Sep 2, 2017
By Tina Saravia, U.C. Master Gardener, Solano County
It all started for me in September 2014, when I attended a talk on Permaculture in Benicia with another Master Gardener friend. I have heard of Permaculture for years, but it always seemed like a foreign concept to me. I did not know anyone, in my broad circle of urban horticulturally-inclined individuals, who practiced Permaculture. The fact that it was in Benicia, a 20- minute drive from my house, made it more real.
Permaculture Talk with Toby Hememway
What is Permaculture? Permaculture is a word originally coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the mid 1970’s to describe an “integrated, evolving system of perennial or self-perpetuating plant and animal species useful to man” (Holgrem Design. https:// www.holmgren.com.au/about-permaculture/). Permaculture is a design system based on ecological principles. The word originally referred to “permanent agriculture.” It has more recently expanded to stand for “permanent culture.”
Permaculture can be defined and explained in many ways. It encompasses many aspects. In its simplest form, it is a design system that can be adapted anywhere in the world, in any setting — urban, suburban or rural, no matter the size of the property. One of those design aspects that is easily adaptable is Food Forest Gardening, which is what the local grassroots organization, Sustainable Solano, started in Benicia.
They help homeowners create their own sustainable food forest. The gardens feature edible plants in varying heights and sizes, mimicking a forest. The gardens use a combination of drip irrigation and greywater — laundry water. Swales or depressions, topped with wood chips, were dug to direct water from downspouts to also help water the gardens, which also helps refill the groundwater.
A few words about Sustainable Solano. It started out as Benicia Community Gardens. As the programs expanded beyond Benicia, the board decided to rename it Sustainable Solano in May 2016. They maintain a couple of community gardens, a community orchard, seven permaculture demonstration food forests, Community Supported Agriculture partnerships, a “Land Caretakers” sustainable landscaping education program, a food donation Share Plot, and a beloved monthly “What’s for Dinner?” educational cooking potluck series.
The most recent demonstration food forest installations were done in Vallejo, next is Fairfield. According to their website, sustainablesolano.org, they will be accepting applications starting in August through September for prospective demonstration food forest keepers in Fairfield.
Apr 7, 2017
Often times you find the solution within the problem. We couldn’t find one yard to fit all our educational needs of the demonstration food forest. So with the creative use of our limited funds we will be installing two! The Enchanted Cottage Garden is the perfect front yard location. This yard that is now grass will be sheet mulched and transformed into a food forest. The unique roof of this cottage style home will serve as a great educational opportunity to show how to retrofit gutters to harvest roof water.
The problem is that it can’t receive grey water.
The Ripple Effect which already has many components of a food forest, fruit trees, perennial vegetables, plants that attract the beneficial insects, rain water harvest, artistic/creative use of onsite materials in both the front and backyard. Grey water will be able to be used to water an already existing landscape! This is a great site to show how to add community of plants to support the trees that already exist in our yard!! We will also be installing one fruit tree guild here adding another opportunity to show roof water catchment.
Installation of The Enchanted Cottage Garden will begin on April 29th this day will be hands on learning about setting the basic foundation: swales, berms, roof water harvest, creative use of onsite materials. May 13th will be a day filled with learning about the food forest plants chosen. We will get to have conversations about plant communities working together to benefit each other. Water efficient, basic drip irrigation will also be installed that day. Sheet mulching will be done and the transformation of a lawn into a custom demonstration food forest will be revealed.
May 6th will be spent at The Ripple Effect. The public will get an opportunity to see what can be done with an already existing landscape. This will be a hands-on laundry to landscape grey water workshop. The grey water will be used to water a pre-existing landscape. As a community we will be learning to install one simple fruit tree guild and show diversion of roof water to a swale. We will also talk about what plants could be added to support the existing landscape.
All three days April 29, May 6, and May 13 will be filled with learning about sustainable landscapes through hands-on experience and include a lunch provided by the homeowners!!! Come learn how to save water, grow food and build community!! Registration is required.
April 29th Registration
May 6th Registration
May 13th Registration
Mar 1, 2017
It was a cool and sunny day for the Greyhawk Grove Tour, and perhaps it was that, or that our tour is gathering steam, that nearly 30 people squeezed into a room to listen to Lydia Neilsen from the Regenerative Design Institute. She started with a brief overview of permaculture design principles: people care, earth care–and then dove straight into practical, simple applications to one’s garden, covering hands-on details of creating swales (or as someone coined them, “Magical ditches”), appreciating weeds and the natural succession of plant life, and mimicking that healthy ecosystem balance in tree and plant guilds. She fielded questions about greywater, and, noting that several Food Forest Keepers were in attendance, had them field questions as well. Attendees remarked on on simple, clear, and practical her talk was.
The overflowing group then spilled out into the demonstration food forest itself, were Lydia pulled up a giant fava bean to show the group the roots and speak about cover crops, nitrogen fixation and soil health. She also ate a nodule, declaring it tasted like peanuts and offered it to anyone who wanted to try. They were able to see the laundry-to-landscape switch and pipes, look at the greywater basins, the rainwater pipes that flowed straight into the two swales, how the natural slope and chicken coop was incorporated into the planning, and snuggle up the free range chickens who were milling about. “We used to have one of these at the farm,” said the farm director of Loma Vista Farms after she cuddled up a polish chicken–known for a mop of feathers on top of its head that looks like punk-rocker hair. “We used to call it our Tina Turner chicken. But now the kids don’t get the reference. I guess rockstar chicken still works.”
It was a rockstar day all around. And we look forward to the next stop in the tour–stop #6, “The Curious Garden.”
For more information and to register for “The Curious Garden”, please go here.
Feb 27, 2017
Nicole Newell, Sustainable Landscaping Program Manager and a graduate of our Land Caretakers program.
Do you want to learn how to get involved with Sustainable Solano’s Sustainable Landscaping program?
This series of events is designed to prepare a group of volunteers to help implement Vallejo Sustainable Backyard program. If you are interested to become a part of this movement in Vallejo, please plan on attending one of the landscaping classes (link), a L2L hands-on workshop in Benicia and this training/ potluck at the house of Nicole and Jason. This training is mandatory for people applying for a food forest. We’ll offer another short series at the end of March.
From 5:30 to 8pm on March 3rd, Land Caretaker program graduates, Jason and Nicole, are hosting a volunteer training/potluck dinner where they will share the basics of sustainable landscaping, while showing attendees their own evolving food forest and laundry-to-landscape greywater system. Jason and Nicole are passionate about Sustainable Landscaping, and both were inspired to further their skills and knowledge following the Land Caretaker’s training. Jason has since completed greywater installation training with Greywater Action to learn how to maximize secondary water use, and Nicole completed Toby Hemenway’s permaculture design course to acquire her Permaculture Design Certificate. They are excited to share their sustainable landscaping knowledge, and prepare interested volunteers and food forest keepers for the upcoming installations in Vallejo.
Jason and Nicole will provide vegetarian and hatch green chili pork taco’s, and request that attendees bring a side dish. It will be a fun opportunity to learn about sustainable landscaping, eat some delicious food, and meet people from your community. Please email Nicole if you are interested so she and Jason can plan to comfortably host everyone.
Please email nicole@sustainablesolano.org to get communications on location and event updates.
