Palisadian Blogger is ‘Growing’ Success

By GABRIELLA BOCK | Reporter

How local are your fruits and veggies?

For Kaye Kittrell, tossing a fresh salad takes only a quick trip to her front yard.

In a quiet pocket of Marquez Knolls, Kittrell’s family cottage hides behind towering tomato vines growing thick with a forest of leafy greens. Basil bushes and a fig tree replace the manicured shrubs found in front of a typical Palisadian home, and sweet aromas welcome visitors—and honey bees—as they enter onto the property’s edible landscape.

But it wasn’t always that way.

A self-proclaimed “late bloomer,” Kittrell’s idea to turn her yard into a food garden sprouted in 2011 after her parkway Acacia tree died unexpectedly.

“I wanted to replace the tree so I reached out to a biodynamic farmer named Jack Andrew,” Kittrell told the Palisadian-Post. “He encouraged me to stop wasting our precious resources on ornamental bushes and grass.”

Taking Andrew’s advice, Kittrell tore out her entire front lawn and began planting citrus trees.

From there, Kittrell said, she was hooked.

Urban farms are not an entirely new concept: The trend traces all the way back to World War II when American families were encouraged to grow victory gardens as a way to support the troops.

In Los Angeles, urban farms are taking up root as more residents embrace hobby farming, while other busy “greenies” pay companies like LA-based agricultural startup Farmscape to maintain their crops for them.

But for Kittrell, the yard-to-table lifestyle is a full-time job.

“When I’m not digging or talking to a curious neighbor I’m almost always filming or taking photographs for my web show,” Kittrell told the Post.

Launched in 2012, the “Late Bloomer Show” is an awarding-winning urban garden web series that documents Kittrell’s journey and provides other novice gardeners with helpful growing information.

“I started this show because I want to inspire my community—and other communities—to get in touch with the earth,” she explained. “What better way to use technology than to teach others how to live sustainably?”

Now having just reached its 100th episode, “Late Bloomer’s” reach has gone global with views surpassing 1.6 million.

And some of her fans have even planted roots right here in Pacific Palisades.

“A woman from the Philippines sent me some of her native tomato seeds which are now growing alongside my fig tree—it’s incredible,” she said. “I have my own little garden of Eden.”

So if you see Kittrell outside digging up weeds or talking to tomatoes, be sure to stop by and say “hello”—she might even give you a sample.

For more information or to view Kittrell’s web show, visit latebloomershow.com.