MU Extension in Franklin County

July is here, and so is the heat. Keep your garden thriving with these timely tips from theJuly Gardening Calendar.

• Flowers & Ornamentals: Deadhead annuals and perennials, keep up with weeding, water newly planted trees and shrubs weekly during dry weather, and watch for Japanese beetles and rose diseases.

• Vegetable Gardens: Maintain consistent soil moisture to prevent blossom-end rot, harvest onions, garlic and potatoes when ready, make successive plantings of warm-season crops, and scout regularly for pests and diseases.

• Fruits & Nuts: Remove old raspberry and blackberry canes after harvest, monitor peaches for brown rot, protect grapes and tree fruit from birds, and provide summer care for strawberries.

• Cool-Season Lawns (Tall Fescue/Kentucky Bluegrass): Limit nitrogen applications, water deeply but infrequently, mow at 3½ to 4 inches, and check for sod webworm damage.

• Warm-Season Lawns (Zoysiagrass): Apply a light nitrogen feeding, monitor for chinch bugs and billbugs, mow weekly at 1 to 2 inches, and water only during extended dry periods.

After a devastating fall at 17 left him with multiple brain bleeds and a fractured vertebra, Zane Volkmann faced an uncertain future.

Today, he raises cattle and horses near Fayette, Missouri, works full time in the seed industry and provides for his wife and two sons.

With support from Missouri AgrAbility, a program of MU Extension, Zane found resources that helped him adapt after his injury, navigate school accommodations and continue pursuing his passion for agriculture.

"They gave me the tools to build a career in agriculture with horses and cattle," Zane said.

Zane's story is a reminder that resilience is not about avoiding hardship. It's about moving forward, accepting support when needed and refusing to let challenges define you.

Read his full story: https://brnw.ch/21x3Nur