What’s Growing?
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Effective immediately, Sustainable Solano has halted all in-person events until further notice. You can find a list of Community Resilience Resources here and upcoming online events here.
The Sustainable Solano Blog is the hub for all the latest information about our many projects and programs, as well as a snapshot of grassroots community transformation in action. You can find recent news articles on Sustainable Solano here and read our blog archive here.
You can also stay up to date on what’s going on at Sustainable Solano through our newsletters. Read our archive of previous newsletters here and subscribe here.
Have a suggestion for a blog or want to get involved in telling our story? Contact us at info@sustainablesolano.org
Permaculture Design Certificate Course Coming to Benicia
By Allison Nagel, Workforce Development Program ManagerPermaculture education is a key part of Sustainable Solano’s mission, and that means not only educating the public through our hands-on workshops and online talks, but also offering ways for professionals to grow...
Avant Garden Scavenger Hunt Offers Fun Outside Activity Amid the Pandemic
The premier Kids in the Garden event was a scavenger hunt at Benicia’s Avant Garden, COVID-19 version. It proved to be a super successful, fun, educational and tasty event.
Share Your Inspired Gardens!
We want to share your inspired gardens so your projects can inspire others!
More Sustainable Landscaping Education Programs Planned for Benicia
As we plan for an exciting slate of programs based in Benicia for 2021, we want your insight on what sort of workshops we should hold in the city – what is most interesting to potential participants as well as property owners. These workshops will help to strengthen and expand the programs we piloted in Benicia at the beginning of this year.
The Power of Cultivating Vital Life Skills
Anne Freiwald’s talk was on how to restore the resource of self by cultivating vital life skills. These vital life skills are familiar, but what was intriguing was how Anne provided examples of parallels relating to nature and our bodies.
Backyard Chickens 101
Tyler Snortum-Phelps, who has been keeping chickens for more than 20 years, answers more questions about backyard chickens.
Fostering Food Security Through Collaboration
Sustainable Solano has been in conversation with organizations that are taking the initiative to move food from farms and gardens onto the plates of county residents. These organizations are seeking ways to collaborate toward supplying more people with the good food they need.
Regrow Your Own Vegetables From Kitchen Scraps
Mallory Traughber answers more questions about regrowing vegetables and saving seeds.
Edible Landscapes: A Food Forest Garden
Derek Downey answers more questions on permaculture food forest gardens
Seeking Vacaville, Suisun City Residents to Monitor Air Quality and Help Communities
In Vacaville and Suisun City, air monitors that could track pollutants and particulate matter in the air and offer valuable information to residents are lacking. We’re seeking individuals who want to install these monitors to help their neighborhoods.
Creating Change During a Crisis
When there is a crisis, it often can reveal underlying flaws in the existing system as well as opportunities for change. The current economic crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic also opens the dialogue for how to shift our economy in a way that works for more people.
Big Gardens in Small Spaces: Container Gardening Tips
Lori Caldwell answers more of your questions on container gardening
Students Write Poetry, Essay on Healing, Life-Supporting Water
Read the finalists and winner in the water essay/poetry contest from St. Patrick-St. Vincent Catholic High School
Eating Healthy with Immune-Boosting Foods
Culinary Arts Instructor Lisa Núñez-Hancock discusses foods that help you stay healthy.
CSA Farm Spotlight: Soul Food Farm
Learn more about Soul Food Farm and the people behind it in this Q&A with co-owner Alexis Koefoed.
Learn How to Plant Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables in New Video Tutorials
Get tips and tricks on how to prepare and plant your spring vegetables!
4th Annual Demonstration Food Forest Tour a Reimagined Success
Permaculture expert John Valenzuela gave this year’s annual demonstration food forest garden talk and tour in a Zoom call and video tour.
Local Food Reflections from the Sustainable Solano Team
Our team shares our local food connection, from growing vegetables to how we buy locally, which supports the local economy even as we benefit from having a closer relationship with the people behind our food.
Businesses Partner to Provide Plants
Harmony Organics, located in Benicia, shares how they are partnering with Biota Gardens Nursery as a distribution site for plants.
What Would Love Do?
Program Manager Nicole Newell shares her insights from participating in a Heart Based Leadership workshop.
Stocking Your Pantry for Uncertain Times
Culinary Arts Instructor Lisa Núñez-Hancock offers advice on what you should have in your pantry and some ways to find those locally.
On the Fifth Anniversary of Our Garden
Food Forest Keeper Nam Nguyen provides an update on her garden.
‘The Happiest Little Farmers’: An Update From Oklahoma
Sustainable Landscaping Designer Kathleen Huffman provides an update from her farm in Oklahoma
CSA Farm Spotlight: Be Love Farm
Learn more about Be Love Farm and the people behind it in this Q&A with co-owner Terces Engelhart
Design Workshop Guides Participants In Sustainable Garden Transformation
We created the Sustainable Garden Design Workshop with the hope that this resource can help get more people started with one of the most challenging parts of a landscape project — the design.
Alliance Members Reflect, Connect to Deepen Local Food System Conversation
The Solano Local Food System Alliance held its first quarterly meeting of 2020 to continue its collaborative effort to foster a strong local food system within the county.
Save The Butterflies and The Bees — Our Favorite Pollinators Are in Jeopardy
Cristina Goulart shares this article on why the choices made in our yards and communities are so important to protecting beneficial insects.
Bioneers Experience Both Personal and Profound
Attending Bioneers was an intense experience, yet a very interesting one. The conference offered a space to learn from each other — from seeing art inspired by the environmental movements we are a part of to connecting with like-minded individuals from all over the country and the world.
Community Will Gain Knowledge, Guide Solutions in Listening Circles
February will mark the beginning of Sustainable Solano’s first Listening Circle sessions in central Solano County. A Listening Circle is our approach to finding community-guided solutions to community issues/problems.
On Garden Parties
Food Forest Keeper Nam writes about the friendships made in the garden and how, “The belief that through earth care, human care, and fair share, we can sustain and fill each other up.”
Looking for more? Find our blog archive here!
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