Savor the Harvest! – Late Bloomer Show : Late Bloomer Show

In a recent video, “Savor the Harvest,” I taste test my two fig varieties, plum liqueur, a hot chili from Sicily, harvest calyxes from roselle hibiscus and much more. It is a video I hope you will watch, like and share. I share this newspaper clipping of my mother, who is going downhill fast. Her decline coincided with my news of having to move when I told her last December, and hasn’t let up. It’s very hard to see your mother loose her faculties, but especially hard for me this year when I’m losing my home.

Kaye with her mother, Bobbie June Kittrell

So far, there have been several videos from Jacq Davis’ visit a week ago, and more to come. We made passion fruit juice, a fruit fly trap, cooked, saved seeds, propagated my fig trees with air layering. It was a packed two days capped off with a sunset picnic at their camper overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu. I hope you will watch the whole series!

Kaye with Jacq and Jeremy in Malibu in September

As you will see in the videos, Jacq, an artist by trade, is a chef and passionate gardener, developing her second very large edible forest at their home in Tempe, Arizona. She is most active on Instagram. You can find her here.

Egyptian Spinach (Molohkia) Stew, Vegan style

~ Ingredients ~

1 medium onion or 2 shallots, minced

4 tbl extra virgin olive oil, divided in two parts

1 tbl ground coriander seed

5 cloves garlic, minced

32 oz vegetable stock

1 lemon, juiced

400 g. fresh/frozen and thawed Egyptian molokhia, minced

fresh okra, sliced thin for garnish

~ Directions ~

Sauté onions till translucent in half the olive oil, add vegetable stock, and bring to a simmer. Add molokhia and stir in. Cook for only 1-2 minutes if thawed from frozen, up to 5 minutes if fresh. Ladle into serving bowls, pour lemon juice over each serving and garnish with okra slices. In small sauce pan, heat remaining olive oil. Add garlic and coriander, and simmer one minute. Pour over stew to finish.

Meanwhile, I started a short how-to playlist with “How to Propagate Dragon Fruit Cactus” one of the most remarkable edible succulent plants. It’s actually a tropical fruiting cactus, not a desert plant. Though mine has not bloomed yet, it has become attached to my pine tree, which I used as a trellis. I had no idea how tall it would become. In an interest of taking a piece of it with me, I propagated it. Please watch!

September is all about savoring the harvest, and planning for winter. However, as you’ve probably gleaned by now, this is my last season in my beloved garden. Where I will go, and how soon, depends on a few key factors which should be determined soon. One thing is certain, due to the high cost of real estate in Los Angeles, I will not be able to grow a garden on my own property here on the West Side where I have lived for 25 years. So, I am looking for an owner with a passion for home-grown vegetables and an interest in developing a food forest on their property. Wish me luck! Wherever I land, I will be creating content to inspire and enlighten and hopefully enrich your life! – Kaye

Savor the Harvest and share the love.