and carrots out of the ground . She said it ’ s kept them going .
“ It ’ s a big testimonial what a garden can to for you ,” Rose said . “ That ’ s why we named it ‘ The Healing Garden .’”
The garden consists of raised garden beds and drip irrigation systems and plays host to squash , peppers , onions , garlic and more .
FRESH AND NATURAL HOMEGROWN ITEMS
With items being cared for naturally and with love , the gardeners maintain their soil to grow as organic as possible .
“ We don ’ t fertilize our garden ,” Rose said . “ We ’ ve got our soil worked up where it ’ s sustainable , we don ’ t rototill it . It ’ s a notill organic type — it ’ s not certified , but we do grow naturally and organically .”
Rose said each year they perform their soil test and every year they come out “ just perfect .”
“ We have earth worms in there that seed and fertilize our soil for us ,” Rose said . “ It ’ s been a win-win .”
In the colder months , the garden stocks items such as lettuce , spinach and eggs .
They also have a refrigerator stocked in the mornings for patrons .
“ It a first come , first serve ,” Rose said . “ We don ’ t grow a massive amount of stuff .”
In the warmer months , Rose said their main specialty is tomatoes , especially in the summer time .
“ We ’ ve got a 120-foot-long hoop house ,” Rose said . “ It ’ s just strictly tomatoes .”
In March , The Healing Garden put on a “ plant swap ” at their Healing Garden Farm stand for those who wanted to kickstart their garden .
TIP AND TRICKS OF THE TRADE
While the love of gardening seemingly resides in their blood after The Carters each grew up in a gardening atmosphere , Rose said watching videos of others giving gardening tips has helped her immensely , as well as taking classes with the OSU Extension program .
“ We ’ ve both gone though the master gardener course ,” Rose said . “ We learned tons through that and it ’ s still a valuable resource for any kind of information .”
According to Rose , other than classes and videos , they have learned most of their
skills through trial and error .
“ You just plant something , you hope it does good , you learn from your mistakes , you figure out what went wrong and you try again next year ,” Rose said . “ Gardeners are the most optimistic people in the whole wide world .”
Rose said when they were able to get the hoop houses , they were able work through the environment changes a little easier .
Although there are many ups to the garden , there ’ s difficult situations as well , including fighting off the bugs of Oklahoma .
“ We figured out ways to combat that using our farm animals ,” Rose said . “ We have geese that help keep the weeds down in our gardening area , they eat the bugs . We ’ ve got muscovy ducks that eat flies and mosquitos and grass hoppers .”
Rose said they work a lot with nature to keep the garden successful .
“ Everything is beneficial in the garden ,” Rose said .
ADVICE TO NEWCOMERS From inside tips to grow as you go , Rose said anybody can grow a successful garden ,
8 DUNCAN MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022