Cornell Cooperative Extension

Onondaga County
seedlings in a flat
Image by Sandy Repp

Let us help you get started with vegetable gardening!

Master Gardener volunteer conducts a pH soil test on a soil sample
Image by Sandy Repp

A soil pH test is a great first step to successful gardening.

Produce at a farm stand
Image by Sandy Repp

Find recommended varieties of vegetables that grow well in our area!

Striped cucumber beetle Acalymma vittatum (Fabricius, 1775) from Bugwood.org
Image by David Cappaert, MSU, Bugwood.org

What's eating your plants? We can help you find out, and suggest ways to control it!

Master Gardener logo, 800x400 in yellow & green

Learn skills and share what you know, as a volunteer in the CCE Master Gardener program.

Gardening

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County is your resource for information on soils, site improvement, plant selection, proper plant care, eco-friendly practices, integrated pest management, composting and so much more! We offer free or low-cost gardening classes and tours all year long, and opportunities to share your love of gardening as a volunteer! Call us or come by today! 

Vegetable Garden

2024 Vegetable Varieties

Vegetable varieties listed in this report should be well adapted for New York State community, school, and home gardens.

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fresh compost

Make Compost!

Find resources here on how to start and maintain a home compost bin! Learn how to turn food and yard waste into "black gold" for your garden!

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CCE-Schuyler Community Gardens 2009 squash, raised beds

Raised Bed Gardening

Raised beds have advantages that make them a good choice in many gardening situations. They are often a lower-cost option to provide plants with well-drained soil.

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Houseplant

Houseplants

Growing plants indoors can be difficult, but here are some links that may be helpful in making you successful at growing plants indoors:

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Kitchen garden in Gers, France with marigolds, tomatoes and trellises

Food Gardening

Interested in having your own vegetable garden, at home or in your neighborhood? Find links and resources here that will help get you started.

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Black-tailed deer grazing by the roadside in Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington [public domain].

Deer Resistant Plants

Is there anything they won't eat? Although no plant is completely "deer proof", we've compiled a chart of deer-resistant varieties that may avoid their browsing.

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Last updated February 7, 2024

Gardening

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Find Your Zone!

The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map helps gardeners and growers determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. For the first time, the map is available as an interactive GIS-based map, for which a broadband Internet connection is recommended. Users may also simply type in a ZIP Code and find the hardiness zone for that area. 

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Insect Diagnostic Lab

For more information about an insect, or how to deal with an insect problem in or around your home or garden, contact the Insect Diagnostic Lab, a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension in the Department of Entomology. For a $25 fee, an insect or related arthropod can be shipped to the lab, or a detailed photo can be emailed, for expert identification. Diagnostician Jason Dombroskie, Ph.D. has many years ofexperience identifying insects and other arthropods. More information about this service, including fact sheets on common outdoor and indoor insects, can be found athttp://idl.entomology.cornell.edu/