We are lucky to have so many farmers markets nearby, and we already recommended the closest, on La Cienega at 18th Street within walking distance of Reynier Village, Thursdays from 2 to 7pm.
But our favorite is the Culver City Farmers market, now on Main Street between Venice and Washington Blvd, Tuesdays from 3 to 7pm. They not only have a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms, but a real find. A lovely young woman cooks healthy and delicious dishes for you to take home. Check out her weekly menu at Smart Simple Gourmet, pick them up and get ready for a real treat. She has a stand at the Mar Vista Farmers Market as well, on Grand View at Venice Blvd, Sundays 9am to 2 pm.
On Sunday mornings we also like the little market on Melrose Place East of La Cienega, and the newest, the Motor Ave Farmers Market on National.
Our good neighbor who grows bananas in his backyard, tipped us off about the Good Karma Gardens (GKG) in Mar Vista. They provide free guidance for people who wish to grow sustainable food in their backyard. Check it out!
Visit over 100 gardens, to learn about drought-tolerant landscapes, edible gardens, rainwater capture and more, during the
As we were searching for plants to replace the old bamboo and create our new garden, we visited several nurseries. Here’s a list of some we liked.
Rolling Greens in Culver City, 9528 Jefferson Blvd, was the most amazing. Too expensive for us to buy anything there, but great for looking at gorgeous specimens and get ideas. You must check out their retail store at 7505 Beverly Blvd, they have beautiful items for your home and garden. Grow Native in Westwood, 100 Davis Ave, is the perfect place to find drought-tolerant plants native to California. Call for directions: 424-234 0481. Two Dog Organic Nursery, 914 Cloverdale, is the perfect place to visit if you wish to start a vegetable garden, and they will give you plenty of expert advice as well. Hashimoto Nursery, 1953 Sawtelle Blvd, is a traditional Japanese nursery with impeccable plants. Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery, 1905 Sawtelle Blvd., has a section devoted to California Natives. Armstrong Garden Center, 3226 Wilshire in Santa Monica. They offer gardening classes, and a lifetime guarantee for their fruit trees.
We picked a selection of fruit trees, shrubs and flowers, with the help of Samantha Lyon, Permaculture designer and garden educator.
I had seen inventive redwood fences with horizontal slats around the neighborhood (Holt and Halm), so, when it came to replace the old wood fences behind the thick bamboo hedge we had removed, I inquired about those custom choices, but they proved too expensive. I settled for pre-assembled 6×8 feet dog-ear panels from Lowe’s; they only cost $70.31 each. Then the lattice panels would be nailed on top to reach the more desirable 8-feet height and still conform to LA City codes. I only discovered later, after the fence was built, that they had bought common not premium grade panels from Home Depot for $54.97 a piece. It would have cost only $150 more (out of a $10,000 total expense) to get the better quality panels, but I was never informed of this change. Eventually, after the fence was painted with a transparent redwood stain to protect the wood from heat and humidity, it looked better, but you can still see through the knot holes.
Another problem that was too late to fix was that the landscape designer had assured me that the fence would all be the same height, even though one of the neighboring lots was higher than the other; but they did not adjust for the difference, so now I have a 6 inches gap where the 2 sides meet.
I was inexperienced and did not pay close enough attention, I trusted that the people I hired knew what they were doing. So I’m writing this warning for you to be more careful, if you attempt a similar project. Please keep us posted if you do.
I chose Larry Hess of Bloom Landscaping to clean up my bamboo hedge, remove the morning glory and replace a portion of the decaying picket fence, because I knew him from the SORO Green Team. With Paula Waxman he had designed the Hami Garden and organized the planting of new trees on Robertson. But we had not foreseen the necessity of removing the bamboo entirely, which in turn forced us to replace the entire length of the old wood fence behind it; so the timing was somewhat backwards. The carpenters had already been booked for the weekend, but it took 8 gardeners working for 2 days to rip out by hand that huge amount of bamboo (see post), so they decided to leave the spare live strands standing, because digging up all the roots would have taken too long. That’s how it happened that the new redwood fence was built first, then some time later the gardeners came back to finish the job of uprooting the bamboo. Bamboo shoots are surely going to sprout back in some parts of the garden, and the morning glory will keep coming over to my side from my neighbor’s backyard, so we’ll have to keep a close watch.
If you wish to remove these invasive plants, here’s some tips.
For 25 years, since I bought my home in Reynier Village, I loved the tall and thick bamboo hedge that surrounded my backyard and protected my privacy through its impenetrable branches. It was planted decades ago, in a time when homeowners were not aware of the destructive behavior of running bamboo, whose roots travel underground, under driveways and lawns. About 10 years ago another invasive plant started growing on top of the bamboo hedge, morning glory; it spread all over at a rapid pace, but I enjoyed its purple flowers. After warnings from gardening experts, more environmentally aware than myself, I decided to have this vine-like weed removed. To our horror, below the pretty flowers, we discovered a thicket 3-feet deep of dead bamboo, that had to be removed because it constituted a fire hazard. We filled a huge dumpster truck, with the 70 feet of bamboo.
Do you want to learn how to collect rain, so you can use it to water your garden?
How about replacing grass with drought-resistant California Plants?
Register for these FREE workshops from TREE PEOPLE
Rainwater Harvesting
Native Plants and Turf Reduction
Provided: Workshop materials+Light breakfast and snacks
Registration is required
To register, visit the online calendar at www.treepeople.org
Registration Deadline: September 12, 2012
Questions? email: Linda Eremita or call (818) 623-4878
We were so impressed by the landscaping of the outdoor spaces of a Reynier Village home now for sale that we asked the owners for some tips on how they accomplished this result, in case other neighbors wished to do something similar and eco-friendly in their own backyard.
“Our goal was to create an outdoor room feel. For our back patio area, we wanted to create a walled garden space, and we felt that drought-tolerant plants would be appropriate. We called upon Atlas Design Consultants to help us, they proposed concrete poured in a geometric pattern, that would allow water to drain into the ground, rather than into the sewer system (a growing ecological concern). We hired contractor Marlon Rosales to pour the concrete. We also installed a rainwater collection barrel, tucked away behind one of the 3 California native dodonaeas that we planted as replacement for the rose bushes. We hired another contractor (Rudy Martinez) to install a custom redwood fence around our property, for aesthetic reasons and also for security. We’re very happy with our outdoor spaces.”
Check out their website for more info, or if you wish to purchase this house www.2302holt.com
Don’t you wish you could have collected some of the rain that fell yesterday to use it in the coming dry weeks to water your garden?
Well, now you can by installing rain barrels under your downspouts.
Did you know that you could find so many learning opportunities for yourself and your family on our very own South Robertson Blvd?
If you have teenage children, they may attend Alexander Hamilton High School, and qualify for their excellent Music and Humanities magnets.
If you would like to grow vegetables in your own backyard, volunteer at the Hami Garden, take a 4-week class from Master Gardner George Pessin, Sundays starting April 29. Email him to register. Click here for more details, see our earlier post.
If you have pre-school children and would like to give them an early start in environmentally sound behaviors, consider enrolling them at Green Beginnings Pre-School (310) 841 6100
3047-3049 S Robertson Blvd (more info)
If you need your toddlers to get comfortable in the water to be safe around your pool, book lessons at Beverlywood Swim School (310) 838 4088
2610-2612 S Robertson Blvd (more info)
If you wish to learn about making art with ceramics, contact Echo Ceramics (310) 815-1525
2856 S Robertson Blvd
if you love gourmet cooking, walk into this delightful shop that also sells kitchen tools and get a list of their classes
Springtime blooms in Reynier Village. Exotic cactus flowers next to tropicals and 60 year old bulbs. . . it is so pleasant to walk in this neighborhood and view these beautiful plants. . .
– - DM
Agave attenuata, aka the "lion's tail", "swan's neck", or "foxtail" for its curved stem. Native to central Mexico.
Cymbidium (also known as boat orchids) from Asia and Northern Australia
Montbretia (Crocosmia Lucifer), native to South Africa
Your front door is the gateway to your home. What does your front door say about you? Are you traditional or adventurous? What color is your front door? Why did you paint it that color? We’d love to hear from our neighbors.
Burgundy-red door compliments the gray color scheme of this mid-century house
Bright blue-green door is exciting next to its neutral exterior paint
Natural wood compliments Spanish architecture
Weathered driftwood is serene and harmonizes with the plantings and irregular stepping stones
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)
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.
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.
