iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Doesn't look like much, but this is gold: Did a plant swap with someone new in a nearby town. Got perennial Korean celery roots, lovage, comfrey, perennial leeks, and garden dock. The food forest is going to be FLOURISHING this year.

An old dirty soil bag filed with dirty root chunks

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

It still looks messy but it’s sorted enough. I’ve a great collection of saved seed going—many are 5th generation and meant for this spot. Pest-proof squash is a goal for this year. What’s your favourite moschata?

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Winter project: making a green wood ash bow. Following a few YouTube videos for technique as I’m new to this.

A thick green wood branch on a workbench beside a draw knife. Branch is marked into the bark along the centre, end to end.

A debarked and slightly shapely branch sitting on a workbench beside a wood-handled drawknife. The branch is being shaped into a bow.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Is your business house-sitting? Wanna come house sit here in February?

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

I’m a big fan as well. His sea life work is impeccable!

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Doing a bit of post-growing-season seed sorting and saving. It’s messy but I can just zone out and break pods with a podcast playing. I owe a few of you some of these — I haven’t forgotten. Will get to you before next growing season!

An egg carton with each egg holder filled with a different seed; shriveled green peas, tiny greyish lupine seeds and violet-speckled dark brown beans

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Never thought I’d be so amped over a pile of decaying shit and plant scraps, but thanks to this lady, I’ve got a very large compost mound going into the winter. Leaves, rabbit waste/litter/hay, garden clippings, urine. Should have plenty to spread in the spring! 🌱

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 09/11/2024

Gonna try hanging out here again a little more often. And I want to play this game. Choices subject to change weekly, but these are all in my top 5. Introduce yourself with: One book 📚 One movie 🎥 One album 💿 One TV show 📺

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 03/06/2024

Flower dump! Lupines, giant oriental poppy, weigela (say it aloud, it’s fun), thyme. It’s a hot summer so far and my 3rd season for many of these plants and I’m loving the vigour. 🌱

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 13/02/2024

You can literally grow unlimited fruit trees from seed and nobody can stop you. Found this plum sprouting in a bag of soil in the cold room, leftover from last year’s germination experiment. She’s ready to roll! Only a couple weeks of growth here. 🌱

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

🌱 fall garden coming into its own. Expecting frost tonight, but I think most of these beings will survive. Few radishes harvested already, but will be able to harvest a salad any day now.

Close-up of salad greens in the garden surrounded by fall leaves

A nice looking cabbage in a garden covered in red and orange fallen leaves

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 30/09/2023

I know Bluesky likes cute shit so here’s the Flemish giant rabbit we’re fostering. Her name’s Bionda. She’s a big girl and loves to snuggle. Has a personality like a dog. She follows us around and gets zoomies & jumps on her house or crawls through her cat tunnel. She’s 2.5’ long stretched out!

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 23/09/2023

Harvested some aralia nudicaulis from the back forest, AKA sarsaparilla. There’s a large patch back there and I’m gonna make another batch of root beer this fall. It’s prime time to harvest sarsaparilla — right before the leaves and stems fall.

Some nondescript roots on a piece of wood.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 15/09/2023

Looks just like green zebra!!

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 01/09/2023

My giant tomato. It was a poor year in the raised beds due to general laziness, but this guy (herb garden guy) is flourishing. Haven’t trimmed much, but the stem on the right is over 6’ and the “plant” on the left is actually another arm from the same plant - about 5’ long.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 31/08/2023

Fun garden finds: Giant katydid, bloody rudbeckia, dog stinkhorn. 🌱

Large green katydid on a tomato plant looking like a leaf

A yellow rudbeckia flower - yellow petals with a brown centre - petals look like they’re blood stained.

A fungi protruding from the dark brown earth, like a thin pink fang or spike.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 20/08/2023

More garden 🌱 buddies! Black and red milkweed beetle on a dill plant. A tomato hornworm after eating half a Roma (moved with some sacrificial tomato branches). Ssssnake in the grass. Biggest garter snake I’ve seen! A performing green tree frog, stretched between two branches.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 17/08/2023

Found some yellowfoots! Will be eating these for dinner tomorrow.

Orange stem mushrooms with a light brown cap growing from the ground. Green ferns in the background.

A paper bag of thin, yellow-stemmed mushrooms.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 09/08/2023

Not sure what's going on here, but these are double seed pods from a giant red mustard. I grow a ton of this, often as ground-cover wherever I plant something new, as it's resilient & fast. I wonder if it's double seeded too? Maybe a good candidate for pod production? 🌱

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 08/08/2023

Had the privilege of watching this pretty lady check grabbing some nectar and drinking from the echinacea I planted from seed last year. 🌱

Hummingbird in mid flight drinking from pink echinacea flower

Hummingbird resting on stem of pink echinacea flower

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 25/07/2023

Beans are going off. There will be dilly beans! ~5% brine, green/flagrano beans, fresh garlic (incl stems), dill leaves + flowers, peppercorns, jalapeño slice. Plant for diversity, and you’ll always have *something* to eat. 🌱

Two jars of pickled beans. Green beans, and herbs can be seen inside the jars.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 25/07/2023

Possible dill-muncher sighting. I don’t think she will make it, but hopefully can lay some eggs before moving on. Must’ve escaped a bird or frog.

A black swallowtail butterfly missing on wing. Her wings are black with yellow splotches close to the edge with a red “eye” near the butt.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 22/07/2023

Garden 🌱creatures 1. spring peeper 2. Canada darner (I think?) 3. Giant f***Ing fishing spider (3.5” across!)

A light brown frog with an x shape on its back sitting in the grass.

A blue and black striped dragonfly with green eyes on a stone wall.

A picture that looks like grass and stone but with a large brown spider in the corner carrying a very large and round egg sac.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 18/07/2023

Multiplier onions are a win! Bought these after learning about them from SkillCult. Did not disappoint. Started from sets 2 months ago. Harvested sustainably for gronions as they grew, and each single set tripled or quadrupled. Anyone else growing multipliers / potato onions? 🌱

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 10/07/2023

Be careful when removing bugs form your plants. I’ve learned to take a learn-first approach when observing my gardens. This little guys are Spined soldier but larva — predators to spongy moth and Colorado potato beetle — a good ally to keep around. 🌱

A small black and brown beetle larvae on the underside of a leaf. Greyish blue eggs beside it, barrel shaped, and very close together.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 09/07/2023

Secret toad. This friend’s been hanging around for a couple weeks now, making little bowls in the soil. You can see her by the sad looking radishes, almost right in the centre. Kid and I tried to feed her slugs but she’s too wary of us being nearby. 🌱

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 07/07/2023

Dill-muncher is growing. And destroying some of the volunteer dill plants (but that’s okay). She’s about the size of a middle finger 🖕 now. Ready to see her grow into a 🦋. She’s joined by 3 more smaller caterpillars in the herb garden. 🌱

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 02/07/2023

🌱 Dill is always one of the most popular plants in the garden. Check out this pretty swallowtail caterpillar.

Yellow, black, white striped caterpillar on a dill plant.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 02/07/2023

Went away for a few days and came home to this. The chaos herb garden in full effect. There are some lovely natives that have made their way in. I’m keeping them. Needs more flowers tho.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 22/06/2023

Strawberry spinach is fun. These little flower bud things even taste fruity. Best surprise in the garden this year. First green out of the ground, good eating, and now these fun fruits. It’s also perennial!

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 09/06/2023

Some fun bugs from the garden this year. They like to take refuge on the side of the house. Virginia Ctenucha moth and Calligrapher beetle.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 25/05/2023

How radical is my radicle? Black walnuts starting to awaken from their cold-stratified slumber.

A radicle peeking out from a dirty black walnut.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 13/05/2023

Participating in no mow may, and the creatures are loving it. We tend to leave the edges and corners long and the toads and snakes love it. Watched a beautiful orange garter snake cruise through the herb garden today, then back through the weedy alley. Love to see it.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 08/05/2023

I think we’ve also inspired the neighbours to plant food too. They asked me yesterday if I’d be okay with them planting blueberry bushes along their side of the property line. I told them they had my full support. Eventually we will extend the plantings along the whole line!

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 08/05/2023

Herb garden coming into its own. Sage, rhubarb, peonies, thyme, goji berry, lemon balm, strawberry spinach, feverfew, lupines, wild violets, multiplier onions, chives, Turkish rocket, potatoes, and kale. Lilac in front. Will keep adding to the utilitarian chaos this year.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 08/05/2023

Western dividing garden is coming along. Saskatoons flowering nicely, planted foxgloves (for fun), cornelian cherry and gooseberry we planted last year are looking good. Strawberries should be taking over this bed as groundcover. Also note the chestnut mushrooms from a buried log!

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 08/05/2023

Boxed in the blueberry, seedling apple, blackberry row w/ windfall, planted 2x seedling American persimmons (front). Raspberry bed (far left) will be getting more sun now due to the hemlock behind it dying in the fall. Year end discount blueberries have good flower set so far!

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 08/05/2023

I’ve been busy this spring. Most of the dividing hedge is looking healthy (left), haskaps, asparagus, hazelnuts, mulberry, peonies looking good. Cherry tree & kousa dogwood survived, but a slow start. The two trees in front are seedling pawpaws that went in this weekend.

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Sim G @sim.bsky.social · 30/04/2023

First fruit flowers of the season. The haskaps are pulling through and the bumble bees are quite happy about it. If you look closely there’s also some sort of crab spider holding a fly. These little spiders can be found all over, and often resemble the colour of the flowers they’re closest to.

Closeup of a flowering haskap shrub, with a small green crab-shaped spider on a leaf holding a small black fly.

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