Lily Hislop
@currantlylily.bsky.social
Currant and Elderberry breeder for the Savanna Institute. Lover of agriculture that's good for the planet and people. 🫐🌳🌿🌈She/her
Pinned
Hello! I'm a plant breeder, meaning I'm developing new kinds of plants. I work with berries, specifically currants and elderberries. I want to make berries easy to grow in the Midwest, I want them to taste great, and I want them to not get diseases.
I'm giving a free webinar "Black Currants in the US:
From Banishment to
Revival" As part of the Far North Currant Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska. Tuesday, Aug. 12, noon-1 p.m. (Alaska
Standard Time). Register here: bit.ly/AKBlackCurrant
From Banishment to
Revival" As part of the Far North Currant Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska. Tuesday, Aug. 12, noon-1 p.m. (Alaska
Standard Time). Register here: bit.ly/AKBlackCurrant
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Lunch and Learn: Black Currants in the US: From Banishment to Revival. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Lunch and Learn: Black Currants in the US: From Banishment to Revival. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
bit.ly
August 7, 2025 at 8:14 PM
I'm giving a free webinar "Black Currants in the US:
From Banishment to
Revival" As part of the Far North Currant Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska. Tuesday, Aug. 12, noon-1 p.m. (Alaska
Standard Time). Register here: bit.ly/AKBlackCurrant
From Banishment to
Revival" As part of the Far North Currant Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska. Tuesday, Aug. 12, noon-1 p.m. (Alaska
Standard Time). Register here: bit.ly/AKBlackCurrant
We have gotten currants in the ground under solar panels! going to test different varieties of currants under different kinds of solar panels. #energysky 🌾🧪🌱🫐
June 18, 2025 at 6:51 PM
We have gotten currants in the ground under solar panels! going to test different varieties of currants under different kinds of solar panels. #energysky 🌾🧪🌱🫐
I'm trying lots of different bagging methods and securing methods and seeing what I like best. That means my pollination apron from my time doing corn is coming in handy. As are my cool new specs
April 29, 2025 at 10:52 PM
I'm trying lots of different bagging methods and securing methods and seeing what I like best. That means my pollination apron from my time doing corn is coming in handy. As are my cool new specs
Blooms are starting to open up in my currant plants and I am trying to cross pollinate them for the first time. They need to be "emasculated" meaning before the flower can open, I have to carefully remove all the parts of the flower that make pollen, leaving only the stigma and ovary
April 29, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Blooms are starting to open up in my currant plants and I am trying to cross pollinate them for the first time. They need to be "emasculated" meaning before the flower can open, I have to carefully remove all the parts of the flower that make pollen, leaving only the stigma and ovary
Reposted by Lily Hislop
“I don’t think this plant is a lost cause,” said Lily Hislop @currantlylily.bsky.social, who runs the only institutionally backed #blackcurrant breeding program in the West at the Savanna Institute.
#Blackcurrants showing up in Ambrook Research!
ambrook.com/research/cro...
@jessehirsch.bsky.social
#Blackcurrants showing up in Ambrook Research!
ambrook.com/research/cro...
@jessehirsch.bsky.social
A Taste of the Forbidden Fruit - Ambrook Research
Banned by the federal government a century ago, black currants were cast to the fringes of U.S. agriculture. Agroforestry advocates and berry connoisseurs are urging a revival.
ambrook.com
April 15, 2025 at 6:44 PM
“I don’t think this plant is a lost cause,” said Lily Hislop @currantlylily.bsky.social, who runs the only institutionally backed #blackcurrant breeding program in the West at the Savanna Institute.
#Blackcurrants showing up in Ambrook Research!
ambrook.com/research/cro...
@jessehirsch.bsky.social
#Blackcurrants showing up in Ambrook Research!
ambrook.com/research/cro...
@jessehirsch.bsky.social
Reposted by Lily Hislop
"For 90% of the things we need to do to address [#climatechange], we have a technical solution... The bulk of the #innovation is in making solutions practical, implementable & scalable."
Read more in this Q&A with @undaunted-hq.bsky.social's Alyssa Gilbert
▶️ https://buff.ly/3QjMaIz
Read more in this Q&A with @undaunted-hq.bsky.social's Alyssa Gilbert
▶️ https://buff.ly/3QjMaIz
February 23, 2025 at 10:43 AM
"For 90% of the things we need to do to address [#climatechange], we have a technical solution... The bulk of the #innovation is in making solutions practical, implementable & scalable."
Read more in this Q&A with @undaunted-hq.bsky.social's Alyssa Gilbert
▶️ https://buff.ly/3QjMaIz
Read more in this Q&A with @undaunted-hq.bsky.social's Alyssa Gilbert
▶️ https://buff.ly/3QjMaIz
I got to go in the @cimmyt.bsky.social seed bank! They maintain and store seeds from thousands of corn and wheat varieties for food and genetic diversity security. Huge honor!
March 12, 2025 at 11:11 PM
I got to go in the @cimmyt.bsky.social seed bank! They maintain and store seeds from thousands of corn and wheat varieties for food and genetic diversity security. Huge honor!
Cool insight: when restoring landscape that had been agricultural land back to prairie, often a small number of fast growing natives dominate. Maybe due to soil microbes! If you inoculate with soil from older intact prairie, the planting may become diverse and support slow growing plants again.
March 12, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Cool insight: when restoring landscape that had been agricultural land back to prairie, often a small number of fast growing natives dominate. Maybe due to soil microbes! If you inoculate with soil from older intact prairie, the planting may become diverse and support slow growing plants again.
This conference I'm trying to monitor CO2 concentrations to help me decide when to take anti-viral precautions. Hopefully, I won't come home ill. It's wild the difference between rooms at the end of sessions. Context: 400-500 ppm is similar to CO2 outside. 1400ppm is a stuffy slept-in bedroom. 😷
March 11, 2025 at 11:38 PM
This conference I'm trying to monitor CO2 concentrations to help me decide when to take anti-viral precautions. Hopefully, I won't come home ill. It's wild the difference between rooms at the end of sessions. Context: 400-500 ppm is similar to CO2 outside. 1400ppm is a stuffy slept-in bedroom. 😷
The Land Institute is another amazing organization that does research on perennial agriculture. They are co-hosting the "Pathways to Perennial Future" conference. Listening to a talk by then now about making sorghum perennial.
March 11, 2025 at 11:16 PM
The Land Institute is another amazing organization that does research on perennial agriculture. They are co-hosting the "Pathways to Perennial Future" conference. Listening to a talk by then now about making sorghum perennial.
It's amazing to remember how new of a crop soybeans are. In 1902 it was used as an animal forage (a plant to graze on). Growing soybeans for the beans wasn't done. So much has changed in the last 100 years and so much can change in the next 100.
@cimmyt.bsky.social
@cimmyt.bsky.social
March 11, 2025 at 11:11 PM
It's amazing to remember how new of a crop soybeans are. In 1902 it was used as an animal forage (a plant to graze on). Growing soybeans for the beans wasn't done. So much has changed in the last 100 years and so much can change in the next 100.
@cimmyt.bsky.social
@cimmyt.bsky.social
At a conference all about perennial grains in Mexico. CIMMYT, the amazing organization dedicated to corn and wheat improvement is hosting. Scientists from all over the world are here connecting. @cimmyt.bsky.social
March 11, 2025 at 11:05 PM
At a conference all about perennial grains in Mexico. CIMMYT, the amazing organization dedicated to corn and wheat improvement is hosting. Scientists from all over the world are here connecting. @cimmyt.bsky.social
Last summer, I taste-tested dozens of currant varieties. I'm finally writing down my voice-recorded notes. Some particularly funny comparisons: "Good Meaty-Jelly insides", "Strong wine-y flavor, but not good wine-y", "Very burst-y","Not Inedible", "Not very flavinoid-y", "Old British Flavor"
February 17, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Last summer, I taste-tested dozens of currant varieties. I'm finally writing down my voice-recorded notes. Some particularly funny comparisons: "Good Meaty-Jelly insides", "Strong wine-y flavor, but not good wine-y", "Very burst-y","Not Inedible", "Not very flavinoid-y", "Old British Flavor"
I'm researching the history of currants and a fungus disease that it gets, White Pine Blister Rust /Cronartium ribicola/. The disease kills white pine trees and needs both white pines and currants to reproduce. 🧵🌾 🧪#history #horticulture
January 3, 2025 at 11:24 PM
I'm researching the history of currants and a fungus disease that it gets, White Pine Blister Rust /Cronartium ribicola/. The disease kills white pine trees and needs both white pines and currants to reproduce. 🧵🌾 🧪#history #horticulture
Reposted by Lily Hislop
Do you know these three Russian agronomists? If you're interested, you're in for a real #ScienceDrama in four acts! 🧪🎭 Their story is the central piece of my Short History of Vernalization, but let me tell you about them here: 👇🧵🧵🧵🧵
#PlantScience #ScienceHistory
#PlantScience #ScienceHistory
January 2, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Do you know these three Russian agronomists? If you're interested, you're in for a real #ScienceDrama in four acts! 🧪🎭 Their story is the central piece of my Short History of Vernalization, but let me tell you about them here: 👇🧵🧵🧵🧵
#PlantScience #ScienceHistory
#PlantScience #ScienceHistory
This was my first year of establishing our breeding programs for elderberry and currants with the Savanna Institute. It's been a packed year!
January 2, 2025 at 9:03 PM
This was my first year of establishing our breeding programs for elderberry and currants with the Savanna Institute. It's been a packed year!
A run down of my 2024 reading!
December 14, 2024 at 3:54 AM
A run down of my 2024 reading!
A joy of my jobs is visiting farms to talk about how the farmers grow their berries and what their challenges and wishes are. A secondary joy is meeting the piglets at such farms. 🐖
December 3, 2024 at 10:13 PM
A joy of my jobs is visiting farms to talk about how the farmers grow their berries and what their challenges and wishes are. A secondary joy is meeting the piglets at such farms. 🐖
I'm a scientist working for a non-profit. My research supports farmers, eaters, and the curious without being profit driven. My work is supported by normal people who think trees are cool. It's wonderful!
Right now, donations of all sizes are being matched. www.savannainstitute.org/donate/
Right now, donations of all sizes are being matched. www.savannainstitute.org/donate/
Donate - Savanna Institute
From research and resources to events and adoption, we depend on the generosity of donors like you.
www.savannainstitute.org
December 3, 2024 at 10:07 PM
I'm a scientist working for a non-profit. My research supports farmers, eaters, and the curious without being profit driven. My work is supported by normal people who think trees are cool. It's wonderful!
Right now, donations of all sizes are being matched. www.savannainstitute.org/donate/
Right now, donations of all sizes are being matched. www.savannainstitute.org/donate/
Harvesting currant plants with our sister organization Canopy Farm Management. These are currant bareroot plants. Each stick is a single plant that gets dug out of the ground.
December 2, 2024 at 9:08 PM
Harvesting currant plants with our sister organization Canopy Farm Management. These are currant bareroot plants. Each stick is a single plant that gets dug out of the ground.
Hello! I'm a plant breeder, meaning I'm developing new kinds of plants. I work with berries, specifically currants and elderberries. I want to make berries easy to grow in the Midwest, I want them to taste great, and I want them to not get diseases.
December 2, 2024 at 8:54 PM
Hello! I'm a plant breeder, meaning I'm developing new kinds of plants. I work with berries, specifically currants and elderberries. I want to make berries easy to grow in the Midwest, I want them to taste great, and I want them to not get diseases.