   Twenty-Two Years of Backyard Gardening - May 6, 2020 Jeff Schalau, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County Gardeners are constantly seeking new and better-informed sources of horticultural information. There is no better source for this information than our national Cooperative Extension System. Cooperative Extension is available in every state and a local office is located most counties within those states. Cooperative Extension provides science-based information which is appropriate for local climate/soil conditions and is aware of local pests and their management. In Yavapai County, I am the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Agent tasked with this mission. I am privileged to be supported by over 180 trained and certified Yavapai County Master Gardener volunteers whom are also dedicated to that mission. I started writing the Backyard Gardener in April 1998 when my predecessor, Dr. Deborah Young, left Yavapai County to become the Associate Director of Programs with Cooperative Extension at the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. Some of you will remember Deborah. In 2001, I created a simple website where each weekly column was archived by date and searchable by subject or keyword. In 2012, I began including relevant links and photos where people could access additional information. In the Backyard Gardener, I strive to increase reader’s knowledge of sustainable gardening/landscaping practices and local ecosystems. Sustainable practices include reducing unnecessary applications of pesticides and fertilizers, conserving and effectively managing irrigation water, properly amending soil for annual crops, and growing and selecting healthy native and ornamental plants. Understanding local ecosystems leads to better gardening by working in concert with natural processes and beneficial organisms that will positively impact your garden or landscape. In addition, I try to offer sensible, science-based mitigation strategies for pests and diseases present in our environment. Since 1998, I have written over 1,129 installments of the Backyard Gardener. In reviewing these, I have specifically written about plant health and function, wildlife, insects, diseases, weeds, drought-tolerant landscape plants, fruit and nut trees, vegetable crops, and science literacy. I think it is very important to understand where we live and to base our gardening and landscaping decisions on our local environment’s opportunities and limitations. Increasing food production in personal and community gardens/orchards, reducing waste, and recycling nutrients through composting and mulching is something many of us can and should do. When it comes to pesticides, we should seriously consider employing non-chemical integrated pest management strategies (prevention, exclusion, cultural/mechanical practices, biocontrol, etc.) before applying a pesticide. I am surprised that my antiquated, now “retro” website attracts so much attention. Over the past 20 years, the Backyard Gardener website received an average 246,770 page views per year. Most of these visitors were locally based, but others are outside Yavapai County, Arizona, and in many foreign countries. I always try to assist with all inquiries and refer those within the US to their local Cooperative Extension offices. In case you have not visited the website, the URL is included at the end of this column or you can enter “Backyard Gardener Arizona” in a search engine and it should appear near the top of the search results. You might want to bookmark it in your web browser too (wink, wink). I started announcing publication of each new Backyard Gardener column using Twitter (@jeffschalau) in 2010. I also post each column to the Yavapai County Master Gardener Facebook page (@yavapaicountymastergardeners) and was invited in 2019 to be a weekly contributor to the national Extension Master Gardener Facebook Page with 86,177 followers. I was very interested to note that web traffic at my Backyard Gardener Website has experienced a significant increase since March 13, 2020 when Arizona started seriously socially isolating and taking other COVID-19 precautions. The number of average daily pageviews between January 1 and March 13, 2020 was 724. This increased to an average of 1,411 daily pageviews between March 14 and April 28, 2020 showing a 95% increase in web traffic for the seven-week period of social isolation and use continues to increase. Presumably, people staying and working from home have become more interested in gardening, the environment, and sustainable practices. That’s a good thing! Our Yavapai County offices are not currently staffed due to COVID-19, but Master Gardener volunteers continue to answer your horticultural questions via email. You can follow the Backyard Gardener on Twitter – use the link on the BYG website. If you have other gardening questions, email the Master Gardener Help Desk in Prescott (prescottmg@gmail.com) or Camp Verde (verdevalleymg@gmail.com) and be sure to include your name, location, and phone number. Find past Backyard Gardener columns or provide feedback at the Backyard Gardener web site: https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/. Images 
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Agent, Jeff Schalau (middle with blue shirt), AKA Backyard Gardener, describing the native grass nursery at Camp Verde's Rezzonico Family Park adjacent to the 2018 Yavapai County Associate Master Gardeners with the Camp Verde Community Library in the background (photo by S. Marmaduke). Inset graph shows recent increase in web traffic on the Backyard Gardener website.Additional Yavapai County Cooperative Extension Resources and Programs Yavapai Gardening, Jeff Schalau, Agent, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Yavapai County extension.arizona.edu/yavapai-gardening Commercial Horticulture/Small Acreage Extension Programs, Isaac Mpanga, Area Associate Agent, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Yavapai and Coconino Counties extension.arizona.edu/yavapai-commercial-horticulture-small-acreage Food Safety and Preservation, Hope Wilson, Area Assistant Agent, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Yavapai and Gila Counties extension.arizona.edu/yavapai-food-safety-preservation Nutrition Education, Hope Wilson, Area Assistant Agent, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Yavapai and Gila Counties extension.arizona.edu/yavapai-nutrition-education Yavapai County 4-H, Shirley Vasovski, Program Coordinator, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Yavapai County extension.arizona.edu/4h/yavapai Yavapai STEM Programs, Stacy DeVeau, Program Coordinator Sr., University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Yavapai and Gila Counties extension.arizona.edu/yavapai-stem-programs  |