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gardeningkristi.bsky.social
gardening_kristi
@gardeningkristi.bsky.social
820 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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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.
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gardeningkristi.bsky.social
gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 15h
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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gardeningkristi.bsky.social
gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 17h
The city names of Reading, Lebanon, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 17h
Congratulations! May they bring you as much joy, fun, companionship, and love as our cats gave to us. ♥️
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 20h
Seemed the least we could do!
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 1d
At the end of his defense, we presented a friend with a tee that said, "Doctor as Fuck" in glittery letters. "Grown Ass Person with a PhD" would also make an excellent tee.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 1d
No, it's never enough. ♥️
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 1d
I'm sorry you're mourning the loss of your pet. I am also mourning the loss of two pets, one died three years ago and one died in June. They left a gigantic hole in my life. I miss them every day. You have my sympathy.
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gardeningkristi.bsky.social
gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 1d
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.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 2d
The caption should read half pints of jam, not pints. 😅😊🙈
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 2d
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.
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gardeningkristi.bsky.social
gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 2d
A lovely photo! Pretty horses!
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 2d
Wowwwww. I'm speechless.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 3d
It was fun to grow Roselle Hibiscus here in the Philly Burbs, and get some harvest, but this won't be a crop that appears in every year's garden. This is a crop to grow for joy and experience, not yield, at this latitude.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 3d
This is what the spent ingredients look like when strained from the Sorrel Drink. Drink it plain in a glass. It's delicious. You can add sugar or simple syrup to sweeten it if it's too tart or some plain water if it's too intense. It's also good with some traditional Pot Still rum and grated nutmeg.
The strained ingredients remaining after the Sorrel Drink is brewed. You can see the fine strainer used in the photo and mushy Lemongrass, Canela, and Hibiscus calyxes in the photo. Litter ceramic cups shaped like coconuts with little metal straws hold some Sorrel Drink mixed with Pot Still rum and freshly grated nutmeg. I like Smith and Cross as a brand of Pot Still rum. Mount Gay makes one as well.
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gardeningkristi.bsky.social
gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 3d
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.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 3d
A secret squidmirer. ♥️
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 3d
I've found that repeated exposure over my entire adulthood cooking has made me very sensitive. I have to wear gloves if I so much as look at a chili. If you need relief, soaking your hands in milk helps.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 3d
Don't let that one get away! 😄
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 4d
Yes, I plant very intensely. Everything that vines is grown vertically. Between the trellises are smaller, short season plants. Large plants like cabbage have radishes, turnips, and scallions in between. I usually keep sowing seeds all season long. This year I stopped sowing in July. No fall crops.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 4d
They are fantastic green or ripe. Very sweet. They're prolific and early to ripen. The plants stay pretty small and often don't need staking. Easy to do a trial of a few plants without spending much garden space.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 4d
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.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 4d
There's some of that on my article. I started in an office with a door, due to a car who eats plants. It was too difficult to keep the room cool, so I moved to the basement, even though the cat eats some plants. For a potting table, I have a large folding table that I set up when needed.
gardeningkristi.bsky.social
gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 5d
Are you looking for advice on how gardeners start seeds indoors with grow lights? Photos of the equipment? If so, I wrote a long article on how I do it. There are lots of photos of the setup in the article.

open.substack.com/pub/gardenin...
Seed Starting for the Home Gardener
Seed Science, Direct Sowing, Grow Lights
open.substack.com
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 5d
I'm not dogmatic about it. I haven't eaten meat since 7th grade, but I also know when I sit down with friends at Nan Zhou that the noodles probably have Oyster Sauce in them and it's not the vegan one I cook with at home, know what I mean? I try my best but I'm not going to cause a scene.
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gardening_kristi @gardeningkristi.bsky.social · 5d
How beautiful!
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