Photo by Julia Williams

Julia Williams

Editor-in-Chief

During the months of June to August of 2025, 16 inches of rainfall has flooded Kansas City, along with temperatures fluctuating anywhere from 74 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit in a given month — leaving many local gardeners and cultivators frustrated with this season’s produce results.

The hottest day in 2025 was Aug. 8, which reached 96 F. These averages compare to temperatures upwards of 99 F last year, which was the record high for Kansas City on Aug. 26, 2024, according to the National Weather Service and the Extreme Weather Watch. 

While these temperatures have impacted Kansas City metropolitan area residents, they have also affected many gardens around the city including the Columbus Park Community Garden at 1019 Missouri Ave.

This garden is spearheaded and supported by Blooms and Brooms — a Kansas City nonprofit organization focused on beautification and preservation efforts — through a Kansas City community development corporation’s grant “Community Capital Fund.” A project led by Columbus Park Resident Jo Marie Guastello, this space allows interested Columbus Park neighbors to have their own assigned box within the community garden. 

“The community garden is a place where we gather [and can] have a cup of coffee,” Columbus Park Neighborhood President, Kathy Valenti said in an interview. 

However, this year, Valenti shared that the garden looked a little different than previous years, adding that the produce was not as good as it usually is. This was largely due to the fact that increased precipitation flooded the garden boxes, which left a negative effect on this season’s tomato growth.

 For Columbus Park, its garden harvest season begins the first week of May with the neighborhood’s community clean up — offering a way for neighbors to re-connect after dormancy. This period wraps up in September, traditionally after Labor Day each year, when Valenti said the tenders will get together to clean out their boxes. 

With many struggling with the quality of their produce, Valenti elaborated that many neighbors who had a successful season, despite weather conditions, will share their commodities with other residents who were not satisfied with their own harvest results. 

“It has been a success in the way it brings us all together,” Valenti said in reference to the community garden. “Sharing is a sign of community; see a neighbor, if you have extra, we share in that way.”

This garden, she said, is solely for the neighbors and residents of Columbus Park, which contributes to its sense of community.  

“We don’t grow enough to support a restaurant but we grow enough to support each other,” Valenti shared. “It makes our neighborhood unique; everyone is welcome.”

However, these weather conditions have impacted garden beds across the Kansas City metro — particularly impacting tomato vines. 

For those struggling with their tomato growth this season, Kansas City Community Gardens offers a few tips and tricks to aid in this process. 

One area of challenge includes a lack of tomatoes on plants. Kansas City Community Gardens shared this is a result of high temperatures, which cause flowers to fall off of a plant before it can develop into a fruit. While there is not an immediate solution for this situation this season, the nonprofit shared that for next season, cultivators can plant vines that are more heat resistant to help increase growth. 

Another difficulty for gardeners this season is prolonged ripening times. Increased temperatures, Kansas City Community Gardens explained, is a contributing factor in the delay in ripening time. One way to alleviate this challenge is by bringing the tomato vines inside when its color starts to change. Room temperatures between 70 to 75 F speeds up the ripening process and leaves more quality results. 

The last concern Kansas City Community Gardens mentioned that many are seeing is black spots on the bottom of their tomatoes, which the organization refers to as blossom and rot. This can occur with uneven watering — or as a result of box flooding from increased precipitation levels — which leads to an interruption of the plant’s calcium intake. A way to combat this issue is by placing mulch around tomato plants, which in turn will allow the soil around the plant to more evenly distribute the water levels, including drench and dry out prevention. 

For additional information on Columbus Park Community Gardens, or on ways to improve produce growth this season, visit: https://www.columbusparkkc.com/community-garden, https://kccg.org/.