Green Garden fans, the 2010 Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase is coming up April 25th! The FREE, self-guided tour of green gardens in our neighborhood is now in its 2nd year, and let me tell you, there are some spectacular gardens to see! I highly recommend it, not only because my garden is on the tour  *ahem* but also because it’s such a great way to spend an afternoon.

Oh and by the way? March 15th is very last, drop-dead, no-more-chances-at-all, NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE deadline to get your garden included in this year’s tour. That means, if you want your garden to be part of the tour, you must submit your information to the MVCC Green Committee by Monday, March 15th — no exceptions!

I know there are some of you out there who are still on the fence about being on the tour — well, this is it, people: decision time! And I say, Go For It! It’s very fun and it’s for a good cause: it’s all about promoting green gardening practices.

So check out the MVCC Green Committee’s website which has information about this year’s tour and how to be included.

Check out the landscaping!

Today my guest was Tara Settembre, a Mar Vista resident whose blog is When Tara Met Blog, which is awesome and I recommend checking it out. She bought a loaf of bread and some honey, and she got a sandwich from Earl’s Gourmet Grub (the grilled gouda), which looked delicious and she said she enjoyed it very much. Thanks for sharing a meal with me, Tara!

Today in the Green Booth, Melissa Davis of CommunityMama was on hand to show off the great work she does as a volunteer at Grand View Elementary’s learning garden.

The Venice Grind is our Mar Vista coffee house default. It’s the perfect spot to meet with friends and hang out over coffee, and of course, since there’s free Open Mar Vista Wi-Fi, it’s a great spot to sit and work, too. And now the Venice Grind has made some subtle changes that are making a big impact.

I have to admit, in the past, I didn’t love the coffee there: too bitter for me. However, when I was recently at the Venice Grind for the launch of the OPEN Daily, I treated myself to a latte and Loved it! First of all, a-dor-able foam art, but more importantly, a delicious, smooth — key element — hot beverage. Turns out the Venice Grind now serves Stumptown roasters coffee, which I admit I’d never heard of before last week, but I can assure you, it’s worth knowing about. Excellent coffee.

The other change I noticed, and happily so, was the quiche. I’ve eaten their quiche many times, and, again, in the past, I felt it was perfectly passable but nothing to write home (or a blog post) about. However, the quiche is now lighter, with a sweeter custard and a lovely herb mix. I really like the improvement; I’ll be back for more.

Check out the Venice Grind on UpTake.com as well.

The Venice Grind, 12224 Venice Blvd., Mar Vista 90066

A fire on February 23rd at 3712 Meier Street left a home badly damaged and a family in chaos, and you can help. The Estigarrivia-Albertini family were awoken in the night by the fire and had trouble escaping the flames because the bars on one room’s windows were bolted in place and in another room a safety latch on the bars didn’t work as it was supposed to. Jose, Maria and their daughter Luna all suffered burns and smoke inhalation, Jose having been affected the worst.

Maria and Luna have by now been released from the hospital, and it’s hoped Luna will start back to school soon. Maria is still receiving treatments at the burn center, but unfortunately, Jose’s condition is still critical and he remains heavily sedated in the burn center.

The family has a website to track their recovery and the plans for fund-raisers, since all their possessions were lost in the fire, so please visit FriendsOfLuna.com to get more information.

A benefit garage sale has been planned for March 27th, for which they are accepting donated items to sell, and if you’d like to participate in that, please contact Jennifer Hemsley (jennifer_hemsley (at) yahoo (dot) com).

I am indebted to Reverend Elizabeth Oakes for providing me with this family’s story to share here. It’s heart-breaking and I want to do all I can to help them with their recovery. Please join me. And please make sure your own homes are safe.

Click to play: “Mar Vista’s Gone Green”

An original song by Mar Vista’s own Didi Pop!

Green Green Green Green

Mar Vista’s gone green

I’ll tell you what I mean

We’re teaching kids the dream

You gotta love Mar Vista

We got a lot of class

We’re putting in drought resistant plants

And taking out the grass

We shop the farmers market

For flowers, honey and fish

It’s local and organic

And super-duper delish

Mar Vista’s gone green

I’ll tell you what I mean

We got a big blue bin

We put our plastic in

And as for the burnt toast

We toss it in to the compost

We’re teaching kids the dream

Mar Vista’s gone green

We got the greatest thrift store

They got everything we need

I get my favorite clothes there

And all the books I read

We got a big wide bike path

An easy ride to the beach

We’re saving money not using gas

Keeping our cars off the street

Green -we’ve got a solar panel

Green -we’ve got a water barrel

Green -We’re harvesting our rain

We’re teaching kids the dream

Mar Vista’s gone green

Green Green Green

Gone Green

{Song and lyrics used with permission.}

Solar panels on two sides.

Today’s shopper is Kathy Owens and she’s making a cheese plate from Lelio & Sons Cheese. Kathy’s showing off her cheese plate with Chris Masson of the Cheese Booth.  She’s got cranberry-cinnamon goat cheese, parmigiano-reggiano, stilton with apricot, havarti with dill, smoked gouda, jarlsberg, danish blue, and garlic and herb chevre. She’s going to serve it with a big beautiful baguette. Yum!

The Master Gardeners were on hand today in the Green Booth, as they are every month. Great gardening tips, free plants and seeds. They are awesome!

An original post by Sarah Auerswald for MarVistaMom.com.

2 years documenting Mar Vista, as of today. Thank you, loyal readers and occasional fans! Here’s to a great 3rd year and beyond!

That crazy El Nino year we’re in is threatening rain for Saturday 2/27, so Opening Day for North Venice Little League has been switched to Sunday, 2/28 at 10am. Be there or be square. Chili Fries will be going like hotcakes.