most crops, success hinges more on how you grow them and not on which variety you grow. So, don't be afraid to grow what you find on the local seed racks if you'd rather go that route than order seeds online. The odds are that those varieties will do really well.

In a few cases, mostly because of timing/maturity issues as they relate to the onset of intense heat here, variety does matter. Or, at least, specific types matter. With onions, for example, you need to grow short-day or intermediate daylength types here, not long daylength types. (Although, to make it more confusing, I had great harvests from two long daylength types last year, so nothing is written in stone.)

While I won't declare anything to be 'the best' variety for Oklahoma, I'll list for you some favorites of mine that produce well here, year in and year out.

POTATOES
Red: Red LaSoda, Red Pontiac, Norland Red
White: Kennebec, Irish Cobbler
Yellow: Yellow FInn, Yukon Gold
Russett: :Nortkota
Blue: All Blue, Adirondack Blue

TOMATOES
Early: Early Girl, Fourth of July, Better Bush
Main Crop: Big Beef, Champion, Brandy Boy, Neve's Azorea Red, Cherokee Purple, Pruden's Purple, Mortgage Lifter, JD's Special C-Tex, Gary O Sena, Orange Minsk, Dr Wyche's Yellow (DWY is an Oklahoma heirloom from the Hugo, OK, area)
Small (Bite-sized): Sun Gold or Sun Sugar, Black Cherry, Sweet Million, Ildi
Canning or Cooking: Heidi, San Marzano Redorta, Viva Italia, Striped Roman, Rutgers

GREEN BEANS
Bush: Contender, Provider, Top Crop, Tanya's Pink Pod, Purple Queen, State Half-runner
Pole: Rattlesnake, Purple Pole, Kentucky Wonder
Lima: Dixie Butterpea, Fordhook 22, Henderson Bush Bean

SQUASH, SUMMER
Early Prolific Straighneck
Yellow Crookneck
Horn of Plenty
Raven (zucchini)
Eight Ball (round type)
Teot Bat Put (avocado squash from C. moschata family, so resistant to squash vine borers)

SQUASH, WINTER (Note: All pumpkins are winter squash, but not all winter squash are pumpkins.)
Waltham Butternut
Early Butternut
Long Island Cheese
Seminole
Dickenson

PUMPKIN (Note: the orange and white pumpkins associated with Halloween are more decorative in nature and most are inferior in eating quality to those listed above under winter squash). Small Sugar Pie is an exception.
Howden
Cornfield
Lumina (white)
Knucklehead (warted)
Jack-B-Little
Baby Boo
Small Sugar Pie

PEAS
Edible Podded: Sugar Snap, Super Sugar Snap, Sugar Lace, Cascadia, Opal Creek Yellow, Spring Blush
Southern (aka cowpeas) Pink Eye Purple Hull, Colossus, Big Boy, Red Ripper/Mandy

ONIONS: Candy, Superstar, Texas Supersweet (aka Texas 1015Y)

RADISH
French Breakfast
Purple Plum
Cherry Belle
White Icicle
Rat-tail (grown for edible seed pods)

CUCUMBER
Pickling: County Fair (incredible disease resistance), H-19 Little Leaf, Sumter
Slicing: Lemon, Straight EIght, Sweet Success

BROCCOLI
Packman, Coronado Crown, Small Miracle (if space-challenged)

LETTUCE
Bibb: Buttercrunch
Crisphead/Batavian: Anuenue, Sierra
Looseleaf: Australian Yellowleaf, Black Seeded Simpson, Deer Tongue, Drunken Woman, Salad Bowl, Red Salad Bowl, Oakleaf
Romaine/Cos: Jericho, Parris Island Cos, Rouge d'Hiver (fall lettuce)

You also can sow any sort of mesclun mix and most varieties in the mesclun mixes will perform here. Some seed companies (Southern Exposure Seed Exchange is one example) sell a Summer Mesclun mix that works well for us in spring. (Our summer heat tends to make lettuce bolt in the summer months, but the most heat tolerant types last late into spring or early into summer)

OKRA
Stewart's Zeebest, Beck's Big Buck, Green Velvet

STRAWBERRIES: Ozark Beauty, Surecrop

HERBS:

Basil: Genovese, Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil, Lime Basil, Aristotle, Littleleaf, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin
Borage: I grow both the blue-flowered one and the white flowered one
Chamomile: German
Chives: I grow both the common onion chives (purple flowers) and garlic chives (white flowers)
Cilantro: Confetti, Slo-Bolt, Santo
Dill: Long Island Mammoth (grow the similar but smaller Bouquet if your size is limited), Fernleaf, Dukat
Fennel: I grow the common green one, Bronze Fennel and Florence Fennel
Lemon Balm
Papalo is a warm-weather substitute for Cilantro, which is a cool-season crop that bolts when our summer heat arrives
Parsley: Dark Green Italian (flat leaf), Moss Curled, Forest
Roselle: (Hibiscus sandariffa) You grow this one for its red flower calyxes, which can be used in tea (they put the Red and the Zing in Red Zinger tea) or in jelly or jam, or the leaves (which can be cooked and eaten like spinach)
Rosemary: 'Arp' is probably the most cold hardy
Sage: I grow the common garden sage, but Golden Sage and Pineapple Sage are others that grow well here
Tarragon: true French tarragon doesn't do well in our heat, but a great substitute for it in cooking is Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida) which does grow well here

I didn't list any medicinal herbs because I don't know if you're interested in them, but can come back and list some if you are.

Be very careful with seed companies. Some are very good, others are less so.

I order from a lot of different seed companies and probably could list several dozen without even having to think about it, but I'll try to list only the best of the best in terms of quality, price and reliability:

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Sample Seed Shop, Johnny's Selected Seeds,Victory Seeds, Bountiful Gardens, Willhite Seed, Swallowtail Garden Seeds, Nichols Garden Nursery, Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, Pinetree Garden Seeds, Tomato Growers Supply Company, Sandhill Preservation Center and Totally Tomatoes. I love Marianna's Heirloom Seeds for some of the less well-known heirloom tomato varieties. Heavenly Seed is a company that specializes in heirloom seed varieties.

If I could only order from one company per year, I'd probably alternate and order from each of these four on a four-year rotation: Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Bountiful Gardens, Baker Creek and Tomato Growers Supply. When you need seeds in a hurry, Willhite, Sample Seed Shop and Swallowtail Garden Seeds all ship really quickly. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention Renee's Garden Seeds, a long-time favorite. I especially like Renee's packets that feature three varieties in one packet (three watermelons varieties, three tomato varieties, three bean varieties, etc.) as this allows me to grow three varieties for the price of one and she dyes the varieties with non-toxic food dye so you can plant as many or as few of each variety as you wish.

Hope this helps, and for fun, I'll link the Oklahoma State University list of recommended vegetable varieties for the home gardener. I am not sure how often this one updates, though, so some of the newest varieties might not be on this list.

Here is a link that might be useful: OSU-Recommended Veggie Varieties

Thanks for all the information, girls and guys! It is very helpful.

Yes, I'm interested in medicinal herbs. I've read a little about making tinctures. Making my own would be cheaper.

My broccoli plants are still going. I put a bag over them last night, but got in too late to check on them tonight. Just for fun, I would love to get some to harvest. This is my first time to grow broccoli.