Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project Visits This Sunday April 1st

Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation will be visiting this Sunday to talk about this important project.

Their mission: to improve water quality, conserve and rehabilitate natural resources, and protect the Bay’s benefits and values.

The SMBRF brings together local, state, and federal agencies, environmental groups, businesses, scientists, and members of the public to put solutions into action. They dedicate their time and efforts building public-private partnerships, promoting cutting-edge research and technology, implementing pollution prevention and habitat restoration projects, and raising public awareness. Steady and long term efforts and support from the public help to ensure that SMBRF realizes the goal of a healthy and restored Santa Monica Bay.

They work on:

-Wetlands and Coastal Habitats

-Green neighborhoods

-Marine habitats and sustainable fisheries

-Education and Outreach

-Planning and Policy Development

-Restoration and Enhancement of the Santa Monica Bay and other coastal waters.

They will be at the Mar Vista Farmers’ Market to share with the public their work in our watershed, opportunities for involvement, and putting people in touch with their watershed by inviting them into the process.

They will be sharing information about their recent and current projects …and how you can get informed and get involved! The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation and its partners have many programs and projects happening at any one time so there is always something

great to participate in!

Some of their current projects are:

-the Ballona Creek Rain Gardens

-Culver City Rainwater Harvesting program (installed nearly 500 rain barrels and two residential rain gardens)

-Mar Vista residential rain garden

-Ballona Wetland Restoration Project and Baseline Ecological Monitoring

-Urchin removal and kelp restoration

-Sustainable fisheries and MPAs

-Stone Canyon Creek Habitat Restoration

Stop by and chat with them this sunday!

Windward School Will present This Sunday March 25th @ The MVCC Tent...

The MVCC Tent is just next door to the Green Tent. We are all looking forward to a very lively and educational day at the Market this day with three presentations all sharing our two spaces!

Windward School Be Vocal-Eat Local

"We are a group of four seventh grade students that want to make a difference through local food in our community! We think that the problem is that people aren't aware of the products inside the food they're eating. But the good thing is, ALL local foods are produced and manufactured naturally. It also saves energy because imported foods use up a lot energy flying across the world. Some statistics show that the average distance food travels is about 1,500 miles. Buying locally grown food can save a lot of energy from packaging and shipping out of state grown food. Buying locally grown food is much more fresher, tastier, and healthier."

Transition Mar Vista Will Join The Master Gardeners @ The Green Tent

We have two wonderful presenters at the Green Tent this Sunday March 25th!
Transition Mar Vista/Venice is a local grassroots group on the west side of Los Angeles. Their mission is to help guide our community away from oil dependency and towards a more local resilience. They raise awareness about the issues of peak oil, climate change and economic contraction, and seek to address these challenges through community-building and other projects.

Transition Mar Vista will be hosting a very cool 100-Mile-Meal at
The Learning Garden @ Venice High on March 31. It's all about raising awareness about food re-localization. It was a very successful event last year, and this year has been included as one of the scheduled events for the
Mayor's Day of Service.

Master Gardeners Sunday March 25th!

The Master Gardener's are back this Sunday-
And-
The Tomato Selection Is Here!





This month the UCCE/LA County Master Gardeners bring with them peppers (serrano, banana, ancho chilis), eggplants, strawberries, and in honor of TomatoMania!, a selection of tomatoes -- including stupice, sweet 100s, yellow cherry and Brandywine. Come see us and start your summer garden now!

Looking for free advice about gardening?
Information on what to plant this time of year?
Or just wanting to pick up a starter plant or seeds for your garden?


The UCCE LA County Master Gardeners are back with free seeds, seedlings and advice to give away at the Market on Sunday March 25.

While you're there, ask them about the award winning Seed Library of Los Angeles - see this article in the LA Times!

Since 1978, UC Cooperative Extension's Common Ground Program has made gardening possible for many Los Angeles County residents, particularly low-income and traditionally underrepresented families. The program goals are to improve nutrition; increase access to fresh, low-cost produce; offer gardening education; build bridges between neighbors and communities; help create employment opportunities; and encourage a cleaner, greener Los Angeles.
Families learn how to garden, grow their own food and prepare it in a healthful manner. In addition, the program trains community volunteers and Master Gardeners, who in turn, volunteer their time to community and school gardens.

You may want to consider signing up for the Master Gardener volunteer training program!

L.A High School Senior Water Circle March 18th!-

Wells Bring Hope!

Young people today understand the meaning of a global community.
The Los Angeles Senior High School Water Circle was founded by students as a way to mobilize youth for the betterment of the rural villages of Niger and to help them address their water shortage problems..

They are working with Wells Bring Hope which is committed to drilling wells to bring safe water and good sanitation to rural villages in Niger, West Africa–saving lives with safe water.

Niger is one of the three poorest countries in the world, according to the 2010 UN Development Index, and one of many places where contaminated water kills innocent victims, most often infants and young children.

"We now have $675 towards building a well in Niger!"

The Los Angeles Senior High School Water Circle students have been inspired to service through their studies on water issues through their Environmental Studies class at L.A. High School. They will be at the booth to offer suggestions on water conservation and how to help prevent water pollution.

Stop by our tent to learn more about these issues and meet these amazing, committed young people!

Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase – a teachable moment!

Port of Los Angeles High School Visits Our Green Garden Showcase!

What an amazing example of the power of community and the lives that are touched by our garden tour.

Lynda Hammersmith shared the news about

The Green Garden Showcase

with her friend Rachel Bruhnke who teaches a class at Port of Los Angeles High School //www.polahs.net/geles High School (POLAHS) called Environmental Engineering Studies. Where others see a fun day, Rachel saw an opportunity to move the curriculum out of the classroom. Her students, some of their parents, and Rachel are caravanning from San Pedro to take part in this amazing tour of examples of urban agriculture. What a way to connect people living (and growing!) the solution to each other, and to empower all the participants who will see that another world already IS possible, and happening all around us.

The class looks at the current issues in energy, water and food and how to make these systems sustainable for both the people and the planet. The kids are actively engaged in learning about issues that directly affect their lives today and their futures as well. The class is built around activities that involve them in a current events reader, as well as guest speakers and lots of local walking field trips to study renewable energy and water catchment technologies, urban agriculture, and community design ideas. They have an urban agriculture club, a summer urban agriculture internship, and work at a community garden at a neighboring public housing complex during the year.

As a way to "multiply" the effect of what they are learning, they are putting on a Green Festival at POLAHS in early June to engage all of our 950 students in actively learning about environmental issues, technologies and challenges.

They are very excited to be able to participate in Mar Vista's Garden Tour! and are so grateful to the committed folks of Mar Vista for pioneering this idea for the rest Los Angeles.

One of the first things Rachel teaches her class is the saying of the philosopher Emmanuel Kant: "The Actual Proves the Possible". She can't wait for her students and herself to see all the wealth of urban solutions on this tour. As Rachel said, “Our youth deserve, and are hungry for, opportunities to learn examples of what adults are doing to better the world for all of us. It will empower them to do the same.
You never know, some day we may be inviting people from Mar Vista on a Sustainable San Pedro Tour!”

For more info on the tour see here !

Farmscape Presents This Sunday March 11th!

Quit Landscaping.
Start Farmscaping!!!
Farmscape will be visiting our tent this week.



Farmscape will help you grow your own food!

Did you know that Los Angeles used to be a city of citrus groves and thriving agriculture?

Farmscape is bringing the farm back into the city one yard at a time. Join the movement!
We are available to hear the people's request for ReFarm and how we can work to implement our vision of urban farms across Los Angeles to make it the urban farm capital of the US.

Farmscape which is the largest urban farming venture in Southern California. They started in 2009 after a group of recent college graduates saw a need to change the food system, to provide access to quality food across the city and to bring sustainability to landscapes in Los Angeles. They have installed over 200 gardens across Los Angeles and weekly farm 100 of those plots. Since 2009 they have helped homeowners and schools grow over 35,000 pounds of fresh food.

"We design with an urban farm architect on staff, install, and weekly farm garden plots for people all across Los Angeles. We have also added home orchard culture to our list of services so if you need help maintaining your fruit trees please come and visit us at the Green Tent this Sunday!"