What’s Growing?

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

Grow Your Gardens and Knowledge Through Our Compost Classes

Grow Your Gardens and Knowledge Through Our Compost Classes

Soil health is a big focus for Sustainable Solano this year. This March through May, we’ll be offering classes for all levels of composting to build healthy soil. This series will consist of three classes, with a beginners composting class in March, an intermediate class in April and an advanced composting class in May.

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Sustainable Landscaping, Lawn Removal on Water-Efficient Rebate Budget

Sustainable Landscaping, Lawn Removal on Water-Efficient Rebate Budget

Thanks to everyone who came to our class with Alana Mirror about how she transformed her lawn into an edible and native landscape, all within the budget of the Water-Efficient Rebate Program from the Solano County Water Agency. For resources on how you can make a sustainable transformation in your own backyard (and on a budget!), here’s a playlist of videos from the class and more.

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Rebates for Residential Greywater Recycling

Rebates for Residential Greywater Recycling

Ainslee Shuemake is a graduate student specializing in water resource management in UC Davis’ Environmental Policy and Management (EPM) Program and wrote this op-ed piece on the state’s proposed water conservation regulations. We wanted to share her insight with you and also let you know that we are currently looking for sites to host laundry-to-landscape educational workshops.

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Help us Shape Our New Doing Good Business Awards Program!

Help us Shape Our New Doing Good Business Awards Program!

We know that there are Solano County-based businesses that make a difference in their communities, and this year, Sustainable Solano plans to launch an awards program to recognize those businesses that stand out in their efforts to support people and planet.

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Building Backyards (and Front Yards) of Hope

Building Backyards (and Front Yards) of Hope

You may have met Alana at one of SuSol’s events and workshops, or seen some of her music videos or blog posts from those experiences. Here, she shares with us about her journey and talks about transforming her lawn to a sustainable landscape within the budget of the lawn conversion rebate she received.

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The Vision for a SuSol Education Center

The Vision for a SuSol Education Center

Sustainable Solano has had a vision for a while now: To have an office space that serves as a place of education around the many things we teach about, such as sustainable landscaping, water capture and reuse; cooking with seasonal, sustainable local food; and building community resilience.

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How to Compost at Home

How to Compost at Home

With a little preparation and some patience, you too can compost your food scraps at home. Composting requires a little forethought, some dedicated space, and the diligence to do regular light maintenance.

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Tell Us About Your Urban Ag Needs!

Tell Us About Your Urban Ag Needs!

Sustainable Solano is applying for an Urban Agriculture grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Farm to Fork office. This grant would support the continuation and expansion of the Solano Gardens program, which focuses on creating, renewing and supporting community gardens in Solano communities to create more access to healthy, seasonal produce.

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The Latest from Benicia Community Gardens

The Latest from Benicia Community Gardens

There’s a lot going on with Benicia Community Gardens, the flagship program that started Sustainable Solano more than 20 years and continues to serve the Benicia community through two community gardens and a community orchard. Here, Maggie Kolk, Avant Garden co-manager and SuSol board chair, shares an update on BCG’s many summer activities and garden bounty.

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Gift of the Generations

Gift of the Generations

Alana’s This Wonderful World project has highlighted the Pollinator Pathway garden installation with a series of three songs, as well as songs about the installation of Peace of Eden community garden at City Church Fairfield, a series on laundry-to-landscape greywater, and a series inspired by the Vallejo People’s Garden. This is her reflection and the last song in her spring series — it highlights community gardens through SuSol’s Solano Gardens program.

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Fellowship Focuses on Environmental Justice, Supports Pollinators in Vacaville

Fellowship Focuses on Environmental Justice, Supports Pollinators in Vacaville

As part of Sustainable Solano’s Environmental Justice Leadership Fellowship, seven students from multiple Solano County cities undertook a research and green infrastructure project in Vacaville. Students focused on the Markham neighborhood, a community grappling with several environmental challenges, and explored possible solutions, including walkability, available green spaces, and usable wildlife habitats.

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Sustainable Gardening Intern Reflections

Sustainable Gardening Intern Reflections

The Sustainable Gardening internship was an opportunity for high school students to learn basic permaculture principles with a focus on waterwise gardening, and engage with community members while supporting community gardens. These three interns shared their reflections on the program with us, and we are excited to share them with you here with their permission.

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Growing a Garden

Growing a Garden

The expansion of the garden at Fairfield Community Seventh-Day Adventist Church was planned at the end of 2022. Due to an unprecedentedly heavy rainy season, the workdays were pushed off time and time again, landing us at two install days at the end of April. After months of anticipation we were able to knock it out with the help of SuSol team members and the wonderful SDA champions.

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Bringing Chickens to the Community

Bringing Chickens to the Community

Learn about the Solano Gardens pilot program that provided residents with the supplies and knowledge they need to care for chickens that will provide food for their communities.

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Becoming a Democratically Managed Organization

Becoming a Democratically Managed Organization

Sustainable Solano has always been different: it’s a collegial, non-hierarchical, positive organization where the board and team work closely together and major decisions have always been made collectively. We are now deepening, defining and codifying this approach.

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Let’s Make Fairfield a Walkable Forest

Let’s Make Fairfield a Walkable Forest

Sustainable Solano is looking to help grow an urban forest in central Fairfield, where we have identified a lack of walkable infrastructure and a desperate need for tree canopy cover. By shading our yards, sidewalks, and streets with tree cover, we can mitigate the impacts of urban heat islands, purify our polluted air, and make it more pleasant for our community to walk, bike and play outdoors more often.

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Lentils in War & Peace

Lentils in War & Peace

As a comforting, versatile food quick enough for weeknight cooking, lentils will keep you well fed all winter. But they’re good to eat at any time. People in many countries eat lentils to ensure prosperity in the year to come. Canada is the world’s leading producer and exporter of lentils. In India, 6.3 million tons of lentils are produced in a year.

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City Church: Coming Together for Community Impact

City Church: Coming Together for Community Impact

Putting together community gardens has varying degrees of success, but our recent turnout at City Church of Fairfield blew me away. We had so many volunteers from many different walks of life all come together to support the efforts of growing food for people in the community that might not have access to fresh, organic fruits and vegetables.

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Connecting with Community

Connecting with Community

The soft, excited voice of spring beckons us forth out of our solitude and into the warm embrace of the world around us; into community. With more light and more warmth, people all across the Northern Hemisphere find themselves spending glorious time outside, reconnecting with neighbors of all species.

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Looking for more? Find our blog archive here!