Gardeners Anxious To Plant for Fun, Food and Savings

Chris Howell, NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- With the recent freezes, many local gardeners have seen their tomatoes and early flowers damaged by bitter Oklahoma weather.

"I've already bought some herbs and I left them out late one afternoon...zap!" lamented Bonnie Klein.  "I'm still going to buy some more today. I think it's going to stay warm now."

"As far as putting into the ground, we recommend waiting until the 15th," said Southwood Landscape and Nursery's Stephen Smith.  "A lot of people like to start early, but you remember what happen last weekend and people who planted back in March, it was a huge issue."

Smith says he has noticed an increasing trend for people to tend their own yards and gardens, and a trend for people raising more vegetables.

"The numbers of tomato and vegetable plants that have gone out have been a whole lot more. The number of seeds that we sell has gone up almost exponentially."

Some gardeners are hopeful about their upcoming bounty of vegetables.

"We should have quite a bit frozen I hope, so we can enjoy them throughout the winter," said Gayla Cox.

Bonnie Hunt was already hedging her bets a bit.

"I also go to the farmer's market though if my garden fails," she said, "so I can always fall back on the farmers market."