Master Gardeners, June 28

The UCCE Los Angeles County Master Gardeners return to the Green Tent on Sunday, June 28 from 9 am to 1 pm. As usual they’re bringing many free seedlings and seed packets for you to take home and plant in your own garden.

This month’s seasonal offerings include zucchini, cilantro, mediterranean cucumbers, baby belle snacking peppers, heirloom black cherry tomatoes, classic slenderette green beans (bush beans) - plus a few little kales still remain.

As ever, please remember to bring your empty plastic six-packs so the Master Gardeners can continue to plant more seeds for you.

This month the Master Gardeners also bid farewell to their long-standing program director, Yvonne Savio, who is retiring on June 30. Many of Green Tent visitors have signed up for her Master Gardener community email newsletters. Now she’s starting her own website and you can sign up for her own email newsletter here. It’s a great site, and no one is more knowledgeable than Yvonne. Plus she’ll keep you posted with garden tips and send you info about all sorts of gardening events happening around town.

Resources for you: 

Click here for information on garden pests

For these drought stricken times, find the Garden Spot at BeWaterWise 

And if you’re taking out the lawn, remember your trees still need water; they’re good for us, so  be good to them! Read these two interesting posts from KPCC and KCRW public radio.

Relay for Life, June 21

Relay for Life clothes donation collection 

Please stop by the Green Tent this Sunday to meet Elizabeth Roland, our community manager for the Mar Vista West LA Relay for Life and drop off your gently used clothes. The clothes will be donated to the American Cancer Society Discover Shop at 2460 Overland. Tax donation letters will be available at the Green Tent when you drop off your clothes.  

While at the tent, you can also learn about learn about the 2015 Relay For Life Mar Vista/West LA. 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! The incredibly passionate and dedicated teams of Relay For Life of Mar Vista/West LA raised nearly $10,000.00 for the fight against cancer in 2014 and are looking to make an event bigger impact in 2015. It's all happening on Saturday, July 18, at Mar Vista Park. 

Unfortunately, there is probably not one person in our community that hasn’t been affected by cancer directly or indirectly. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is the world's largest and most impactful fundraising event to end cancer. It unites communities across the globe to celebrate people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and take action to finish the fight once and for all. 

Food Forward, June 14

Do you have a plethora of produce in your garden? 

A flood of fruit on your trees? 

If you find yourself with an excess of perfectly good homegrown fruits and veggies that you are unable to use, stop by and see Food Forward at the Green Tent on June 14th. We'll tell you how you can donate to our Backyard Harvest Food Drive so this nutritious fare goes to St. Joseph Center and New Life Society, agencies that directly serve those in need in the community. 

These fresh food collections will begin on Sunday, July 12th, and will happen on the 2nd Sunday of each month from 11 am - 2 pm at the Mar Vista Farmers Market. 


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!

For more information about donating your homegrown produce to our Backyard Harvest Fruit Drive at the Mar Vista Farmers Market, 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. 


Since forming in 2009, Food Forward has collected nearly 10 million pounds of produce, which has helped to feed 100,000 clients a month through 200 diverse distribution partners across LA and Ventura Counties.