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gardeningkristi.bsky.social
gardening_kristi
@gardeningkristi.bsky.social
890 followers 370 following 1.8K posts
Transforming a lawn in the Philly 'burbs into an edible landscape & insect habitat. Growing new gardeners.

https://gardeningkristi.substack.com/
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gardeningkristi.bsky.social
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. Abundant summer harvest. Manduca sexta, Tobacco Hornworm "Patio Prairie" featuring Smooth Asters, Rough Blazingstar, Little Bluestem, and Showy Goldenrod at peak beauty.
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
This year's harvest of home grown Aleppo Pepper flakes is three quarts! 🌱 The best tool for making chili flakes is the food mill. Much less dust and faster than the food processor. #vegetablegardening #organicgardening
December 4, 2025 at 8:15 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
I thawed out the frozen Wiri Wiri Peppers from this year's garden to make pepper sauce this weekend. It's really hot, as usual. Two bottles will last us a year. Two bottles will go to my Guyanese neighbor who introduced me to these peppers, and the rest I will gift to folks who give me leaves. 🌱
Orange hot sauce is displayed in bottles on a kitchen counter. Red Wiri Wiri Peppers, the size of blueberries, thaw on a baking sheet in the kitchen.
December 2, 2025 at 12:22 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
I processed the dehydrated paprika harvest today. Surprisingly nice yield considering the plants were heavily deer browsed this year. Homegrown paprika is flavorful and aromatic. It's nothing like the stuff from the supermarket. If you can grow any other sort of pepper plant, you can grow paprika! 🌱
Two jars mostly full and half full of freshly ground paprika, are displayed in the kitchen. A bowl of freshly ground paprika is displayed in a kitchen with the food processor used for the grinding behind it. Everything is covered in orange dust.
November 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
I wrote an article about how I compost. I hope you find it useful. 🌱

open.substack.com/pub/gardenin...
How I Compost
It's Lazy, It's Easy, I Never Turn It
open.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:49 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
I managed to plant my garlic last weekend. I grow about 40 heads of Music hardneck garlic each year. I plant it close in richly composted soil in a patch pattern. The patch is 12 sqft. I plant in mid-November. I cover with leaves to insulate the soil and net to keep the squirrels out. 🌱
The first two garden beds in this photo have received a layer of compost and are ready to plant. The scene is an area of raised vegetable beds in a backyard. This photo shows the 5 heads of Music hardneck garlic about to be planted plus a dibber to make planting holes and a yardstick to measure hole placement. This photo shows the garlic nestled into the planting holes in a patch pattern. This photo shows the garlic patch covered in leaves and protected by netting. This prevents squirrels from digging up the garlic while they plant an oak and walnut forest in my raised beds.
November 23, 2025 at 12:59 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
I made my puree for winter baking today from four butternut squash, which yielded 9 cups of puree for the freezer and enough to make pumpkin baked oatmeal for breakfast. I freeze the puree in 2 cup and 1 cup quantities. A pie recipe takes 2 cups. My favorite pumpkin cookie recipes take 1 cup. 🌱
Two trays of butternut squash are shown in the oven. The baked butternut squash is shown in the kitchen. The food mill used to make puree from the baked squash is shown in the kitchen. The finished pumpkin puree is shown in a stainless steel bowl.
November 16, 2025 at 5:17 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
I finally got questioned by the cops today, but it wasn't because I was looking through trash bags in the neighborhood for leaves. It's because of this innocent looking cat. I was working on spreading compost today, dressed in dirty garden clothes, when this Beefy boy jumped the fence. 1/
A ticked tabby with white around his face is shown relaxing in a pile of white, light blue, and honey colored blankets.
November 15, 2025 at 7:32 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Cool stuff. A freeze last night made a zinnia burst. The ice crystals look like snow. I've heard people call this phenomenon "frost flowers" but that's usually the more aesthetic instances. 🌱
White ice crystals made from the liquid inside a frozen zinnia plant have burst forth. The ice crystals like the stems. White ice crystals have burst from the liquid inside a frozen zinnia plant.
November 14, 2025 at 12:23 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
If you're interested in learning about Winter Sowing in a hands on workshop environment, it's prime time for those in the US to look up your county extension office Master Gardener program and check your local libraries for Winter Sowing events in the next couple of months. #nativeplants
A suburban garden pictured in autumn is filled with native plants. Many plants are purple and golden in color. The garden beds are full. The light is dusky and golden. Tall grasses are brown and copper. A suburban garden filled with native plants glows in the dusky light of sunset. Rough Blazingstar plants with their spires of purple flowers occupy the foreground of the photo.
November 13, 2025 at 1:22 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
I harvested the last of the carrots and a large amount of Syrian Oregano, parsley, and cilantro in advance of the freeze that was forecast. The carrots always do very well for me in 30 gallon grow bags. Most are long and straight. These are a Nantes type. 🌱 #vegetablegardening #organicgardening
A three gallon bowl is shown with the carrots harvested from a 30 gallon grow bag. The carrots are orange and have soil on them, and the greens are still attached. It's late in the day and the sun is low. The light on the carrots is golden. Freshly harvested, dirty, orange carrots are shown in the gardener's hand for scale. Three carrots fill the hand. The carrots are large. The light on the carrots is golden. It's late in the day. The carrot harvest is shown trimmed, washed, and dried on cotton towels in the kitchen. Three piles of washed and drying herbs are shown on cotton towels in a kitchen. There is Syrian Oregano, cilantro, and parsley.
November 8, 2025 at 1:54 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Do you spend the autumn evenings before morning trash pickup driving slowly and suspiciously through the night darkened streets of your neighborhood looking to rescue bags of leaves destined for the landfill or are you normal? 🌱
Eleven bags of leaves piled next to the house in the dark. These leaves were picked up from the trash, rescued from the landfill.
November 6, 2025 at 1:03 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Started the once per year "dealing with the compost" process. I sift it and then fill up all of my raised beds. I got two beds filled today. 🌱 #vegetablegarden #organicgarden
A homemade compost sifter fits on top of my garden cart. There's hardware cloth fitted to the bottom. The stuff too big for the holes in the softer goes back to the bin. Mostly finished compost, ready to sift. It's just twigs and branches in here that aren't done. The sifted compost is light and fluffy. The first two garden beds have gotten ripped up with sifted compost.
November 2, 2025 at 10:20 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
It's soup season. I save vegetable cores, tops and tails, herb and mushroom stems, garlic too small to peel, and other off cuts of vegetables in the freezer. I use this to make broth. I add dried herbs and salt to taste. It's free and it tastes vastly better than anything in a cube or box.
Frozen vegetable cores, tops and tails, etc, shown in a pressure cooker. In the second photo, water has been added to the pressure cooker as well as dried herbs. The brother is done! Strain the broth through a mesh sieve. The last photo shows soup in a pot. It's a potato and corn chowder. It was made with the broth shown in the first three photos. Garden grown corn, preserved in the freezer, makes the most delicious soup.
November 1, 2025 at 11:24 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Happy National Cat Day from Roast Beef, Feline Intern Gardener, who is lounging in his cat sized tent. #catsofbluesky
A gray and white ticked tabby is lounging in a gray pop up style tent made for cats. There is a beige pillow in the tent.
October 29, 2025 at 10:19 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Seeds. Scarlet Runner Beans and Blue Sesame after the first rough winnow. It's the season to squirrel away resources. 🌱 #vegetablegarden #organocgardening
Brown beans with white markings in a green bowl on a wooden table. Blue Sesame seeds, which are beige, gray, and black, and dried green and brown chaff, in a yellow bowl, on a wooden table.
October 28, 2025 at 11:30 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Anyone thinking of donating to a food bank, here are things mine always needs: no salt added, low sodium, no sugar added canned vegetables, tomato products, fruit, beans, and meat. They need nut butters, oil, whole grain crackers/rusks, cereal and oatmeal, rice, pasta, shelf stable milk.
October 28, 2025 at 12:41 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Over the past few weeks, across three painting sessions, I've repainted the garden shed. It's crisp, shiny, fresh, protected from the weather, and will hopefully not be something I need to do again for a few years. 😅 I think I done a good job! 🌱
A freshly painted garden shed in the suburbs. The shed is beige with a brown shingled roof, a turquoise door, and white trim. The sky is blue with white clouds. You can see some garden beds and autumn colored foliage. A freshly painted garden shed in the suburbs. The shed is beige with a brown shingled roof, a turquoise door, and white trim. The sky is blue with white clouds. You can see some garden beds and autumn colored foliage. A freshly painted garden shed in the suburbs. The shed is beige with a brown shingled roof, a turquoise door, and white trim. The sky is blue with white clouds. You can see some garden beds and autumn colored foliage. A freshly painted garden shed in the suburbs. The shed is beige with a brown shingled roof, a turquoise door, and white trim. The sky is blue with white clouds. You can see some garden beds and autumn colored foliage.
October 26, 2025 at 8:51 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Happy Caturday! It's a lovely afternoon. Roast Beef, Feline Intern Gardener is slacking on the job. The Purple Poppy Mallows are enjoying an autumn resurgence. 🌱 #cats #nativeplants
October 18, 2025 at 7:17 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
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.
October 16, 2025 at 2:14 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
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.
October 12, 2025 at 5:15 PM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
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.
October 10, 2025 at 10:45 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Carolina Mantis mating in the Philly Burbs, and me, with my intrusive phone, took lots of photos from multiple angles. 🙈🌱 #bugsky #insects
Gray and brown colored Carolina Mantis mate on a plant in the Philadelphia suburbs. In this photo, you can see the bottom of their abdomens joined. The male is above the female. They positioned on a plant. Gray and brown colored Carolina Mantis mate on a plant in the Philadelphia suburbs. In this photo, you can see the bottom of their abdomens joined. The male is above the female. They positioned on a plant. Gray and brown colored Carolina Mantis mate on a plant in the Philadelphia suburbs. In this photo, they are upside down. Gray and brown colored Carolina Mantis mate on a plant in the Philadelphia suburbs. In this photo, they are upside down.
October 8, 2025 at 11:33 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Two quarts of delicious Chicago Hardy Figs transformed into 9 pints of delicious jam. Food preservation season chugging along. 🌱 #vegetablegardening #organicgardening
Chicago Hardy Figs, chopped, in bowls on a kitchen counter. Red fig jam, hot, out of the pot, measured into hot, sterilized, jars. The color and texture of the fig jam is shown on the fingertip of the cook and gardener. The jam is red, soft set, and transparent. There is a dirty pot in the background. Fig jam in jars, sealed, out of the water bath, rings removed for storage. The setting is a kitchen. The jam is red, seeds are visible, the jars shine in the sun.
October 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Yesterday I made my version of Sorrel Drink with the Roselle Hibiscus harvest. Usually the calyxes are dried and purchased from the local International grocery store. I love to make my favorite things with ingredients grown in my own garden. 🌱 #vegetablegardening #organicgardening
Some freshly harvested and washed Roselle Hibiscus calyxes are pictured on a kitchen counter. They are deep red in color. In the background there are green seed pods. In order to process the Roselle Hibiscus calyxes for immediate cooking or dehydrating, the seed pods need to be removed. Cutting off the receptacle and pedicel, the little stem and the part of the calyx that connect the flower to the little stem, was the easiest way I found. After you cut off this bottom portion, the seed pod is easy to push out. Roselle Hibiscus calyxes, dried Lemongrass from last season's garden, fresh Ginger, Canela Cinnamon Sticks, Cloves, Allspice berries go into a pot with water to be cooked as my take on Sorrel Drink. The Lemongrass stalks are floating on top, as are the Roselle. Sorrel Drink simmered for 15 minutes and cooled. It's deep red.
October 6, 2025 at 11:07 AM
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
Today's Harvest: Bell Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Slicing Tomatoes, Jimmy Nardello Peppers, Green Beans, Zucchini, Eggplant, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Jalapeno Peppers, Hatch Peppers, Shishito Peppers. I also harvested two quarts of figs and lots of herbs. 🌱 #vegetablegarden #organicgardening
A kitchen counter is covered with colorful, freshly harvested produce from the vegetable garden. The produce has been washed and it's drying on cotton towels. A kitchen counter is covered with colorful, freshly harvested produce from the vegetable garden. The produce has been washed and it's drying on cotton towels. A kitchen counter is covered with colorful, freshly harvested produce from the vegetable garden. The produce has been washed and it's drying on cotton towels. A kitchen counter is covered with colorful, freshly harvested produce from the vegetable garden. The produce has been washed and it's drying on cotton towels.
October 5, 2025 at 1:04 AM