News Filed Under Vegetable Gardens

Vegetable producers across the Southeast are invited to the 2025 Vegetable Field Day on July 23 at the Mississippi State University station in Verona, Mississippi.

If you grow your own vegetables, you will likely see at least a few pesky insects that want to feed on your plants. Slugs are one of the pests you may be noticing now.

Did you know yellow squash is in the pumpkin family and are 95 percent water? 

Tomatoes are a popular crop, both for commercial growers and home gardeners. Even the best tomato growers run into problems along the way! We put together a simple, easy-to-follow guide to help you spot a few of the most common tomato troubles gardeners see. 

Did you know lettuce was one of the first vegetables brought to America by Christopher Columbus? What a great fun fact!

If there’s one thing that’s important in gardening, it’s proper watering. Vegetable gardens need about 1 inch of water each week.

Mississippi’s ideal growing season means gardens can yield a lot of produce, but this usually comes with the help of pesticides to combat insects and diseases.
It is vital that home gardeners know how much time must elapse between application of the product and when the food is harvested, a time frame known as the pre-harvest interval, or PHI.

Home canning is an economical way to preserve the bounty of your garden. This Q&A may answer some questions for you, whether you’re new to canning or you’ve been canning for years.

Did you know the Mississippi State University Extension Service has a laboratory that is designated to diagnose plant diseases and nematodes? Yes, it does! Learn how the Mississippi State University Extension Service Plant Diagnostic Laboratory and its scientists protect the crops that provide our food and fiber along with other home and garden crops.

With nearly a decade of horticultural production experience, the new vegetable specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service plans to serve growers statewide.

Spring is right around the corner, and you probably are getting an itch to start setting out plants in your landscape and garden. If you’re new to gardening, you’ll need to know what plant hardiness zone you’re in.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Many of the practices associated with sustainability, such as recycling, can be extended into the garden. Composting is a way to help reduce organic waste that goes to the landfill and helps feed gardens. These organic materials, which include grass clippings, leaves and other yard wastes, account for about 30% of trash that goes to the landfill.

Fall is around the corner, but you don’t have to give up fresh produce from your garden.

You’ve likely heard of companion planting, but do the principles work?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no; and other times maybe.

There’s nothing as divine as a homegrown tomato. I’m a sucker for a tomato sandwich or a BLT during summer.

BELZONI, Miss. -- A team whose mission is to “Keep Belzoni Beautiful” has earned national recognition for its work.

Keep America Beautiful, a nonprofit organization committed to community improvement and beautification, presented the Mississippi State University Extension Service a Keep America Beautiful State Agency Partnership award for 2021. Only 13 such awards were presented nationwide. Keep Belzoni Beautiful -- KBB for short -- is a chapter of Keep Mississippi Beautiful.

What started out in 2012 as a small volunteer project to make two accessible gardens for use by residents of a Hattiesburg nursing home grew and multiplied until the group recently completed its 1,000th one. The Pine Belt Master Gardeners offer a service of making what are known as “salad tables” -- small, wooden-framed gardens raised about 3 feet off the ground. They make about 12-14 tables per month.

Pumpkins, gourds, and squash, oh my! With fall in full effect, I’m buying fall décor all the time. Do I already have several pumpkins on my porch? Yes. Will I be buying more? Also, yes. 

Simply walking out the front door each day, we’re reminded that it is a blistering hot summer season. But believe it or not, now is the time to start planning and getting ready for the fall vegetable garden. We’re only 36 days from the meteorological start of the fall gardening season.