Horticulture Industry Show - 2014

We have attended the Oklahoma/Arkansas Horticulture Industry Show (HIS) several times since we began market gardening.  It is sponsored by the University of Arkansas and Oklahoma State University and alternates meeting between Fort Smith, AR, and Tulsa, OK.  This year it was in Tulsa and we attended.  There is something for everyone there.  Here's a link to information about this year's meeting.  Click on the link to the agenda under "Program and Registration" about half-way down the page.

http://www.hortla.okstate.edu/his/

This year they had a tour of a community garden sponsored by the north Tulsa DHS office.  It was very interesting.  Here are some pictures I took at the event.

In the above picture, they were demonstrating the use of black plastic film used over the beds to help warm the soil and prevent weeds.  In the spring, you punch a hole in the plastic and set your  tomato or pepper plants in the ground beneath.  We don't use plastic like this in our gardens because it is a mess to clean up and get rid of in the fall.  Plus, it just adds more trash to the landfill.

They also demonstrated the use of frost cover over winter crops to protect them from the cold.  In the first picture, notice the white PVC hoops.  They cover these hoops with a lightweight material that allows air and light in, but protects the plants.

We thoroughly enjoyed the meetings and the many topics that were covered.  They also produce a CD of all the Power Point presentations that were made there.  Everyone who attends gets a copy of the CD in the mail.  This is great since there are multiple talks going on at one time and you can't go to them all.  I highly encourage anyone who is interested in gardening to think about going next year.  Just check the link I gave above for information on next years show.  It should be available starting in November or there about.