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gardening_kristi

@gardeningkristi.bsky.social

850 followers 380 following 1.7K posts

Transforming a lawn in the Philly 'burbs into an edible landscape & insect habitat. Growing new gardeners. https://gardeningkristi.substack.com/

gardeningkristi.substack.com

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · Jan 12

Hi! I'm gardening_kristi!
👶New to Bluesky 01/12/2025
👩‍🌾Experienced gardener
📸My photos, my gardens
🌱Vegetables, fruit, herbs, spices
🍅Food preservation
🐛Insect appreciation
🦋Native plants, habitat
🤓Penn State Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Speaker

Production vegetable garden beds and compost.

"Patio Prairie" featuring Smooth Asters, Rough Blazingstar, Little Bluestem, and Showy Goldenrod at peak beauty.

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 6h

These were both very small. But the small one now was the big one then.

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 7h

Funny thing about the tree sizes - when they were planted in the ground in 2020, the smaller tree was twice the size of the larger tree! 🤷‍♀️

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 7h

No, not yet! They've flowered really well the past two years. Maybe 2026 is the year. 😊

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 7h

Pawpaw, Winterberry, Oakleaf Hydrangea, and Threadleaf Bluestar are trying on their autumn clothes. 🌱 #nativeplants

Two Pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba) stand next to the pedestrian sidewalk in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The trees have leaves that are turning yellow. It's a rainy, misty, evening.

Winterberry Holly stands next to the pedestrian sidewalk in the suburbs of Philadelphia. There are a lot of red berries on the plant. It's a rainy evening.

Oakleaf Hydrangea and Threadleaf Bluestar are planted next to a home. Leaves are turning red and yellow. There's a turquoise birdbath in the photo.

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 11h

For the first 3-4 years there were no winterberry suckers. For the past 3-4 years, winterberry suckers have been sucking.

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 13h

I have winterberry holly. It's a three times per year job to deal with suckers. That's what keeps me shy about the sumac and the elder. Not looking for that sort of maintenance at this time. The winterberry may not stay forever. PITA.

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 13h

I've always wanted to grow them to get the flowers for my own take on St. Germain. Just like I've always wanted to grow sumac to go in my za'atar. The size and need for pruning and or digging up suckers holds me back from planting either.

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 13h

It can be hard to tell spacing from photos. Have you checked the size of elder at maturity? In my experience they get gigantic. You made need to hack them back regularly to keep your attractive cookie path accessible. 😊🍪 (I always hesitate to leave comments like this. Sorry if I overstepped.)

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 14h

I like the look of the sliced wood stepping 'stones' 😊

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 2d

Solidago nemoralis is my second favorite Goldenrod. 💛 Also, I don't see anything when I use the new tag.

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 2d

*Eggs that are runny in any way, shape, or form
*The Hobbit (New Line Cinema Trilogy)
*My Heart Will Go On

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 2d

Hotel. Continental breakfast included free with stay. ♥️

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 2d

I'm adding Antichrist Legionnaire to my resume. As a person with a graduate degree, a person who has worked in technology for my entire career, I'm still anti-tech and anti-AI. I'm collecting titles for my resume like Pokemon cards. Nasty Woman, Angry Liberal Feminist Killjoy, etc, etc.

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 2d

Wow! That's a beautiful cake!

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 3d

Everything feels like a hot mess over here. Half painted shed, interrupted by rain, preserving food harvested in a final glean before the first frost that didn't happen. Tour of the garden tomorrow evening, a garden, that hasn't seen my shadow except for harvesting in months. 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️ 🌱 #vegetablegarden

Roasted eggplant, zucchini, green peppers, sliced, in a container. Ready for use in meals over the next couple of days.

Garden tomatoes, cooking down in a crockpot, ready to be made into soup or sauce.

Zucchini cake with chocolate chips and cream cheese icing. A delicious, sugary, break from eating a glut of zucchini in other ways.

Figs, sliced, ready for the dehydrator, shown in a kitchen on a dehydrator tray.

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 3d

In my experience the seeds don't typically sprout until the end of February, beginning of March, when you can start opening the tops of the containers during the day. I think it's worth a try.

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 3d

The CFO knows somebody.

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 4d

Most things that are meant to be disposable baffle me. I try my best to avoid it.

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 4d

I think people throw their cases out instead of scrubbing, washing, and sterilizing them. I don't like that sort of waste at all. It's like using paper plates and cups all the time instead of doing the dishes.

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 5d

I had a fish named after a sun god and a cat named after a spring goddess. Husband and I take turns naming the pets, and he uses puns and comics for his names. Hoping to adopt kittens in spring when there are fewer holes in the house.

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 5d

I initially thought Balor and Grimnir, or another one of the many nicknames for Odin. I burden my pets with legendary names, although your names are legendary as well, and much cuter.

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 5d

Unexpectedly early frost this morning. I managed to spend my lunch break yesterday gleaning what I could. I'll miss the figs and Roselle Hibiscus. I covered the Wiri Wiri peppers, hoping to get more peppers for pepper sauce. 🌱 #vegetablegardening #organicgardening

A stainless steel bowl of figs, a Felco pruner is visible in the bowl.

Unwashed produce piled on the kitchen counter - peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, Roselle Hibiscus calyxes.

Common Mint, washed, drying on the kitchen counter.

Wiri Wiri peppers, covered with white frost cloth. Garden visible in the background.

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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 6d

Congratulations! They are adorable! 🐱🐱 Yay!

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 6d

I'm so sorry. There's never enough time with our beloved cats. It's very sad. You have my sympathy.

gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 7d

Awkward and anxious,
Roast Beef found a home with us,
Uncertain feline

(Came for the cat haikus, you did not disappoint!)

A gray cat with yellow eyes, some white on his face, and some faint, dark, stripes, relaxes under eggplant in a garden bed.

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