Do any of you Wyoming fellas garden there or is the dry sandy soil and heat forbidding?

I work with a gal from Newcastle and she has an awesome garden.

My friend is a cattle rancher in Campbell County. His wife has a huge productive garden.

I know nothing of your conditions but if you got fertile dirt and temperate climate you can grow anything. You may have to haul water or shelter or shade depending but it can be done.

Heck, there's a guy in Kansas growing citrus using geothermal.

Depending on where you are some spots are pretty good Wheatland—Torenton. Others not so much Rock Springs. lol. Some areas the soil is extremely alkaline, so much so that the ground looks like there’s snow on it in the middle of summer.

Almost as much diversity as Texas, sand dunes to black loam.

The soil is your biggest factor since it ain't cheap to haul in good soil. Most soils aren't perfect but most are close enough that some adjustments and amendments can get it into good shape. First thing is to get it tested to determine ph and needed fertilizer. Most veggies like neutral to slightly acid range. They need this to take up the nutrients from the fertilizer. If ph is off they can't use what you give them in nutrients. Next, address drainage if needed. Clays may need loosened or sands may need organic matter. For that matter almost all soils benefit from organics and humus.

Granny drilled it my head that if you got land then take care of the land and the land will take care of you. I take that to mean the very dirt that grows my food.

I think some of the challenges in Wyoming might be the frost free period and all that crazy wind and heat. Using cloches in the spring can help with some of that. Warrior covered the soil quality issues pretty well. Sandy soils can really benefit with additions of compost and I know that Wyoming has a lot of sandy areas.

When I lived in north Alabama okra was as easy to grow as weeds. Here in east Idaho the growing season is too short. My wife has started some plants in the house to be transplanted after Memorial Day, but chances of getting a meaningful amount of fruit are slim. At 4700 feet above sea level snow, though unlikely here in mid summer, is possible. Boise Idaho, for example, is considerably warmer than Idaho Falls.

Okra is in the hibiscus/cotton family. They like it hot.
You might try warming the soil with black plastic to gain a few days but not much you can do about climate short of a hoop or green house.

Gary, Where we are at, (northern wyoming), It is sandy and rocky. We have found that you have to make youre own dirt and in raised beds. Low humidity and the hot sun will cook alot of plants. partially shading them at times is important. Takes alot of water!! Shorter growing season also adds issues. We are at about 5000 ft here. We do end up with a pretty good garden but its alot of extra work. Last year we had a lot of grass hoppers to battle too.

I have grow everything from strawberries to tomatoes with a bit of extra care. Some things grow with ease some take some extra effort. I even grew artichokes one year, did not get a big harvest but they grew. Potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, beans, peas are all my early stuff. I put them in before last frost. Tomatoes, pepper, squash, melons I put in first week of June as transplants and get plenty. I built up my soil with a lot of compost every year and use some covers in Oct. to get extra harvest. One benefit of gardening in Wy I dont have bugs, molds and fungus like they do in warmer climates.

I lived in Riverton for 8 years and grew a great garden every year, We had 2 years the grasshopper were real bad but you could grow a good garden.
Famers around there grew 1000's of acres of corn, beans and sugar beets

I imagine keeping the rabbits out of the garden could be an issue. Last time I was in Riverton there were lots of jacks around.

I can hardly grow anything here. The season just isn't long enough to grow much with out getting frosted or snowed on. MOF it snowed here mon and a little tues morning. We are in the 20s at night and 50s to 60s right now. The trees and bushes haven't even leaved out yet.

I live in between Cody and Thermop, they can grow good gardens.

Green houses are the best bet for growing here