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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! 

Preparing the contents of the pile.

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.

 

Pink blossoms of statice flowers.
Article

My 2022 Miracle Plants

August 12th, 2022
Amidst all the failures that I have experienced in this, the most challenging of growing years in the high desert, I have one flowering plant that I can only describe as a miracle plant.
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Weigh Onions
Article

Bread and Butter Pickled Onions

August 7th, 2022
I love Bread & Butter Pickles! One of the things I love best about them are the onions. We have just harvested our onions but don't have our cucumbers yet. I decided to make a version with just onions.
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Yellow tomato leaf with brown lesions. (Photo: R. Melanson, MSU Extension.)
Article

Watch for Early Blight

August 5th, 2022
By Dustin W Blakey
In the western US our dry conditions keep many fungal diseases from becoming an issue. Since dry is something we do well in the Eastern Sierra, most of our garden diseases are viruses, not fungi. Things change some when we have summer monsoon conditions and rain.
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Sort by Size
Article

Freezing Onions

August 1st, 2022
I have a small growing area at the side of my house in Bishop that gets lots of heat and very little sun. I started planting onions in this area about 10 years ago but found that the bulbs never got more than 1-2 in diameter. Now I intentionally plant onions there every January that I freeze whole.
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Adult beetle
Article

Three-lined Potato Beetle

July 8th, 2022
Tomatillos (Physalis ixocarpa) are so easy to grow, they are almost weeds. Since I first grew them long ago, they have returned to my garden every year, reseeding with gusto and growing like weeds. They have been productive and trouble free for me, until last year.
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