Master Gardeners, January 24

Baby it’s cold outside! 

The UCCE/LA County Master Gardeners return to the Mar Vista Farmers Market this Sunday, January 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.,to hand out free seeds and seedlings for your soon-to-be bursting garden. But the little seedlings that the Master Gardeners planted are SO small (as this is being written) that they’re not sure whether they’ll be ready for primetime.

What was planted includes: 

Portuguese Kale, a large leaf heat tolerant variety from Portugal.

Scarlet Charlotte Chard, with wide crunchy stalks (don’t throw them out!) and gorgeous leafy veins in deep green leaves.

Neon Glow Chard — another yummy variety.

Slow Bolt Cilantro, which is bright, fresh and won’t go straight to seed at the first sign of sun or heat.

Heirloom Tuscan Baby Leaf Kale — just like the big boys, only smaller. It’s a “cut and come again” leafy green. 

Baby Pak Choi — perfect for your stir fry
Heirloom Broccoli Raab (aka Early Rapini)

And lettuces, including Garden Fern Leaf Lettuce, Sea of Red, Heirloom Cutting Mix Lettuce and a “Farmers Market Blend” of sweet greens and reds.

Last but not least — lovely crispy Sugar Snap Peas, the chunky ones you eat, pods and all. 

Two things to remember:

Please bring your empty plastic six packs so the Master Gardeners can continue to fill them for you next month.

And if you DO grow something that you got from the Master Gardeners, share it on social media with the hashtag #mglaseeds. They’re trying to start a little mini-movement!

For a great gardening website and email newsletter visit http://www.gardeninginla.net where Yvonne Savio, the retired director of the MG program, treats you to monthly tips for your SoCal garden.

Walgrove Elementary School Garden, January 17

Come and join the Walgrove Green Team at the Green Tent THIS Sunday, January 17, to learn about what is happening in the gardens at Walgrove Elementary School. On hand will be Green Committee Co-Chair Jeanne Kuntz and other Walgrove volunteers and students. And hopefully YOU!

We'll have fun games and activities for kids and adults that will inspire you to take the "Veggie Pledge"!

In the garden classes at Walgrove, students are learning about everything from native plants, the drought and watershed issues to plant anatomy as well as how to grow and cook organic vegetables right from their own gardens. 

You'll also have an opportunity to see the plans and proposals for all of Walgrove's new gardens being built in 2016, created by Landscape Architect Ryan Drnek of Sodder Studio.

Volunteering in the garden brings bountiful rewards to those who venture out! Come and enrich your life and see what's "growing on" right in your neighborhood.

Food Forward, January 17

SHARING ABUNDANCE WITh THOSE IN NEED

Learn how you can help provide fresh fruits and veggies to the hungry in your community! Food Forward is a Southern California based non-profit that recovers produce from backyard fruit trees, farmers markets and LA's downtown wholesale market and then donates 100% of what is collected to local hunger relief agencies. 

Since forming in 2009, Food Forward has collected over 14 million pounds of produce, which has helped to feed 100,000 clients a month through 200 diverse distribution partners across LA and Ventura Counties. 

Food Forward hosts 100+ volunteer-powered events per month so, whether you'd like to pick fruit or go to the farmers market with us, there are many opportunities to contribute to our efforts in providing nourishing fruits and veggies food to those most in need.

Food Forward not only battles hunger in Southern California but also works to curb the environmental issue of food waste. Recent studies have shown that 40% of the food in the country never makes it to the table and 20% of what goes into municipal landfills is food. Southern California is an abundant land of agriculture and donating surplus food to the 1.28 million food insecure in LA county is a win-win!

Learn more at www.foodforward.org.

GMO-free 2016, January 3

Welcome 2016! The Seed Library Of Los Angeles (SLOLA) – one of the largest seed libraries in the nation, wants to help you have a GMO Free 2016! To get us all started on the right foot, we'll have an easy peasy hand out on the most common GMO products and how to avoid them.

Of course, shopping at your local farmers' market is number one. Come by and say hi and let us show you the cool things we have coming up in 2016! Seed Teaching School for those who want to teach seed saving and new varieties of some plants and some old varieties of others! David King will be at the Green Tent with all the news in the genetically engineered legislation front and what 2016 will bring for our diets and lives.

David King is the Gardenmaster of The Learning Garden on the grounds of Venice High School, one of our neighborhood's best source for horticultural information. He teaches for UCLA Extension and is also the Founding Chair of the Seed Library of Los Angeles (SLOLA).

Green Steps, December 27

Having a greener lifestyle doesn’t have to mean making drastic changes to your everyday routine or spending large sums of money. You’d be surprised at how much the little things in life can make a significant difference to the environment. Creating change of any magnitude begins with small steps. 

This week at the Green Tent, the Green Committee is giving away produce bags, handmade by our own Jeanne Kuntz, to guests who stop by and offer their green step suggestions We'll have some ideas to share as well.

Citizens Climate Lobby, December 20

Now that the world’s nations have come to an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, are you wondering just how that’s going to happen? How much will it cost? How might our lifestyles be affected? Will our standard of living deteriorate or improve? What will be the effects on our health, jobs and national security?

The answer depends on what we do to make the agreement a reality. This Sunday at the Green Tent, Citizens Climate Lobby will explain a plan, Carbon Fee and Dividend, that would produce rapid emissions reductions while protecting consumers, creating jobs, building the economy, improving health, and making the United States a world model and leader in achieving and surpassing the reductions pledged in Paris.

Citizens Climate Lobby volunteers will show you the results of a thorough study by an independent company, Regional Economic Models, Inc., outlining the outcomes of this plan. And they’ll explain the progress CCL is making as more and more previously negative members of congress quietly show interest in this proposal. Now the movement has international attention with the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition established at the U.N. climate conference. 

Stop in the Green Tent to discuss these exciting events and actions, and learn what you can do to make them quickly come to fruition.

Food Forward, December 13

No Green Tent this Sunday, December 13. Our planned presenter is ill.

The Green Tent will be back next Sunday, December 20, with guest presenter Citizen's Climate Lobby.

Garden School Foundation, December 6

The Green Tent is taking this Sunday off. Look for the Garden School Foundation in our location at the Mar Vista Farmers' Market. They'll be spreading the good Garden School word and also selling seedlings grown by their greenhouse students - with proceeds going to support their program.

The Garden School Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides interactive garden-based education to under served-children across LA in their outdoor living classrooms. Since 2003, they’ve been turning asphalt into ecosystems, working to create a healthy, educated and aware future generation that care for their bodies and for the earth. 

Currently they are serving at five Title1 elementary schools and serve over 2,500 students and their families, bringing to life what’s taught in the classroom and giving kids the tools they need to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

Dreamco Crafts, November 29

Are empty jars cluttering your cupboard or recycle bin? Stop by the Green Tent this Sunday for some creative ideas for making your own one-of-a-kind containers for family and friends! 

Learn how to decorate the jars with items you have around the house - magazine pages, colorful papers, book pages and handmade papers. Add ribbons, buttons and more to personalize them. Fill with food, recipes, love notes and anything you can think of. It's a great way to recycle and keep packaging waste out of landfills!

Husband and wife team Richard Hecht and Amy Bauer are Dreameco Crafts - an eco friendly company born out of artistic sensibilities and household discards. They are artists and educators who are teaching the public how to use what they have in their homes to create household items and extend the life of their items to produce less waste. Classes include crafts, sewing and visual arts. Through classes, workshops and free events they turn strangers into neighbors. 

Master Gardeners, November 22

This month the Master Gardeners have planted these veggies for you to take home - along with seed packets - for FREE:

Snap Peas, big juicy pea pods offer melt-in-your-mouth flavor.

Broccoli Raab (Rapini), Italian favorite whose tasty and vitamin-rich shoots, buds and leaves, pack a flavor punch. Try this recipe.

Russian Kale (Wild Garden Frills), especially tender & mild, blue-green crinkly leaves with green or purple ribs.

Italian Kale (Tuscan Baby Leaf), utterly delicious, vitamin rich, fast growing for scrumptious salads & stir fries.

Swiss Rainbow Chard, eye-catching vivid color combo, delicious and also ornamental.

Italian Arugula, easy & fast-growing fresh peppery leaves that shine in salads and sandwiches.

Spinach (Bloomsdale Longstanding), slow to bolt, long harvest, thick crinkled leaves, tender & flavorful, high in vitamins A & C, rich in iron & fiber.

Baby Leaf Lettuce Mix, quick growing, delicious, gourmet flavors, colors & textures.

Cutting Lettuce (Sea of Red), sword-shaped leaves of intense mahogany-red to cut for beautiful salads.

Italian Parsley

Malabar Spinach, a vining leaf with a red stem that originated in the tropics.

Your friendly UCCE/LA County Master Gardeners wants to see what you are growing! If you’ve ever picked up a plant or a packet of seeds from them at the Green Tent, post a picture of them in your garden on social media with the hashtag #mglaseeds so they can follow your progress.

Don’t forget to share your gardening events here and sign up for the email newsletter from Yvonne Savio, retired director of the LA County Master Gardeners. You’ll get great monthly garden tips and interesting articles, too.

And if you’re bugged by pests, check out this invaluable resource for home, farm and garden: UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program.

Remember: drop off your plastic six packs to provide a home for next month’s plants!