Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Lawn, Gardening & Pests

Lawn, Gardening & Pests

A yard that feels and looks like home. A bountiful harvest. Grow your own and sow something beautiful.

Background of assorted vegetables with the outline of West Virginia that reads "Colors of the Garden"

Get the 2023 Garden Calendar

The WVU Extension Garden Calendar is produced and distributed each year as a service to West Virginia’s many home gardeners and agricultural producers.

Fresh from the Garden Calendar
Download the Garden Calendar
Master Gardener Program

Master Gardener Program

The WVEMGA helps West Virginians understand horticultural and environmental issues through community engagement in gardening and beautification projects at schools, parks, public institutions, and locations throughout the state.

How to Join WVEGMA 

Upcoming Lawn, Gardening & Pests Events

Recent News

Unique Tomatoes to Grow in WV

Red, green, yellow and orange tomato varieties on a table.

One of our favorite summer crops is the colored tomato.  Tomatoes can be considered a “wonder fruit” because of their health-promoting phytonutrients. Phytonutrient-rich tomatoes are usually a vibrant red, orange or yellow color and help paint a beautiful picture of health.

Tomatoes that are red have high amounts of lycopene, which helps slow our skin’s aging and helps fight against certain chronic diseases, as well as vitamins C, B3, B5, B6, E and K. Red tomatoes contain more vitamin A than any other color.

Read Unique Tomatoes to Grow in WV

AgAlert! Herbicide Contaminated Compost

Compost has traditionally been used by growers not only for supplying nutrients to the soil and plant but also due to its multiple beneficial attributes, such as balancing pH, enhancing water holding capacity, and boosting soil structure and beneficial microbial populations to improve overall soil quality for plant growth and development. Compost can hold nutrients for a longer time and deliver to plants when needed. Nutrients found in compost are released slowly as the compost decomposes, reducing nutrient loss through prevention of off-site movement. Despite all these benefits, herbicide contaminated composts can do lots of harm to plants, especially to those belonging to the family Solanaceae, which includes tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Plant distortion due to growth regulator type herbicide is shown in Figure 1. 

Tomato plant with curled leaves due to growth regulator type herbicide.  Potato plant with curled leaves due to growth regulator type herbicide.

Tomato plant with curled leaves due to growth regulator type herbicide.

Read AgAlert! Herbicide Contaminated Compost

Purple Carrots are Filled with Antioxidants

Bunches of carrots stand in jars to be canned.

When you think of carrots, you most likely picture a bright orange carrot found in a salad, beef roast or crunchy snack. However, carrots come in a multitude of colors, including purple! In fact, it’s believed that the first domesticated  carrots weren’t orange at all – they were purple and white.

So why should you try growing or eating purple carrots?  Purple vegetables have antioxidants called anthocyanins, which delay cellular aging and help prevent the formation  of blood clots. Anthocyanins also help with muscle recovery after intense exercise. Furthermore, they can inhibit the development and progression of some types of cancers.

Read Purple Carrots are Filled with Antioxidants

Join the Spring 2023 Master Gardener Training

female planting in a garden

WVU Extension Master Gardener training, typically offered through in-person courses organized by WVU Extension offices around the state, will once again be available online via Zoom sessions. 

WVU Extension will continue offering online Master Gardener training classes for the spring, beginning on March 2 through June 29. Classes will be held every Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. 

Read Join the Spring 2023 Master Gardener Training

Leafy Greens are Packed with Vitamins

Green collard greens with red and white stems sit in a jar.

Nothing packs a nutritional punch quite like leafy greens. The dark greens supply folate, a B vitamin that promotes heart health. The vitamin K of dark green leafy vegetables provide many health benefits, including protecting bones from osteoporosis and preventing inflammatory diseases.

Thanks to their high content of antioxidants, green leafy vegetables also may be one of the best cancer-preventing foods. Studies have shown that eating two to three servings of green leafy vegetables per week may lower the risk of certain cancers and heart disease.

Read Leafy Greens are Packed with Vitamins