   History of the Backyard Gardener - January 20, 2016 Jeff Schalau, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County Gardeners are constantly seeking new and better-informed sources of information. In my opinion, there is no better source of this information than our national Cooperative Extension system. Cooperative Extension is available in every state and in most counties within those states. Cooperative Extension provides science-based gardening information which is appropriate for local conditions. In Yavapai County, I am the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent tasked with this mission. In horticulture education, I am assisted by over 170 trained and certified Master Gardener volunteers whom are also dedicated to that mission. By the way, Master Gardeners provide free horticultural consultation in both our Camp Verde and Prescott Cooperative Extension offices. The Backyard Gardener is a weekly column that helps me reach audiences in the Verde Valley with timely and scientifically valid gardening information. I inherited the Backyard Gardener from my predecessor, Dr. Deborah Young in 1998. Since then, I have strived 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, and growing healthy ornamentals and crops that are appropriate for our climate and soils. Understanding local ecosystems leads to more successful gardening by working in concert with natural processes and beneficial organisms. In addition, I try to offer sensible, least-toxic, mitigation strategies for pests and diseases present in our environment. Since 1998, I have written over 900 weekly installments of the Backyard Gardener. I have primarily written about plant health and function, wildlife, insects, diseases, weeds, drought-tolerant landscape plants, fruit and nut trees, and vegetable crops. 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 and reducing waste and recycling nutrients through composting and mulching are practices many of us can and should do. When it comes to pesticides, we should never use them without also employing non-chemical integrated pest management strategies (prevention, exclusion, cultural practices, biocontrol, etc.). In 2001, I created the Backyard Gardener website where readers could access all my previous columns. All posted columns are searchable and a feedback form is there for readers to make suggestions and queries. The web-based format had the additional advantage of including photos and links to additional resources. It makes my life easier too – oftentimes an e-mail inquiry asks about something that I had previously written about. I can simply insert a link to that column in my e-mail response. Between 2000 and 2010, US residents with access to the Internet almost doubled (from 41% to 80%, Source: US Census Bureau). The creation of the Backyard Gardener website coincided with this increase. Over the past 15 years, the Backyard Gardener website received an average 252,609 page views per year. Most of these are from within Arizona and the U.S., but a few originate outside the US. I always try to assist with all inquiries and refer those within the US to their local Cooperative Extension office. In case you have not visited the website, the URL is included at the end of this column or you can search the web using “Backyard Gardener Arizona”. You might want to bookmark it in your web browser. The Backyard Gardener website was state-of-the-art when it was created 15 years ago. I have considered updating it, but it still performs well, is highly visible to Internet search engines, and loads very quickly on the slowest connections. It is also quite functional on mobile devices. It may appear “old-fashioned”, but I prefer to think it has become “retro”. In an effort to keep up with social media trends, I started announcing publication of each new Backyard Gardener column using Twitter in 2010 and Facebook (Yavapai County Master Gardeners) in 2011. These are linked to the online edition of this column. If you use either of these social media sites, consider following or liking me there. In closing, I’d like to thank the Sedona Red Rock News, Camp Verde Journal, and the Cottonwood Journal Extra for publishing the Backyard Gardener. It is a great way to stay in touch with Verde Valley gardeners and nature lovers. Follow the Backyard Gardener on Twitter – use the link on the BYG website. If you have other gardening questions, call the Master Gardener help line in the Camp Verde office at 928-554-8992 or e-mail us at verdevalleymg@gmail.com and be sure to include your name, address and phone number. Find past Backyard Gardener columns or provide feedback at the Backyard Gardener web site: http://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/. Additional Resources Jeff Schalau's Twitter Page Be notified of weekly Backyard Gardener columns twitter.com/jeffschalau Yavapai County Master Gardener Facebook Page University of Arizona Cooperative Extension www.facebook.com/Yavapai-County-Master-Gardeners-187783674590483/ Backyard Gardener Website University of Arizona Cooperative Extension cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/ University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County Website extension.arizona.edu/yavapai  |