Horticulture Agent Articles
How to Grow Vegetables and Fruit
Are you motivated to try to grow your own vegetables and fruits. 
Not sure where to begin? Maybe you have tried before without much success? Even the most seasoned gardener had to start somewhere. Don’t worry. We have all the resources you need to succeed.
There are many benefits to a vegetable and/or fruit garden. We all know consuming fresh fruits and vegetables is the basis of a healthy diet. What better way to supplement your diet than from your own garden? As an added bonus, gardening helps reduce stress by getting you out into the fresh air and sunshine. Gardening is also a great source of exercise.
The Johnson County Extension program has a wealth of knowledge provided by our Horticulture Agents and our Extension Master Gardeners. They have developed numerous articles for the local media and press releases on timely topics. These articles can assist you with finding the information you need to make wise choices in the lawn or garden.
The Gardening Calendar and average Frost Dates will help you plan when best to plant your garden. It is a good idea to begin your process with a Soil Test.
Gardening Tasks by Season
- Benefits of Bolting: Supporing Pollinators in the Fall Vegetable Garden
- Cleaning Vegetable Gardens
- Cover Cropping in the Backyard Garden
- Crop Rotation
- Fall Clean Up of the Fruit and Vegetable Garden
- Fall Salad Gardening
- Fall Vegetable Garden Cleanup Prevents Problems Later
- Fall Vegetables Gardening I
- Fall Vegetable Garden Harvest: Tips for Maximizing Your Late-Season Produce
- Growing Transplants for Fall Gardening
- How to Prepare Fruit Trees for Winter: Water, Mulch and Protection for Kansas Gardeners
- The Four Season Garden
- Last Chance Vegetable Seed Sowing
- Noting the Learning Moments
- Pawpaws: The Native Fruit
- Planting Your Fall Vegetable Garden
- Removing Garden Debris
- Rooted in Gratitude: Giving Thanks for Local Food
- Season Extension Methods
- Time to Plant Garlic and Shallots
- Using Low Tunnels
- What to Do Before the First Freeze
- Grow Lights for Home and Garden
- Late Winter Fruit Pruning
- Lighting Options for Starting Seed (LEDs vs. Flourescent)
- Mid-Winter Fruit Tree Protection
- Making Sense of Seed Catalogs
- Saving Old Seeds
- Winter Planning and Prep for the Spring Season
- Winter Garden Reset: How to Rest, Recharge, and Prep for Spring
- Beginning Season Checklist
- Building a Better Raised Bed
- "Critical" Temperatures for Fruit Trees
- Companion Planting
- Early Season Pest Prevention
- Early Pest Awareness
- Earth Friendly Gardening: Simple Practices for Better Soil, Water and Plants
- How to Build a Resilient Vegetable Garden that can Handle Midwest Extremes
- Intercropping in the Vegetable Garden
- Mitigating Transplant Shock
- Seed Starting and Healthy Highlights: Dig Your Dinner Series
- Sprays for Fruit Trees
- Spring Season Extension Methods
- Starting Seeds Indoors
- Succession Planting
- Terminating Cover Crops
- Placing a Vegetable Garden
- Preventing Bolting
- Transplanting Perennial Vegetables
- Choosing Watermelons
- Container Gardens versus Traditional Gardens
- Early Garden Rejuvenation for Succession Cropping
- Easing Fruit Loads
- Fertilize Strawberries in August
- Growing Vegetables in Containers
- Growing Vegetables in Pots
- Lacking Vegetable Production
- Peach Harvesting
- Summer To-Dos in the Backyard Orchard
- Using Shade Cloth
Asparagus
Beans
Blueberries
Broccoli and Cauliflower
Horseradish and Parsnips
Fennel and Kohlrabi
Garlic
- Garlic Curing and Harvesting
- Garlic Planting
- Playful Pumpkins and Gainful Garlic-Dig Your Dinner Series October 2023
Grapes
Herbs
Miscellaneous: Applies to all crops
Onions
Potatoes
Pumpkins
- How to Pick the Perfect Pumpkin
- Playful Pumpkins and Gainful Garlic-Dig Your Dinner Series October 2023
Squash
Strawberries
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
- All About Tomatoes, Dig Your Dinner Series
- Blossom End Rot
- Growing Great Tomatoes
- Growing Tomatoes: Tips to Help Ensure a Good Harvest
- How to Grow Your Own Tomatoes
- Pre-Frost Tomato Harvest
- The Root of It
- Troubleshooting Tomato Issues
Zucchinis
This series of short videos along with articles, will provide you with timely tips and information to help you harvest a bountiful crop. Step-by-step, they are your guide to success.
- Garden Fertilization
- Gardening in a Raised Bed
- Getting a Handle on Weeds
- Getting a Soil Test
- Growing Seasons - Spring, Summer and Fall
- Inground Garden Bed
- Introduction to Vegetable Gardening
- Locating the Vegetable Garden
- Raised Bed Garden Spacing
- Space Saving Tips – Go Vertical
Environmental-Best Management Practices
- Composting in the City
- Heat Waves and Humidity
- Intensive Spacing for Raised Beds*
- Mulching the Garden Saves Time
- Organic Fertilization Methods
- Weeding the Vegetable Garden
- Produce Safety in the Vegetable Garden
Garden Equipment and Tools
- Grow Lights for Home and Garden
- Lighting Options for Starting Seed (LEDs vs. Flourescent)
- Slow Tools for Small Farms and Home Gardens
Watering
The Kansas Garden Guide is a fantastic resource that combines knowledge gained from decades of gardening, making it an essential sourcebook to garden throughout communities in Kansas. This is available to purchase in our office or access it online.
An additional resource is the Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide.
The Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide can be ordered from this link. We have limited copies for sale in our office as well.
Dig Your Dinner
From sowing seeds to sautéing your vegetables, and picking produce to preserving it, there is much to be known in the world of vegetable gardening! This monthly webinar series features Agents Anthony Reardon (Horticulture-Small Farms) and Chelsea Reinberg (Nutrition, Food Safety, and Health) who discuss the connections between growing and serving foods, suitable to the seasons. Learn more
Have questions? The Garden Hotline is staffed by trained EMG volunteers and Extension staff who will assist you with questions.
Phone: (913) 715-7050 Email: garden.help@jocogov.org