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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.

 

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Article

To Dig or Not To Dig?

April 26th, 2021
In the last few years there has been an interest in no till methods of gardening that propose numerous benefits such as increased yields, less physical work, and much healthier soil cited as reasons we should stop digging our soils.
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A light colored bush with a sky with some clouds taken at sunset.
Article

Mosquito Season

April 13th, 2021
By Dustin W Blakey
I was out last night above the river to take some pictures, and I noticed that as the sun went behind the mountains I was joined by some unwelcome visitors: mosquitoes. I suspect they were males as I didn't end up with any bites, and they were mostly hovering above me.
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Dorsal view of banded ash borer insect.
Article

Fun with Bug Identification

March 31st, 2021
By Dustin W Blakey
There is a lot of variety in the job of a farm advisor. Some days I'm working with water quality. Other times I answering tree questions. Today I had an insect to identify. It took a little work, but the insects were banded ash borers.
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Trina's Garden
Article

Starting New Garden Beds

March 30th, 2021
It's spring again! Time to start preparing your garden for planting. Read on for some tips to make this year's garden your most successful yet. The first step in planning a garden is to select a site and amend the soil. Pick a site with good drainage, full sun, access to water, and low traffic.
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Small sesame plants in early July
Article

Growing Sesame in 2020

March 22nd, 2021
As I was browsing through a seed catalog a couple of years ago, I found something I'd often eaten and enjoyed, but had never seen growing, sesame. Out of curiosity I ordered a packet of seeds. A little history and other information Sesame is one of the earliest oilseed plants to be cultivated.
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