GREY WATER - July 10 at the Mar Vista Green Tent

Relaxing during a foraging expedition.

Come to the Mar Vista Green Tent this Sunday in the heart of the Mar Vista Farmers Market. Meet Art Lee…a Renaissance man for our times. Whether he is foraging for healing herbs or rerouting your washing machine to water your trees, his heart beats to the pulse of Mother Earth. And don’t forget to ask about his one-of-a-kind solar powered bicycle!

GET THAT GREY WATER IN THE GROUND!

Don't let the winter rains fool you.  We still need every drop of water back in the soil.  Redirecting grey water is an easy way to prevent waste.  

What is grey water? It's the "waste" water from your washing machine reused to water your fruit trees or perennial plants instead of being sent to the reclamation plant and then out to the ocean. With a grey water system, every time you do a load of laundry your plants get a good drink and you save money as well.

As everyone knows, California has experienced an extreme drought for many years and it will most likely continue. Water is probably the most important resource for every living species on our planet. 

Learn how to double the usage of your water!

Green Tent guest Art Lee holds workshops that cover all the information you need to install a grey water system at your house. He's bringing a mini greywater demo system so visitors can see how it works and will answer your questions. He'll also have a signup sheet for those interested in attending a future workshop.

The Master Gardeners are back at the Mar Vista Green Tent this Sunday, July 3. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m!

This Sunday, July 3, the UC/CE LA County Master Gardeners have grown a lovely assortment of veggie seedlings, especially for the Mar Vista Farmers Market visitors!

Marigolds help keep tomatoes safer by discouraging root nematods

Armenian Cucumber

Here is what you will find, while supplies last: Armenian cucumbers, green bush beans, arugula, sunflowers, marigolds, and succulents.

Also: We’d like to request that if anyone has any empty SIX PACKS like these that they recycle them with us. Its what we use for the seedlings we grow for the market.

Join Environment California at the Green Tent next Sunday, June 26 at the Mar Vista Farmers Market!

Something is killing our bees…

find out how you can help!

Nearly 1 in 4 native bee species are at risk of going extinct, and honeybee colonies are collapsing. Due to their key role in nature, when pollinators die out, other species go extinct as well. One leading factor is a class of pesticides called neonics. So, Environment California is urging our state leaders to ban the use of bee-killing neonic pesticides. 

Environment California is a citizen-based environmental advocacy organization operating at both the state and national level. Our staff and members work to protect the places we love, advance the environmental values we share, and win real results for our environment. 

We’re rallying local support to pass Assembly Bill 2146 banning the use of bee killing neonic pesticides on lawns, gardens, and golf courses. Currently, the bill has passed the California State Assembly onto the Senate, which is the farthest a neonic bill has gone to date. Environment California has been leading the grassroots movement by educating tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles. As similar bills have already been passed in Maine, New Jersey, and across the entire European Union, we are simply helping California catch up. 

Los Angeles is the most influential city in California. One in four people in California live in Los Angeles. By going out into the community and going door to door, our nonprofit interacts with and educates thousands of voters in the United States each year. Actively getting the community involved in solving problems we all face, called a grassroots campaign, is our specialty. It is how we protect public health and take on the nation's special interest issues. As a citizen-funded non-profit, we know we cannot outspend these multimillion-dollar companies, but by educating and getting the community involved, we can bring people together. That’s how democracy works, and that’s what we utilize to pass the bills we work on.

This National Pollinator Week, come by the Green Tent to join that movement of Angelinos. Get a bee-friendly gardening kit, interact with our activist action station, and learn more about what you can do to help ban bee-killing neonics in our state!

Learn more about this campaign, and our other projects, at environmentcalifornia.org.

Bees are friendly and necessary for our survival…let’s help them out.

Last Week…Citizens Climate Lobby -

Go to https://citizensclimatelobby.org/ to learn about the work of Citizen's Climate Lobby and their audacious plan to make have CORPORATIONS use their resources on behalf of our precious planet Earth.

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Citizens’ Climate Lobby(CCL) is a

nonpartisan, grassroots organization

focused on national policies to address climate change.

We work to create a broad foundation for climate action across all geographic regions and political inclinations.

CCL supports the inclusion of a carbon pricing and dividend  policy in  the 

Budget Reconciliation bill.

This policy is:

Effective

Economic  models indicate that this legislation would lead to 30 % less

carbon emissions in the next 5 years,  and to net zero  emissions by 2050  

Good for People

Will improve health and save lives.

The  carbon dividend puts money directly

into people’s pockets every month to spend as they

see fit, helping low and middle income Americans.

Good for the economy

Will create over 2  million new jobs,

thanks  to economic growth in local

communities across America.

Revenue Neutral

The fees collected on carbon emissions will be allocated

to all Americans to spend any way they choose. The

government will not keep any of the fees collected.

CCL supports the passage of the budget reconciliation bill being considered in congress, and the climate provisions it includes to accomplish the goal of reducing U.S. emissions 50% below 2005 levels by 2030.

The Master Gardeners will be back at the Mar Vista Green Tent next month, July 3. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. !

As usual, there will be an assortment of seedlings, ready to plant in our warm summer soils. This week will feature green beans (bush variety so no need for trellis or cage) arugula, calendula, pickling cucumbers, cilantro, basil and seasonal seeds of all types.

JOIN THE LA COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS for a special Green Tent Session from 9 am to 1 pm. Free Seedlings and other cool giveaways. Plus a special guest. Read on…

Basil

Cilantro

We’ll be giving away green beans (bush variety so no need for trellis or cage), arugula, cilantro, calendula, pickling cucumbers and some basil, plus seasonal seeds.

Emerging Tree Pests Team Outreach

Master Gardener Harriet Shaham of the newly formed Master Gardener Emerging Tree Pests team, will answer questions about pests that are a devastating threat to our trees in Southern California.

BEWARE! THE GOLDSPOTTED OAK BORER IS IN TOWN.

These exotic, invasive pests are causing increasingly extensive damage to Southern California’s urban trees, forests, and citrus and avocado groves. Tree decline and death can result in public safety hazards due to falling limbs, increased fire danger, and increased flood risk due to blockages of water ways. It can also contribute to decreased property values, increased air and noise pollution, habitat loss for endangered birds and other wildlife, as well as a loss of ecosystem services, which includes cooling, water filtration, and carbon sequestration.The Master Gardener EPT (Emerging Pests Team) will discuss and answer questions about pests that are a devastating threat to our trees in Southern California.

Giveaways

• Activities and Coloring books for kids

• Informational handouts, brochures, and cards on:

• Asian Citrus Psyllid/Huanglongbing

• Goldspotted Oak Borer

• Invasive Shothole Borer

• South American Palm Weevil

Free Trees for YOUR Street! - Sunday 5/29 at the Green Tent!

Caring for street trees on Cabrillo April 2021

LINE YOUR STREET AND FILL YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD WITH beautiful

TREES

Delivered and Planted for Free by the City of Los Angeles !!!

What Can Trees Do for Me

    - Save water

    - Combat the greenhouse effect

    - Clean the air

    - Provide oxygen

    - Cool the streets and the city

    - Conserve energy

    - Provide homes for local wildlife

One year of growth May 2022

Bureau of Sanitation Adopt a Street Tree Program

Street trees improve walk-ability of our neighborhoods while helping reduce the impacts of climate change. Learn how you can request planting of a tree along your street in the public right of way.  Many different tree varieties are available.  Tree adopters are responsible for the early care and watering of the sapling. We'll have information about different watering options to make this task easier.

Contact Shelley Wiseman to find out about all of free tree programs available from City Plants, a public-private partnership between the City of Los Angeles, local non-profit organizations, community groups, residents, and businesses.

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Need to save water? TIME TO MULCH! - Sunday May 22nd at the Green Tent

Stop by the Green Tent on Sunday, May 22nd to meet the Master Gardeners of The Learning Garden! They will be happy to teach you all about mulch! Learn about the different kinds of mulch, how to use it and all the benefits mulch brings to your garden!

( Booth volunteers : David King, Clair Gerard, Sarah Harroff, and Joy Tucker)

TessaGrows - Mother's Day May 8th at the Green Tent!

Join us this Sunday May 8th at the Green Tent in the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market to see TessaGrows! TessaGrows is a Los Angeles based brand founded by Tessa Nathan. Originally from South Africa, Tessa developed a strong passion for gardening and a love for the natural world and our connection to it. She is a teacher by profession and has had years of experience teaching gardening in schools and individual clients in their homes. With this passion, she launched TessaGrows in 2021 offering products and her services as a teacher and workshop facilitator.

The brand was created to inspire people to learn how to grow their own fresh food from the comfort of their own homes. With often limited space to do so, people can become deterred by the idea, thinking it might be too difficult with so little space and this is where the TessaGrows Grow Bags come in so handy. Her Grow Bags were developed with the budding gardener, with limited space, in mind. She sells these bags as full kits, providing you with almost everything you need to grow your own veggies and herbs in small spaces like patios and balconies.

These bags are the perfect gift for moms this Mother’s day. The bags represent the miracle of seeds sprouting, passion and love and who better to give them just that than a mama. Give your moms the gift that keeps on giving this Mother’s Day for only $32.

The bags included: a fabric growbag, tray, seed template, seed template tag, coconut coir puck for seed cover, x-marks-the-spot badge, watering spout, extra seeds, 3-month supply of plant food in a bug viewer, organic green tote bag.

For more information and to shop TessaGrows full product range, visit www.tessagrows.com

Homegrown Gardens - At the MV Green Tent this Sunday for Mother's Day!

Come on down to the Green Tent at the MV Farmer’s Market this Sunday May 8th for Mother’s Day! Homegrown Gardens helps people and institutions grow food around their homes and places of work. They will be planting seeds and transplants for people to take home to their gardens! What a fun way to celebrate Mother’s Day! See you there!

Master Gardeners - Sunday May 1st at the Green Tent!

On Sunday, May 1st, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., swing by the Green Tent at Mar Vista Farmers Market when the UC/CE LA County Master Gardeners return with lots of lovely green gifts: free seedlings and free seeds!

This month they’ve lovingly grown the following plants and herbs (from seed) for you:

There will be slicing cucumbers, cilantro , lettuce, yellow and green bush beans, sunflowers and a few sun gold tomatoes! We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Every day is Earth Day at The Learning Garden! - Sunday April 24th at the MV Green Tent

This Sunday, April 24, 2022 at the Green Tent at Mar Vista Farmer’s Market, come visit the Garden Master David King of The Learning Garden and find out what is happening at the garden at Venice High School.

 Our History: For over 18 years, The Learning Garden has served as a model in the community for horticultural education and environmental sustainability. It has brought families, disadvantaged groups, and students together in fellowship, healing, and learning with a slate of programs including regenerative agriculture, holistic medicine, seed saving, pollinator habitats, fiber arts, culinary arts, and self healing arts such as yoga and qigong.

Our Mission: We as a people face grave challenges, with fewer of us connecting with nature, valuable species disappearing, and the loss of knowledge about the uses and benefits of plants. The Learning Garden is bringing this knowledge back with curriculum, community events, outreach, and training. We seek to continue this legacy, and to encourage understanding of the wonder and vulnerability of the natural world.

Who We Serve: The garden audience is the student body (70% Title 1) of Venice High School and the local Mar Vista neighborhoods which include vulnerable low income communities bisected by major freeways. The garden expands this reach to broader Los Angeles with partnerships supporting at-risk youth, urban hunger, healthy soil advocacy, and meditation therapy. 

Your Support: Thank you to all our community and school supporters who have helped this garden thrive. It is amazing how much we have grown over the years and continue to touch lives with your support.  There are many ways to get involved. Join an upcoming workday or share our story with your network online and have us speak about the garden at events. Stay informed by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on social media. The garden changes weekly. We don’t want you to miss a beat! 

Protect Playa Now! - Sunday April 24th at the Green Tent

Join us at the Green Tent this Sunday in imagining clean air! Learn about actions you can take to help protect our community. Protect Playa Now will have tips on electric cooking with information about induction cooktops. The chemicals added to natural gas pose health risks inside the home.

Protect Playa Now is a collection of concerned citizens mobilizing to protect Playa del Rey and surrounding communities from the threat posed by the SoCal Gas Natural Gas Storage Facility.

The facility, located south of Culver Blvd. and west of Lincoln Blvd. has an unsafe track record and puts our community at risk. When pressure builds and the company needs to release gas, toxic substances such as formaldehyde, benzene, hydrogen sulfide, and n-hexane (a neurotoxin) are released into the air… the air our community breathes! Cumulative exposures to these chemicals can pose serious risks to the health of those living nearby.

We have the ability to transition to real clean energy and ensure a future of climate resiliency, good green jobs, and healthy communities. Click here to learn more about Protect Playa Now and their work. And we’ll see you this Sunday 4/24 at the Green Tent at the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market!

Ballona Wetlands - Sunday 4/10 at the Green Tent

BALLONA WETLANDS

...an environmental treasure in our own back yard 

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.

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. 

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." 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!

Environmental Racism - Sunday April 10th

Climate change is one of the most pressing environmental issues facing our world today. But have you thought about the intersection between the environment and racism, and how you can make a difference? Stop by the Green Tent on Sunday, April 10 to learn more, and win some environmentally friendly prizes!

Environmental racism is a big problem in Los Angeles. The most polluted communities in the city have large minority populations, and not much is being done to help them. In fact, one community in LA, Wilmington, is one of the most polluted areas in the country with an EPA pollution burden of 100/100. Our guests, members of the Palisades Library Teen Council, are hoping to raise awareness about this issue. If you stop by, you could learn more about what you can do to alleviate this issue while winning prizes! Make sure to check it out at our booth on April 10!

Master Gardeners - Sunday April 3

This Sunday, April 3rd, from 9 am to 1 pm, join the Los Angeles County Master Gardeners https://celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program/ at the Mar Vista Green Tent. It’s the first Sunday of every month at the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market. Stop by for your choice of seedlings lovingly grown by the Master Gardeners expressly for the Mar Vista community. As always, you’ll get a chance to start your own plants from seeds — everything the Master Gardeners bring, they give away for FREE! They grow seedlings for just this market and give them away for FREE, in addition to FREE seasonal seed packets. Bring your questions and they’ll answer them.

This week they are bringing marigolds, sunflowers, green bush beans, cilantro, succulents, loofa, baby lettuce and Swiss chard!

Road Ready - March 27th at the Mar Vista Green Tent

The weather has certainly warmed up but still don’t know quite where to ride your (new/old/rusty/borrowed) bike yet? Curious about the Metro Bike Share stands? Maybe you recently pulled that bike that has been hiding in the back of the garage and need to get it road ready. If you already ride, learn how to register your bike to minimize the risks of bike theft.
Stop by the Green tent this Sunday, March 27th from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and let’s talk. Mar Vista's "Master of Cycling", Rob Kadota, with be there with his trusty bike stand and few tools to get your bike as road ready as possible. We will also have wide array of bike-related resources, including clubs and ride tips.

GREY WATER - March 27 at the Mar Vista Green Tent

Relaxing during a foraging expedition.

Come to the Mar Vista Green Tent this Sunday in the heart of the Mar Vista Farmers Market. Meet Art Lee…a Renaissance man for our times. Whether he is foraging for healing herbs or rerouting your washing machine to water your trees, his heart beats to the pulse of Mother Earth. And don’t forget to ask about his one-of-a-kind solar powered bicycle!

GET THAT GREY WATER IN THE GROUND!

Don't let the winter rains fool you.  We still need every drop of water back in the soil.  Redirecting grey water is an easy way to prevent waste.  

What is grey water? It's the "waste" water from your washing machine reused to water your fruit trees or perennial plants instead of being sent to the reclamation plant and then out to the ocean. With a grey water system, every time you do a load of laundry your plants get a good drink and you save money as well.

As everyone knows, California has experienced an extreme drought for many years and it will most likely continue. Water is probably the most important resource for every living species on our planet. 

Learn how to double the usage of your water!

Green Tent guest Art Lee holds workshops that cover all the information you need to install a grey water system at your house. He's bringing a mini greywater demo system so visitors can see how it works and will answer your questions. He'll also have a signup sheet for those interested in attending a future workshop.

Giving Freely

How many times do we get rid of things we have that are perfectly functional? Did you know that in the fashion industry alone:

• The apparel industry is the 4th largest industrial polluter and accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions.

• The average American sends 70 pounds of clothes to landfills every year. That’s 21 billion pounds of post consumer textile waste per year!

• Less than 20% of what gets donated to charities gets resold.

And of course we get rid of much more than clothing. In Nicole Robertson’s new Swap Society article, she says “Giving things freely to neighbors instead of throwing them in the trash, and receiving gifted items instead of shopping, is the cultural shift the world needs right now. Overconsumption and excessive waste are trashing the planet.” Click here to read more! https://www.swapsociety.co/blogs/all/tales-from-a-buy-nothing-group

Water 4 Life Global - March 20 at Mar Vista Farmers Market

Water 4 Life Global is a women-led 501c3 nonprofit working on the ground in Guatemala to provide clean water to indigenous communities. Through the distribution of water filter technology, we help provide families with access to clean water they can drink, cook and clean with. 

We imagine a life free of water transmitted diseases, water toxins, malnutrition, and environmental damage, in a country that maintains each of these issues as very viable threats to the communities

and ecosystems. 95% of the water in Guatemala is dangerous to drink, mainly due to pollution, poor infrastructure, and unregulated sewage systems. Together, we can help heal the environment and health of families who rely on their waterways as a source of potable water. Spreading awareness about the global water crisis and ways to help is crucial to our mission. 

At the Green Tent, we will demonstrate how our village water filter works and share the

environmental issues Guatemala faces. You will have the opportunity to donate a filter and receive unique, hand-woven textiles made by a women's cooperative in Guatemala. Each piece was created using sustainable materials, natural dyes, and patterns that express the deep Mayan culture. Come by and share the love!

Ballona Creek Trash Interceptor

Photo Courtesy of Joe Clark

Ballona Creek

Trash

Interceptor Pilot Program: Every day new solutions are being offered to help our beloved planet get healthy. Come to the Mar Vista Farmers Market this Sunday, March 13 and visit the Green Tent, where Cung Nguyen from

LA County Department of Public Works 

will explain the latest effort by the county of Los

Photo Courtesy of Joe Clark

Angeles to stop the flood of trash from Ballona Creek before it enters the Pacific Ocean.  

We also welcome your assistance in securing the safety of local wildlife, so they are protected from getting caught up in the gears of

progress.

Photo Courtesy of Joe Clark

Email &/or call LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell and ask that she direct Public Works to:

 a) keep a close watch on the trash interceptor to make sure marine life is not caught up in the machine and harmed during

Photo Courtesy of Joe Clark

this pilot project and b) prioritize installing trash screens where storm water enters the creek upstream.