Late Bloomer is TWO Today!

Late Bloomer is TWO today! This is the second anniversary of my urban garden web show “Late Bloomer” and I want to thank everyone for your support! We are into our third season of episodes, and a lot has happened in these two years.

Kaye and her Kale

I’m continuing my on-the-job education of learning to garden and grow food. I spend at least a couple of hours a day online soaking up everything I can from folks more knowledgeable than me. And I photograph a lot of bugs and slimy larva and things. I really should have been an entomologist (and I really need a better camera)!

Late Bloomer Lesson: The more you know about the creatures in your garden, the better! For example, yesterday, I learned that this 1/4″ creature, a syrphid fly larva, that I only managed to spot with my macro lens, is actually my friend! It feasts on aphids, of which I’m never in short supply!

Syrphid fly larva on cabbage leaf

“Insects are certainly the dominant, multi-cellular life forms on Earth,” says Dr. James Hogue, Professor and Manager of Biological Collections (one of the best in the country and home to a rarely seen in Southern California blue ladybug I captured in my garden). Dr. Hogue is my source when I am stuck figuring out which creatures are friend or foe.

Last year, I shot 10 short Urban Garden videos for eHow. Please check them out and let me know what you think! We shot them all in one morning, and that was exciting and challenging! Click the photo for “How to Prune Zucchini.”

Kaye Kittrell gardener on eHow-How to prune zucchini

I will be featured in the local newspaper for this spring’s garden issue, and have been asked to write an article for Honey Colony. I am guest speaker a garden club in Orange County in May. Meanwhile, my lean post-production team and I are working on our 44th episode, with much more to come! And it all started because of a tree. Learn how I began this journey of discovery in “Welcome to Late Bloomer.”

So many well-intentioned folks in the last two years have inspired me, like Mary and Scott in “Living Sustainably in Tennessee” by their commitment to give back to the land and commit to a sustainable life in retirement, and by 85 year-old Betty, and her daughters, who, concerned about bees declining, started beekeeping two years earlier. “If I can do it, you can do it!” Betty chimes exuberantly in Arts & Ag, Tennessee Backroads 1 – Beekeeping!

My greatest joy is sharing my garden with young people, so they can learn where food comes from.

Ali & Lily Grace Rosen picking blueberries

So, as I celebrate the Earth from which we completely depend, I also celebrate all the people who have helped me grow “Late Bloomer” by sharing their knowledge, like uber YouTubers MIgardener, CaliKim29 and OneYardRevolution, L.A. urban gardener Ron Finley (watch his TED talk for inspiration!), Indian Eco Warrior Vandana Shiva, David King, Founder of Seed Library of Los Angeles, and especially my growing vegetables group on Facebook that I am in touch with daily with tons of questions, some of whom are Josh, Jake, Jeanette, Esther, Melissa, Dave, Luis, and, of course, the man I like to call “scientist,” Sumi. They not only share information, but seeds! The gardening community rocks!

Kaye with Vandana Shiva at Watts Labor Community Action Committee in 2013

Thanks for reading and helping me grow “Late Bloomer!” HAPPY EARTH DAY and let me know how YOU are celebrating! Thank you! – Kaye

Tags: biodiversity, bugs, curbside gardening, do-it-yourself, farming on small scale, gardening, gardening web series, green your world, growing your own vegetables, Kaye Kittrell, Kaye Kittrell Late Bloomer, Late Bloomer, Photography, urban gardening, web series

Category: Late Bloomer News