Cancelled! Food Forward - February 3 2019

Food Forward Rained Out

They will return in the near future.

Meanwhile, come and see the amazing mural that took form during the past week.  Located at "our" intersection, Pacific and Grandview.  Enjoy this unique addition to Mar Vista's lively street art scene!

Project completed!  Come on down...corner Pacific and Grandview

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Master Gardeners - January 27, 2019

Please note:  If you read about the street closures to allow the creating of a beautiful mural at our corner of the Market, rest assured that Mar Vista Farmer's Market WILL BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL. 

See you on Grand View for fresh fruits and veggies, delicious brunch and good vibrations.

Closures will take place AFTER the market is over. 

See you on Grand View for fresh fruits and veggies, delicious brunch and good vibrations.

Get the Jump on Your Spring Garden!

On Sunday, Jan 27, from 9 am to 1 pm stop by the Green Tent to welcome the return of the LA County Master Gardeners .  They’ve been busy growing plants this winter to give away to you — for FREE — along with free seed packets. 

Cilantro

There’ll be fava bean seedlings, spinach, calendula (edible flowers that attract beneficial insects), snap peas, lettuce, cilantro and even some succulents, lovingly grown expressly for the Mar Vista Farmers Market community and to encourage you to grow your own, sustainably. Bring your gardening questions, too!

Fava Beans

Look at their website to find monthly gardening tips for LA County, and many other articles that will help you grow successfully.

LA FOODWAYS, is a new documentary examining the history of food in Los Angeles!  Did you know that Southern California was once an agricultural hub reigned by citrus? #LAFoodways digs into the region's agricultural history and introduces you to local farmers and organizations who are coming together to combat food waste and ensure that fresh food is available to everyone. For more information about future screenings and to see the trailer, click here.

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Ballona Wetlands, January 20

BALLONA WETLANDS

...an environmental treasure in our own back yard 

White-tailed Kite*

You may have heard about the 600+ acres of the Ballona Wetlands just to the south and west of Mar Vista. But have you visited this wild habitat where so many wildlife species and rare plant populations still thrive?   One imperiled bird species that our former neighbor and beloved Councilmember Bill Rosendahl loved, is the beautiful White Tailed Kite, which needs the upland areas where small mammals live just beneath the surface and provide great meals for the Kite, as well as for Great Blue Herons and several raptors.

Image Courtesy of Craig Butler

Drop by the Green Tent on Sunday, January 20, to learn about the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, which is a fragile mosaic of different habitats: seasonal ponds, wet meadows, salt pannes, sand dunes and prairie grasslands.  



AND - learn about the imminent threat to these special lands - there is a plan to bulldoze and excavate the life-rich soils at Ballona, destroy habitat for many thousands of animals and move things around, as if they are decorating the place.  

In the Yerba Mansa Meadow*

One of the historical sloughs at 
Ballona Wetlands, photo by Marcia Hanscom

Great Egrets*

Audubon Cottontail Rabbits*

Biologist Roy Van de Hoek (perhaps you know him from the Feathers & Foliage walks in Mar Vista or have seen his Blue Bird houses in our trees) and Marcia Hanscom, Executive Director of the Ballona Institute ,will be on hand to talk with you. Ballona Institute is known as "The Voice for Nature on the Los Angeles Coast."

Image Courtesy of Craig Butler

Click here  to learn more about the treasures at Ballona. And watch this video to see just some of the miracles at the water's edge.
According to the Drawdown data, Coastal wetland ecosystems are one of the top 100 solutions for reversing Global Warming.
Wetlands sequester huge amounts of carbon in plants above ground and in roots and soils below.  Coastal wetlands can store five times as much carbon as tropical forests over the long term, mostly in deep wetland soils.   There are also hundreds of trees on the ecological reserve - as well as grasslands, which have also been discovered to be strong in terms of helping with carbon sequestration - which could minimize impacts of predicted climate change.
Additionally, a methane gas storage field sits beneath the wetlands on our coast - the Playa del Rey Gas Storage Field.  SoCalGas wants to install new fossil fuel infrastructure as part of the ill-conceived plans for the Ballona Wetlands.  So Ballona Institute has joined with Food & Water Watch, Indivisible and other groups like Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project to - instead - close this gas plant down and to do everything they can to protect the sensitive lands at Ballona on the Los Angeles coast.


Learn about Ballona Institute's latest campaigns, including the most important one of all - the threat that bulldozers we once chased from the Ballona Wetlands are threatening to return! Stop by to learn what YOU can do to help save the Ballona Wetlands again!

* Photos by Jonathan Coffin
**Photo by Marcia Hanscom
Additional images by Craig Butler

January 13, 2019 - Solar Power

Solar Power   

Solution #10 to Reverse Global Warming

Rooftop solar panels are ranked the #10 solution (out of 100) that will will help us achieve drawdown* by the year 2050.  Click here to learn more about current rebates and general information about solar panels. Or, even better, come to the Green Tent this Sunday, Januray 13, and get the details from local solar expert Jeffrey Sugarman. 

*Drawdown  is that point in time when the concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere begins to decline on a year-to-year basis. It's not a quick fix, but we CAN REVERSE GLOBAL WARMING...if we all get on board and get our friends and families on board.  This is great news for humans and other living things.  It is a plan that invites us to participate at any level we can.   

There are many simple steps you can take (you are probably already doing some of them) to make an impact!  Check out this TED Talk with Chad Frischman to get the big picture.

January 6- Reducing Food Waste

Global is Reversible!

www.drawdown.org

Reducing Food Waste - Solution #3
Saving the planet from global warming can seem overwhelming, but fortunately a collection of top-notch scientists and researchers have collected data on what actions are already working and ranked the top 100 solutions in order. Many of them are simple steps that you may already take.  

Are you a member of the Clean Plate Club?  Do you select food mindfully and store or give away what you cannot finish? Come to the Green Tent this Sunday, May 6, from 9 to 2, brag about what you are already doing and learn more action steps to reverse global warming.  Contribute a "leaf" to our Drawdown Solutions Tree and leave with a free gift.    

Not sure how to make your new commitment stick?  Get complimentary coaching tips from certified wellness coach and Green Committee co-chair Jeanne Kuntz.