LA Relay for Life, March 29

The Greet Tent is moving into the Water Wise Expo this Sunday and using our usual location to host an info table on a great, upcoming community event. 

Please stop by to meet Elizabeth Roland, our community manager for the Mar Vista West LA Relay for Life. This is our second year for this wonderful community based relay/walkathon focused on celebrating cancer survivors, remembering those we've lost and supporting those who are fighting back! 

This year’s Relay is on July 18^th from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Stop by and learn how you can participate!

Master Gardeners, March 22

Well, spring has certainly sprung, apparently having bypassed winter…so drop by the Green Tent and get your salad on!! 

The UCCE LA County Master Gardeners return to the Green Tent on Sunday, March 22, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a whole lotta growing going on. Free plants and seeds will be available to all who stop by. And remember, it’s first-come, first-served till they’re gone.  

Here’s what they’re bringing:

Rainbow Chard “neon glow” was developed from multicolored New Zealand heirloom chard, sweet and mild in flavor

Slow Bolt Cilantro — just what you need in the context of heat waves that come and go. 

Tricolor Pole Beans — Green, Yellow and Purple — you’ll need to stake or trellis these but you’ll be happy you did

Baby Leaf Spinach, “catalina,” — mellow tasting, crunchy textured young leaves, quick growing and bolt-resistant (bolting means setting seed)

Lacinato Kale — Italian Tuscan, delicious nutrition packed thick blue-green crinkled leaves for long harvests

Salad Scallions “parade” with tender green tops and long white shafts, mild but zesty

Rustic arugula — long lasting argula that stays leafy so you can harvest all season long.

Here’s a great link for what to do in APRIL which is just around the corner. 

And for the waterwise among you (we hope that’s ALL of you), don’t forget to pick up great tips at http://www.bewaterwise.com/gardenspot.html.

Finally, please bring your empty six-packs so the Master Gardeners can plant more seedlings for you.

Occupy the Farm, March 15

Did you know that nearly 15% of the world’s food supply comes from farms inside cities and at their borders? Urban agriculture may be more than a fad. It could be an important supplement to the food supply and – in too many urban neighborhoods – it could be the only easily available source of fresh food. Urban farming is good for urban health, resilience and the environment – but what about land? 

Film director, Todd Darling will be talking about the potential of urban farming, the role of political initiatives like AB 551 to make more urban land available to agriculture, and his new film, “Occupy The Farm” at this Sunday’s Green Tent.  The film, “Occupy The Farm” screens at Laemmle’s NoHo 7 on March 30, Claremont 5 on March 31, and The Royal in West Los Angeles on April 1. 

“Occupy The Farm” tells the story of 200 urban famers who walk onto a publicly owned research farm, and plant it with two acres of crops in order to save the land from becoming a real-estate development. The Village Voice calls it, “Riveting from the start.”

Click here to see the trailer. Visit Facebook for the Royal screening event.

Lawn Be Gone & CA Friendly Landscape Training, March 8

Want to save water? Ready to replace your thirsty lawn with drought-tolerant California Friendly Landscaping? Don’t know where to start?

Then stop by the Green Tent this Sunday, March 8th, and learn about the free California Friendly Landscape Training classes and “Lawn Be Gone” hands-on workshops offered by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Attend a California Friendly Landscape Training class, and in three hours will learn the essentials of how to transform your lawn into a beautiful, drought-tolerant California friendly landscape that that sponges up water and nourishes your plants without fertilizers, provides food and shelter for pollinators, and uses rainwater as a resource to minimize and even eliminate the need for supplemental irrigation.

Then come and play in the dirt with us and apply your new knowledge in a three-hour “Lawn be Gone” hands-on workshop where you will participate in installing a rain barrel, successfully removing lawn without harmful chemicals, building a rain garden to capture and retain rainwater, and making “soil lasagna” (sheet mulching) to build healthy soil ready for planting.

DWP customers who attend a Lawn Be Gone hands-on workshop will receive a coupon for free garden coaching.

Interested in being a host for an upcoming “Lawn Be Gone” hands-on workshop? Drop by and chat with trainers Tom Rau and Steve Williams this Sunday and they'll will answer your questions about:

• How do I sign up for the DWP $3.75 per square foot turf removal rebate?
• How do I sign up for a free California Friendly Landscape Training class?
• How do I sign up for a free Lawn Be Gone hands-on workshop?
• How do I apply to host an upcoming Lawn Be Gone hands-on workshop?
• Where do I find California native and California Friendly and California native plants?
• Where can I find qualified professionals to help me with my project?

LA Native, March 1

LA Native will be at The Green Tent this Sunday!

Get The Facts...Going Native Makes Sense!

Did you know?

• 20% of California's energy consumption is for moving and treating water.

• Up to 70% of residential water goes to watering landscaping in our county.

• Our landscaping is predominantly non-native tropicals and invasive species that consume on average seven times more water than our native plants.

• Non-native plants need fertilizers, unlike our native plants that evolved in our local soil.

• The abundant use of fertilizers is a huge source of pollution in Santa Monica Bay.

• Landscaping with native plants doesn't cost more, and can even reduce maintenance costs.

• We've lost 90% of our native songbird and butterfly populations in the last fifty years. This is no coincidence. A primary food source for most of these bird species is butterfly caterpillars. Nearly all the native butterfly populations can only eat the native plants. 

L.A. Native is a coalition that got MTA to increase the percentage of native plants on the Expo Line from under 1% to over 90%

LA Native began when Palms Neighborhood Council (PNC) transportation advocate Charles Miller realized there was little overlap between groups of people who are advocating for more sustainable landscaping choices and people advocating for more sustainable transportation choices, even though the goals of the two groups are generally complementary.

Now their focus is to see all public spaces landscaped exclusively with California natives and to get natives  promoted by programs like WaterWise and the LADWP Lawn Replacement rebate. They are working to educate people that there is no such thing as a "California Friendly" non-native plant, and other than edibles the path to sustainability requires that we use natives in landscaping.

It’s time to start making better choices for a sustainable urban environment. Please stop by on Sunday and have a chat.

Master Gardeners, February 22

It seems like they're a week early but February 22 really IS the fourth Sunday of February and that means another Green Tent visit from the UCCE/LA County Master Gardeners, 9 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.. 

Here’s what they’ve grown this month, plus you can pick up packets of seeds as well!  It’s all free—they’ve planted organic seeds, grown organically just for the Mar Vista community.

Due to an accidental overabundant planting they have ALOT of Broccoli Raab, an Italian favorite, with tasty shoots, buds and leaves. 

Click here for a simple delicious recipe.

Start your salad garden with the European Lettuce mix: A bouquet of reds and greens that are exceptionally heat tolerant.

Throw in some Glory Glory Frisee, also known as curly endive to add body, crispness and nutty flavor to salads.

Then top it off with Shelling Peas, heavy-bearing vines. Expect BIG yields! You can eat these with or without cooking them.

And Super Sugar Snap Peas, the chunky, sweet flavored pods and peas, with better disease resistance.

Or Oregon Sugar Pod Peas, tender, edible-pod snow pea ideal for stir fry, if they make it into the kitchen before you eat them. You can eat these without cooking too.

Then cook these up as a side dish: Heirloom Greens, Quick Stir Fry Blend. Use the “cut and come again” method. Plants will regrow for several more cuttings.

Swiss Chard, use the leaves like spinach and the stems like asparagus.  Heat tolerant!

Blue Borage, sky-blue starry flowers with a mild cucumber taste. Use as garnish and decoration. Also brings pollinators to your garden.

Don’t forget to Be Waterwise. Click here to see monthly gardening tips here: 

And remember to bring your empty plastic six pack “pony packs” to the farmers market so the Master Gardeners can fill them with plants to give away next month!

Green Communications Initiative, February 15

It’s Valentine’s Day so join GreenCommunications Initiative (GCI) at the Green Tent this Sunday as they BRING THE LOVE to us with their Walk It Mar Vista!  Play the Walk It! V-Day Challenge -- to correctly guess how MUCH TIME YOU CAN SAVE AND HOW MANY CALORIES YOU CAN BURN BY WALKING AROUND OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!  Think of how healthy you’ll feel (and how many pounds you can lose!!!) by choosing to WALK instead of getting in that darned car.  GCI will give you a much-deserved VALENTINE  for your efforts!

Walk It! is simple. Just choose to walk/bike/skateboard/hula hoop any errand or commute no more than a mile. The obvious benefits – better health, more exercise, weight loss, more time with friends, family, dog – add to the potential for $$ savings in lowered gas costs, no GYM FEES and supports our local businesses and community.  Most important, it’s a simple, feel good way to make a positive impact our environment.

Statistics indicate that the overwhelming majority of American commutes are short distance. A whopping 30% are between 1-5 miles. If we can Walk-A-Mile to reduce this figure, we can have a tremendous impact on the successful reduction of carbon in our atmosphere and ultimately, the effects of climate change. 

Walk-A-Mile’s Walk It! is the first in GCI's series of ConsumeLESS Makeovers.  

GreenCommunications Initiative is a nonprofit public benefit corporation devoted to people consuming less. 

True environmental change requires reduction of human material consumption on a scale massive enough to represent a tipping point. Communication is a process that by definition involves sharing. At the root of communication is a community. Together we must take the initiative to protect and preserve the health of our miraculous blue and green planet.

See GCI's Facebook page for more information.