HOrT COCO-UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa

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Photo of a bowl of garlic bulbs
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Garlic, Love It or Leave It

October 21st, 2024
By Help Desk Team
Whether you fall into the camp of a little goes a long way or too much is never enough, I hope to convince you that growing garlic is worthy of your time and some space in the garden. Let's look at this amazing and ancient plant.
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Photo of Dandelion seeds
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Weeds and Weed Seeds

October 8th, 2024
By Help Desk Team
Note: This was originally published in the Contra Costa Times Conquer weeds by understanding their life cycles As a gardener in Contra Costa County, you know from observation that weeds have an immense capacity to produce seeds. In fact, the high reproductive output of weeds is astounding.
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Photo of Valley Oak acorns
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Growing Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns

September 23rd, 2024
By Help Desk Team
Note: This was originally published in the Contra Costa Times. Q: I know that acorns are the seeds of oak trees, but how do I plant them? A: Oaks are an important part of the California landscape.
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Photo of many different kinds of seeds
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Seeds Are Worth Saving

September 9th, 2024
By Help Desk Team
It's getting close to the end of our summer gardening season. Now is the time to start thinking about next summer's garden.
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Photo of the Two-spotted spider mite
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Spider Mites

August 26th, 2024
By Help Desk Team
Spider mites are very common pests found on many of our landscape and vegetable garden plants. They are tiny and difficult to see but once you learn about them, you might start seeing evidence of infestation on a wide variety of plants.
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