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Content by Rhoda Burrows

Three common potato issues. From left: Potato scab, knobbing and cracking, and hollow heart.

What’s Wrong With My Potato?

We are accustomed to perfect-looking potatoes from the grocery store, but sometimes our homegrown tubers don’t meet that same standard. Following are a couple of common problems home gardeners may contend with.

A diagram of two parent plants. The left plant is an inbred plant with a red flower, long stem, and narrow leaves. (Traits are labeled: RR, LL, NN) The right is an inbred plant with a white flower, short stem, and fat leaves. (Traits are labeled: WW, SS, FF)

Saving Seed: Will the seed produce plants similar to the plant it was collected from?

It can be very rewarding to harvest and save seed of ornamental and vegetable plants. But why is it that sometimes when we plant the seed we saved, the results do not seem to be very like the plant we collected the seed from?

An apple sliced in half revealing a ripe core and brown seeds.

Picking and Storing Apples and Pears

Apples and pears are rewarding fruit to grow. Picking them at the right time and storing then under the proper conditions will enhance their flavor and help them last into the fall and winter.

fruit and vegetable garden with raised beds

Vegetable Gardening in South Dakota

Whatever your reasons to start a vegetable garden: fresh produce with great flavor, exercise, saving money, enticing children (and adults) to eat healthier food, or knowing where your food came from and how it was grown, this booklet will help you with basic information and tips to get started.

A male vendor serving a strawberry sample to an older woman at a farmers market stand.

Food Safety from Production to the Farmers Market

Food safety is an important issue at farmers markets. Customers expect the food and products they purchase to be grown and handled so that they will be safe to consume. Vendors have a responsibility to grow and handle food using good food safety practices.

Variety of fresh vegetables in blue plastic totes on a table at a farmers market.

Food and Product Regulations for the Farmers Market

Food safety regulations can come from the federal, state or local government. This article provides information on numerous regulatory topics as they apply to vendors and market managers involved with farmers markets.

strawberries growing on a vine in a pot

Strawberries in South Dakota

Learn how to grow junebearing or everbearing strawberries in home gardens.

a person putting tomatoes into a bag.

Growing Tomatoes in South Dakota

Few vegetables inspire us more than home-grown tomatoes, bursting with vine-ripe flavor. Tomatoes are easy to grow in containers or in the ground, and are excellent sources of vitamins A and C, as well as cancer-fighting lycopenes.

a shrub-like plant green leaves and dark purple, grape-like fruit

Fruit Variety Recommendations for South Dakota

Fruit variety recommendations for home fruit growers in South Dakota

A flooded garden

Flooded Gardens

Soil from gardens that were recently flooded may not be safe for growing fruit and vegetables this summer. Depending on the location, flood waters may contain contaminants or disease-causing organisms.