The 5th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase Tour was held on Saturday April 20 and was once again a huge success. With Southern California’s ongoing drought problems, sustainable gardening is becoming more and more important.

This year’s tour showcased 98 gardens featuring drought resistant, sustainable gardens, chickens, aquaponic farming, and more. I had the pleasure of volunteering several hours at the tour’s Showcase Central and we met people who had come from Dana Point, Palmdale, San Clemente and other Southland communities.

The annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase Tour is organized by the Mar Vista Community Council Green Committee, where I’ve participated as a member since its inception in 2008. The committee solicits gardens from residents in the Mar Vista community and volunteers coordinate all aspects of the tour, everything from garden selection, creating the tour map, publicity and more.

The tour is free and people from all around the Southland attend to learn more about sustainable gardens or to gather more information about possibilities of what to do with their home gardens and landscaping. The tour is organized around neighborhood “clusters,” allowing people to bike or drive to one destination and walk to a number of gardens in that defined area. Some people bring their bikes and ride the neighborhood.

Saturday, April 20th was a beautiful day and the sun was shining on some beautiful gardens. It is estimated over 2,000 people attended. One of the other progressive features of the tour are the guest organizations that participate. They include HoneyLove.org, Master Gardeners, The Seed Library of Los Angeles, and Grow Native Nursery. Landscape designers are also on hand to talk about their gardens and answer questions.

If you missed it this year, don’t worry: we do this every year. And the 6th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase Tour will be April 26, 2014. Mark your calendars and I’ll see you there.