Cornell Cooperative Extension

Essex County
seedlings in a flat
Image by Sandy Repp

Let us help you get started with vegetable gardening!

Master Gardener Volunteer

Plants to grow and share!

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, red and black

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

Gardening

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex 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! Are you a home gardener or want to be one? Master Gardener Volunteers are available to help you get started. Have a gardening/pest/general horticulture question? We are happy to help! There are many ways to connect with us - try one of these options:

  • Email our horticulture program at essexhort@cornell.edu OR
  • Call our office at 518-962-4810 OR
  • Fill out and submit the "Ask Extension" form below OR
  • Stop by our office, 8487 U.S. Route 9 in Lewis. Bring your soil, bugs, photos, plants, whatever!
Salmonella in Songbirds

Salmonella in Songbirds

Learn more about the risks of Salmonella in songbirds

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flats of sprouting seeds

First Planting Dates

Consult our charts of popular vegetables and the earliest and latest dates they safely can be planted (as seeds, transplants, or sets) in our region.

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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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Japanese maple, Acer palmatum Thunb.

Lawns & Ornamentals

Our resources on annuals, perennials, lawns, trees and shrubs can help you have a more beautiful home landscape.

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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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Striped cucumber beetle Acalymma vittatum (Fabricius, 1775) from Bugwood.org

Pests & IPM

IPM is a system for managing pest problems using a range of safe, least-toxic methods. Find IPM resources here!

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Contact

Mina Weymouth-Little
Consumer Horticulture, MGV Coordinator & 4-H Educator
mcw252@cornell.edu
518-962-4810 x 416

Last updated February 19, 2025

Gardening

Find Your Zone!

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The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Maphelps 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.

The USDA Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. Use their online tool to see soil type data over an aerial map of Lewis County.

Events

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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 o fexperience identifying insects and other arthropods. More information about this service, including fact sheets on common outdoor and indoor insects, can be found at http://idl.entomology.cornell.edu/