The Backyard Gardener

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A Gardening Blog for the East Side

The climate of the Eastern Sierra is very different from most of California and so gardening here is different, too!

In this blog we examine some of the quirks of gardening on the East Side, and cover horticultural issues that are important locally. Note that if you're visiting our site from the outside our little corner of California, you may find this information may not apply to your area.

Articles are written by local UC Master Gardener volunteers or the local Farm Advisor.

And a website...

The Inyo-Mono Master Gardeners also have a website with local gardening and soil information. Visit it to learn more about our program and gardening.

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Becoming a Master Gardener: My Experience as a Sprout

October 13th, 2019

Visions of beautiful lush gardens in my yard and delicious homegrown veggies on my table were my primary motivation for applying to be a UC Master Gardener. Yes, my motivation was primarily selfish. The application process was quite intense with an application, essay questions, and an interview.

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Gardening with Children.

October 7th, 2019

Every parent has been there. You spend an hour chopping and stir frying veggies and cooking up that perfect sauce just to hear, This is gross! or I'm not hungry! as your children make disgusted faces and unenthusiastically poke at the food on their plates.

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Teucrium cossonni majoricum. Photo:Native Sun Nursery

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Germander: Lowly but Lovely

September 30th, 2019

One of the first gardening books I ever purchased was Sunset magazine's book How to Grow Herbs, published in the early 1970's. Though it had great information on cultivation and harvesting, what really drew me in was the use of herbs in landscaping.

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Tree-lined streets have a cooling effect.

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Benefits of Trees

September 24th, 2019

I recently heard a comment that really surprised me! A home buyer did not want trees in the yard! They thought raking leaves was too much work and the potential of a fallen limb during a storm was dangerous. If they asked for my opinion I would have told them about some of the benefits of trees.

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