Voltec Battery, Inc.
8664 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
310-733-4334 – Ask for Joe.
“Located near Reynier Village (Venice and Cattaraugus), Voltec will bring the new battery to you and install it, for no extra charge. My car battery died on Saturday afternoon (Christmas Eve day). I called Voltec at 8:30 Monday morning, and by 9:30 am, I had a brand new car battery installed and working, all for $91.32, total. Sweet. Pleasant, prompt, and professional with great prices, too.
“Ask Joe for the 5% discount for Reynier Village Home and Garden Blog readers.”
- - Recommended by Carol Fuchs, a Reynier Village resident
We’ve added a new category: Our Neighbors Recommend. . .
This is for all South Robertson residents to give us their personal recommendations of businesses or products they have already used.
When you find an awesome local business, a good tradesperson (painter, electrician, etc.) or just something cool you’d like to share with your neighbors (a garden product or even a delicious recipe), please email us at Reynier Village and we may post it.
If you are a SORO business owner, please consider joining the SORONC card program to become a preferred merchant and get on the SORO Neighborhood Council business directory. SORO residents can get a free SOROCard to get great discounts on goods and services from participating merchants.
We look forward to hearing about your personal experience with a local business or product. Whatever discovery you might blurt out to your neighbor or friend, we’d love to hear about it too!
Earlier this year the MTA had announced a November 15, 2011 “target date” for the Expo Line opening of the La Cienega/Jefferson station. Now that deadline has been pushed forward several months with no “official date” announced. Today’s LA Times article.
For us residents of Reynier Village the completion of the Expo Line Phase 1, all the way to the Culver City Station at Robertson and Venice, will be the most useful, allowing us to travel to downtown quickly. Then the construction of Expo Phase 2, taking us to Downtown Santa Monica, which started in September 2011 and is scheduled to be completed in early 2015, will be quite a dream. Let’s hope it will happen before we all get too old.
For more info keep checking metro.net and buildexpo.org
Journalist Peter Lovenheim (of Rochester, NY) realized how little he actually knew of his neighbors or his neighborhood. This inspired him to write a book, Inthe Neighborhood: the Search For Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time.
After watching his fascinating 30 minute lecture discussing ‘what makes a good neighbor’ on the Zócalo Public Square website, I realized how lucky we are to live in Reynier Village and in the South Robertson Neighborhoods Council area of Los Angeles.
Our community works together to help each other and to help beautify the neighborhood. We spend time gardening together at Hamilton High School or attend neighborhood land use or public safety meetings at the local Robertson Recreation Center. We have monthly meetings and an Annual SoRo Street Festival on Robertson Boulevard.
But how well do we actually know the residents on the block where we live? Do we know what makes a good neighbor? Can we do better to help each other or just try to introduce ourselves? Should our community have more social events such as women’s night out or guy’s night out where we meet at a local restaurant once a month to chat? Should we invite our neighbors over for some homemade soup once in a while? Do all our meetings together have to try to solve neighborhood issues? Comments are welcome!
We attended the Reynier Village solar workshop organized by Open Neighborhoods at PermaCity, and gathered lots useful info that we want to share.
It’s never been as affordable as now to install solar panels on your home.
You get rebates from DWP that favor early adopters, currently $ 2.20 per watt, plus a 30% direct write-off on your taxes.
Permacity is offering a 33% group discount (which simply means 3 homes within 1 square mile), and that brings your cost down to $4.40 per watt, before the rebates. Final cost $ 1.60 per watt, or about $ 9,600 and up for a 6 KiloWatt system, sufficient for a small 1,500 square feet home.
Check out their website for more info or email Herb Mendelsohn.
You should talk to your neighbors about doing the installation at the same time, then email us to tell us you are going ahead.
If you want NO upfront costs, you can lease your solar system and pay about half of your current monthly electric bill to Sun Power for 20 years.
If you’d like to attend another group workshop, register on the Open Neighborhood website
If you’re ready to get a free solar assessment about the costs and timing of installation on your home, call: 310-893 3100.
It makes economic sense to go solar at this time, you will save on your utility bill, and to switch to a clean and renewable energy source will also help reduce the use of dirty coal-generated electricity in our city.
-EL-
We all know by now that locally grown fruits and vegetables are better for our health (more nutritious) and for the environment (less pollution).
So why don’t we make it a weekly ritual to visit the Farmers Market at 1801 S. La Cienega Blvd?
It’s very close to Reynier Village and easily reachable by walking or bicycling.
It takes place every Thursday afternoon from 2 to 7 pm.
You can buy organic or pesticide-free produce to prepare healthy meals.
You can buy cut flowers, also plants for your garden (from Ramos Nursery).
You can take home delicious meals, such as Salvadoran pupusas and Hawaiian BBQ chicken.
Good News!
Master Gardner George Pessin will conduct another series of classes.
The 4-week session is every Sunday
Dates: Sept 18, Sept 25, Oct 2, Oct 9
Time: 1:00PM – 4:00PM
Hamilton School Garden
2955 S Robertson Blvd (entrance on Canfield Ave)
Replacing an old-fashioned water heater just got easier and cheaper. Noritz America recently introduced a new series of affordable, residential, energy efficient tankless water heaters (Model NR50) - for both outdoor and indoor installations. With the NR50-OD for outdoors, say goodbye to expensive 3/4″ gas lines, and hello standard 1/2″!
Old tank water heater, leaking and rusty
What is a tankless water heater?
Traditional storage tank water heaters are always “on”, and this means heating and reheating the tank of water even if you aren’t using it. Tankless types only heat the water when you turn on the hot water faucet. The water will heat up to the temperature that is set and remains that temperature until you turn off the faucet. NR50′s default is set to 120 degrees. With tankless, you never run out of hot water. You get a continuous supply until you turn off the faucet.
New Noritz NR50-OD tankless water heater
The Noritz NR 50-OD (outdoor) water heater is made in Japan with a durable steel casing and polyester coating. It has a limited 12- year heat exchanger warranty; a limited 5- year parts warranty, and a limited 1- year labor warranty. Because it only requires a 1/2″ gas line, you don’t need to have your plumber install an expensive 3/4″ gas line to the unit.
These compact heaters (13.8″ wide x 20.5″ high x 6.7″ deep) heat up to 5 gallons per minute and have an electronic ignition (so you need to have an electrical outlet nearby). The outdoor model (shown above) doesn’t need venting!
Get money back!
The Noritz NR 50 is eligible for a $150 mfgr. rebate and a federal tax credit of up to $300 for year 2011.
Hire an experienced plumber!
Ray from R&M Plumbing has installed over 20 tankless units (as of the date of this post), and all but the Noritz NR50 required running 3/4″ gas lines, and it pushed up the price. In addition, the base price of the 3/4″ units are more than the NR50. Ray was thrilled to install the above tankless heater for a Reynier Village homeowner . It cut installation time way down, and he hopes to install many more for Reynier Village, SORO, and other West L.A homeowners.
Give Ray a call to see if a tankless water heater is right for your home. R&M Plumbing
Tel. 310-475-5757
Calif. Contractors License C36-735022
Tankless vs tank storage ~ which would you rather have?
Introducing “Food & Dining” to our blog! Because toiling in the garden is not sufficient for a happy life, man (and woman) also has culinary needs, and darn it, who doesn’t like to talk about food?!?!???
Citrus Jicama Salad from Chichenitza
With our new Food & Dining category we invite you to comment and share your:
- family recipes, bbq marinades, backyard picnic ideas
- delicious finds at Trader Joe’s, Glatt’s, Elat or other local markets
- favorite vendor at a local farmers market
- methods for canning or drying fruits from your garden
- hot local restaurants . . .
. . . and much more! Please join in and let’s talk food!
After reading about this ‘water-efficient home in L.A.’s Mount Washington’, nothing would please me more than to keep my 1939 house “original” while incorporating solar and other energy-saving ideas. It may not be possible either technically, aesthetically or financially, so in the meantime, my roommate and I do what we can.
We currently:
Use compact fluorescent bulbs in 99% of the house. Fixtures on dimmers have regular “A” lamps.
Take re-usable bags to the grocery store as much as our memory allows. Yes, we sometimes forget but when we do, we make sure we re-use or recycle the paper & plastic bags.
Take shorter showers and always use our shower head shut-off valve when soaping up.
Run the dishwasher and clothes washer when full.
Set the clothes dryer to the ‘energy miser’ setting.
Turn off lights when we leave a room – but we don’t go overboard and live in a dark house. At night, it’s still nice to have some ambient light even if we aren’t spending time in that room.
Re-use dryer sheets to dust furniture with, and use micro-cloths to dust the hardwood floor.
Please send us your comments on what you do for the sake of living green.
Reynier Village (in SOuthRObertson) is a film-friendly neighborhood in Los Angeles. Just the other night (June 3, 2011) Showtime’s “Californication” shot some scenes at Miss Donuts on the n.e. corner of Robertson Blvd. & Beverlywood St.
David Duchovny at Miss Donuts during the filming of a Californication episode.
Each month we discover more art galleries, places to eat and shops popping up on the stretch of Washington Blvd, between La Cienega and National, that used to be quite deserted.
The best time to visit was yesterday, during the sixth annual Culver City Art Walk, when lots of people really did come out and walked around.
The event started at 2 pm on Helms Walk with Giggle and Pop!, a silly but sweet performance by the students of the Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, created by artist Gary Baseman. As late as 7 pm the opening of The Vault (6150 Washington) was still crowded, it felt just like at a private party.
Local musicians and artists came together for an impromptu jazz performance, the mural by D*Face titled “Going Nowehere Fast” loomed on the side wall of the Corey Helford Gallery (8522 Washington), visitors checked out the artwork featured in over 35 galleries, like the paintings of Peter Sims at Cardwell/Jimmerson (8568 Washington).
Hope you made it there on this special day, but if you didn’t, go any time, have a bite to eat at Pinches Tacos (8665 Washington, BYOB), listen to jazz at Industry Cafe (6039 Washington), work out at Sweat Pilates (8540 Washington).
Then send us a comment with your suggestions.
This is a follow-up to my first vegetable garden. In two weeks, my tri-colored bell pepper seeds started sprouting. My containers are from Trader Joes Mac ‘n Cheese. I punched 6 drain holes in the bottom with a knife and filled it with potting soil from Home Depot. I also planted some 2005 zucchini and summer squash seeds. They, too, are sprouting nicely! Read “Starting from Seeds” by my teacher and Certifed Master Gardener, George Pessin.
Bell pepper, zucchini and summer squash sprouting indoors in a greenhouse kitchen window
The Reynier Village Neighborhood Association held a brunch for its members on May 15 at Reynier Park to celebrate the election of the new board: Co-presidents Phoebe Neil and Lisa Barnet, Treasurer Hector Garza, Secretary Steve Cawelti, Communications Elisa Leonelli, At Large Martha Sullivan; Webmaster Laura Sadler. These dedicated volunteers will remain in office for 2 years, then they will encourage other neighbors to step in and take over their duties. Many of them have been devoting a lot of time to creating the association, organizing activities and improving our neighborhood community since 2005.
If you’re not already a member, please consider joining, sign-up for APS Patrol Service.
For more info check out our website reyniervillage.com
One of the most popular RVNA events has been park nights; several times during the summer, all the neighbors are invited to stop by and chat, have some food and get to know each other. This year’s dates are: July 13 and 27, August 10 and 24.
Please contact us if you have ideas for other initiatives that you would like to organize to benefit our neighborhood. email: reyniervillage@yahoo.com
Thanks
RVNA Communications
I went to my first Victory Garden class last Sunday held at Hami Garden and taught by master gardener George Pessin. The class was three hours of lecture and answering everyone’s questions. All of us are so eager to grow vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers. The student mix was varied – a wide range of ages, men and women, some came from as far as Long Beach and Venice Beach, others came from the West Adams area and many live in South Robertson.
George is so knowledgeable, I easily took about a dozen pages of notes, and he gave us a demonstration on how to properly plant seeds. Everyone in the class received a free packet of seeds of their choice. I selected Jewel-Toned (sweet) Bell Peppers Crimson, Gold & Orange from Renee’s Garden in Felton, CA.
Today I planted my tri-color pepper seeds and they are in my kitchen greenhouse window, waiting to sprout. I also found some 2005 zucchini and summer squash seeds that a friend mailed me years ago. I don’t know if they will sprout, but what the heck, I planted them too.
Excited to do that, I then went online to ReneesGarden.com and ordered seeds for these colorful & delicious plants:
California Spicy Salad Greens
Scarlet Charlotte Chard
Bulbing Trieste Fennel
Camp Joy Cherry Tomato
This is fun!
Most of the material George teaches from is taken from a 44-page manual, Vegetable Gardening – Handbook for Beginners, written by Common Ground Garden Program, University of California Cooperative Extension. The manual is available for free – use this link http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/files/84072.pdf
George’s first class did more for me (to get me moving) than all the gardening books on my shelves!
You want to grow vegetables in your backyard, start your own small farm, but don’t know how to begin?
Take a look at what Farmscape Gardens can do for you.
We went to see how they work at a demonstration they held today at Windward School Garden, organized by Garden educator Samantha Lyon during the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase.
They donated their expertise and materials and in less than 1 hour a raised wooden bed was built by students and filled with soil.
You can hire Farmscape to build these beds, in many different shapes and sizes, plant vegetables for you in your own home.
See their suggestions for summer crops.
You don’t want to miss the expanded 3rd edition of the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, which has now become a giant eco-festival, celebrating Earth Week,
Saturday April 30 – 11am to 4 pm
Explore examples of drought resistant landscaping and edible gardens, learn about composting techniques and rainwater capture, see how many homeowners use energy efficiency, solar energy, and other sustainable practices to reduce utility bills and help the environment.
There are many personalized tour maps linked here.
We suggest you bicycle to cover more territory.
Victory Gardens, once a government program created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor to help feed Americans during World War II, are promoted again today by various organizations, such as Edible Gardens and the community garden movement, to encourage people to grow their own healthy food.
The Grow LA Victory Garden Initiative offers classes to help new gardeners start their own gardens quickly and easily in a container, in the backyard or at a community garden.
A class organized by Master Gardener George Pessin will take place this May at the Hamilton School Garden in our neighborhood, Sundays May 1-8-15-22, 1 to 4 pm. The cost is only $ 50. Those who complete the 4-week training will become UC-Certified Victory Gardeners.
The “Hami Garden” is a three minute drive from my house. Nothing could prepare me – - not even Elisa’s recent photos - – for the pleasant surprises I would find on my first visit. First of all, the garden is easy to find and there was plenty of street parking. (from Robertson, go West on Cattaraugus, turn left on Canfield and look for parking immediately. The entrance gate is on the left at the intersection of Kramerwood.)
The garden is now filled with an abundance of vegetables including lettuce, cabbage, beets and peas. I met up with Paula Waxman who is one of the garden’s organizers and from the SORO Green Team. Paula was busy instructing young volunteers on plant maintenance, but she was kind enough to grant me an interview (9:37 min)
I hope you enjoy it and will visit the garden soon.
The 1930s Spanish homes in our neighborhood used to have gorgeous hardwood floors. Unfortunately, decades ago, many of them were covered up with carpeting.
A couple of weeks ago, with the new year, I finally decided to remodel a spare bedroom and turn it into a TV room. I wondered what was under that tired old carpet and I discovered something even worse, ugly linoleum tiles glued on top of the original wood. I consulted some floor experts and was given little hope of finding anything salvageable underneath, we would have to rip it all up and install a new wood floor; but then a dear friend recommended Danny, a wonderful craftsman who lives in our neighborhood. He was confident that it could be done, so one rainy morning he showed up with 4 of his long-time workers, and in 48 hours the old wood was uncovered, stripped, sanded and stained. It feels fantastic to have the floor back to the way it was intended by those builders way back in 1931.
You may want to try doing something like this in your own house and you could discover some gems, such as these lovely corner inlays.
Danny’s number is 323-937 3563, and the name of his 25-year-old company is AMA Hardwood Floors.
Please let us know your experience with other old-fashioned craftspeople in our neighborhood: carpenters, electricians, handy-men, masons, painters, plumbers, etc.
Posted by Reynier Village Home & Garden Blog in Home. 1 Comment
After one of the hardest rainstorms ever, a beautiful rainbow appeared yesterday, late afternoon. Stretching from West Hollywood to Downtown, it was a breathtaking sight!
A couple of weeks ago I attended the last class of the Green Garden Academy, a free seminar series organized by the Office of Sustainability of the City of Santa Monica; the topic was “Showers to Flowers. Learn the proper use of gray water in your garden, and how to harvest and use rainwater.” So I would like to share some easy water saving tips to implement in your homes and gardens.
Rain barrels may be attached to your downspouts, water is collected when it rains and may be used later to water your garden. Warning: install the barrels at least 6 inches high, not like I did in my garden (see pictured), so the water can flow more easily from the valve at the bottom of the barrel. The hose attached to the upper valve serves to catch the overflow during heavy rainstorms and direct it to your garden, away from the hard surfaces.
You could purchase a self-installation kit to divert the water from your washing machine to your garden, but I thought the procedure was overly complicated; out teacher admitted that buying one of the new front-loading, water-saving appliance would be a better solution.
One simple trick I had learned some time ago and have been using for years is to put a bucket inside your shower to catch the overflow while you are waiting for the water to get warm. Then you can easily carry it to your backyard, pour the water into a watering can to spread over your plants.
The Mar Vista Green Committee has organized a Power Wise Expo, to present solutions on how to conserve electricity or convert to renewable energy.
It will take place on November 3, at 6.30 pm, on the campus of Windward School, 11350 Palms Blvd.
If you pre-register, you will receive raffle tickets for prizes such as an energy audit and discounts on solar installation.
On September 23 we attended a Green Living Workshop, sponsored by speaker Karen Bass, presented by Sustainable Works and the Culver City Garden Club.
Many members of the SORO Green team were present.
Mini-seminars were offered with useful tips on how to conserve water, compost your organic waste, replace dangerous household chemicals, shop for food in an earth-friendly way.
Sustainable Works of Santa Monica offers 6 workshops, meeting once a week, on the topics of Water, Energy, waste, Chemicals, Transportation, Shopping & Food.
Reynier Village has been working with the SORO Green Team to organize one for residents of our neighborhood.
Find out more about the Residential Greening Program, and please send in your suggestions.
One of the recommended changes, that can be implemented immediately and at no cost, was to do more walking and bicycling, considering that the majority of car trips takes place within a 2-mile radius from home.
A fun ride, taking place for the first time in LA, is CicLAvia (from the Spanish word ciclovia=bicycle lane) on October 10, one of the 10-10-10 Global Work party events promoted by 350.org, the organization created by Bill McKibben to find solutions for the climate crisis.
Last Saturday (August 21), we went on a fun tour aboard a Santa Monica Blue bus to look at examples of how to plant, in your backyard or front lawn, new types of grasses, which require much less water and mowing than traditional turf.
As students of the Green Garden Academy, we were lead by Russell Ackerman, and we met landscape experts and adventurous home-owners along the way.
See for yourselves some of these luscious ground covers.
Slopesaver (fescue blend) low-mow grass in a backyard on Marguerita Ave.
UC Verde Buffalo grass in a frontyard on Berkeley Ave.
UC Verde Buffalo Grass
Even better, why not eliminate grass at all?
Take a look at the Santa Monica demonstration gardens, one traditional, with turf and flowers such as roses and gardenias at 1718 Pearl, the other with only mulch and California native drought-tolerant plants, on 1724 Pearl. The latter uses far less water and requires much less maintenance than the former.
On August 20th the Los Angeles Times published “The Dry Garden: More drought ahead?” raising the questions: “Keep lawn? Get rid of lawn? Water more? Conserve? The most forward-thinking act is to landscape in a way that acknowledges the climate and does not take 40% of L.A.’s potable water and put it on lawn.”
This article is more than a drought warning – it explains about La Nina and it’s affect on salmon fisheries: “Should we have lawn at the expense of those fisheries? Whether we are aware of it or not, every time our sprinklers turn on, we are choosing lawn.”
Salmon or lawn? It's our choice.
“For those interested in adapting their gardens to a drier, more socially responsible model, here is a list of events designed to help, sponsored by organizations dedicated to conservation of the West.
Sept. 3, 10, 17, 24: Four-part course. Replace your lawn, Tree of Life, San Juan Capistrano
A brand new preschool has opened in our neighborhood!
Welcome news to those of us who remember the now defunct but wonderful Palms-Westminster Nursery School.
And this school is amazing!
playground
garden beds
The building is painted green, it’s called Green Beginning, and it follows green practices. They have 3 garden beds where they grow strawberries and tomatoes, they use 3 composting bins… something we should all be doing in our backyards. And these 2 to 5-year-old are learning these basic skills early in their lives.
If you have young children, please check them out. Their fall classes start September 9.
Sunset Magazine has a great article on how to plant a one pot vegetable garden. If you’ve got hard soil that doesn’t drain well like I do, container gardening seems mighty attractive. Here’s another cool article on ‘how to grow potatoes in towers”- – DM
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