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!

LA County Bicycle Coalition, November 15

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is this week's Green Tent guest. Stop by to pick up safety guides, bike swag, information on membership and other goodies!

LACBC is a county wide advocacy organization that focuses on three things:

1. Advocacy for better biking infrastructure all throughout LA County

2. Building a grassroots base through organizing community events and rides 

3. Education through their biking skills classes, bike counts and bike safety lights. 

Pulp Pantry and LA Compost, November 8

This Sunday, stop by The Green Tent to learn more about food waste in your home and what you can do to lessen your carbon footprint with a few simple steps. 

Consumer losses are the largest source of food waste in the United States! In Los Angeles alone, we throw out 18 million pounds of food every single day. Each of us can collectively improve our practices to ensure that our Earth's resources don't go to waste. 

Our guests, Pulp Pantry and LA Compost, will shed some light on the basic facts of food waste in our country, share best practices for becoming a local zero food waste rebel, and help you create individual goals that will help us move towards collective action and impact. 

Bring your home compost questions and concerns! LA Compost can help.

If you have a juicer, come prepared to learn! Pulp Pantry specializes in turning juiced vegetables and nuts into delicious vegan and gluten-free snacks, and they'd love to show you some of the awesome creations you can come up with at home. 

Pulp Pantry is rethinking what it means to produce good food with sustainability, local sourcing, and social responsibility as top priorities. They devise safe and efficient collection systems to repurpose excess produce from commercial juiceries into delicious, healthy, gluten-free and vegan products with a mission to challenge food system inequity. They’re creating food that’s good for you and good for our collective environment.

LA Compost's hubs serve as platforms from which to educate and advocate – teaching the importance of composting for soil quality, recognizing the practicality of composting, and serving as a distribution center from which they send compost made on-site into the local community.

Peels2Meals, November 1

The Green Tent is taking this Sunday off. We're pleased to welcome Peels2Meals to our spot. Program founder Heidi's vision is the co-creation of a more and more and more eco-harmonious present-day way of life. 

Stop by and learn about Peels2Meals compostables pickup service - taking compostables (peels, cores, pulp, food scraps, coffee grounds...) from your home to compost to gardens. 

Heidi will have  worms at the booth so kids and adults alike can stop by and connect with their vital and masterful Mother Earth tending wormships.

REMEMBER TO FALL BACK - Daylight Savings Time ends.

Master Gardeners, October 25

Your friendly UCCE/LA County Master Gardeners want to see what you are growing!  If you’ve ever gotten plants or 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.

On Sunday, October 25 from 9 am to 1 pm, you could be starting your winter garden with these lovely plants, available free at The Green Tent (till they’re gone – but don’t worry, there are plenty of seeds to give away, too).

Scarlet Charlotte Chard (say THAT three times fast!) A new variety developed by Renee’s Seeds, it’s got crunchy stalks, gorgeous magenta veins and bright green leaves.

Oregon Giant SNOW Peas will enhance any stir fry or just eat them raw, pods and all, in a winter salad or as a standalone snack.  

Super Sugar SNAP Peas are like dessert in a vegetable, yummy on their own, delightful when blanched and dressed in sesame oil or garlic. Pods are edible. A much better crunchy snack than Cheetos!  

Beira Portuguese Kale is tender, sweet, heat tolerant and they say it’s easy to grow. You already know it’s good for you. 

Super Rapini aka Broccoli Raab robust, rich tasting Italian heirloom with deep green leaves and tender shoots with tiny flower clusters, great sautéed and in pasta.

Slow Bolt Cilantro provides the essential ingredient for both salsa and southeast Asian cooking.

Wine Country Mesclun Salad Mix combines 8 different sweet red and green plus tangy lettuces for the perfect blend. For the adventurous, separate them into individual plants and you’ll be growing salad for a long time.

Don’t forget to share your gardening events with 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.

Don’t forget to drop off your plastic six packs to provide a home for next month’s plants!

Eco-friendly Halloween, October 18

Trick or Treat with reusable bags
use them later for shopping 

Eat or compost your pumpkin

you can even roast the seeds for a delicious snack!

Teach your kids: DON'T LITTER
make sure wrappers end up back in the bag, not in the street

Make your own decorations

get the whole family involved & create aHalloween tradition

Stop by The Green Tent this Sunday for many more eco-Halloween ideas. Bring the kids! We'll be making toilet paper roll ghosts.

If you have toilet paper rolls or other craft supplies to donate, please bring them by. We'll pass on any unused materials to the reDiscover Center.

Zero Waste, October 11

This Sunday is Zero Waste Day at the Green Tent. From 9:00 a.m - 2:00 p.m. we'll be collecting toilet paper and paper towel rolls, CDs, and unused wrapping paper to pass on to the reDiscover Center. reDiscover promotes resource conservation, creativity, and community engagement through material reuse. You can also drop off your used batteries; we'll dispose of them properly.

Food Forward will be at the Tent 10:00 a.m - 2:00 p.m collecting your excess home grown produce to help feed the hungry.

Food Forward, October 11

Drop your homegrown harvests off at the Green Tent on Sunday, October 10th to ensure fresh food goes to those in need in the community! 

Food Forward will be accepting donations of garden produce and backyard fruit from 10 am - 2 pm. This nutritious fare goes to St. Joseph Center and New Life Society, agencies that directly serve those in need in the community and you will receive a tax deductible receipt for your in-kind donation.

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!

Food Forward is at the Green Tent every second Sunday of the month so mark your calendars! For more information about donating your homegrown produce to the Backyard Harvest Food Drive, please email volunteer@foodforward.org.

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. 

WalkIt!, October 4

Join Green Communications initiative's Walkit! campaign at The Green Tent this Sunday as they partner with the Los Angeles Unified School District for the annual gonzo WALK TO SCHOOL DAY. This global event takes place Wednesday October 7^th.  

All Mar Vista students - and their parents! - are encouraged to walk or bike to school for this international day of clean air and student safety!  Be a part of communities from more than 40 countries around the world walking and biking to school that day.

WALK TO SCHOOL DAY began in 1997 as a one-day event. Over time, it’s become part of a movement for year-round safe routes to school and a celebration – with record breaking participation – each October. Today, thousands of schools across America – from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico – participate.

Come to The Green Tent and check out the many fun and customizable ways to participate on WALK TO SCHOOL DAY October 7^th.

GCI’s WalkIt! initiative is simple: drive LESS/walk-bike-skateboard-hula hoop MORE. 

Green Communications Initiative is a nonprofit public benefit corporation devoted to people consuming responsibly.