Jun 13, 2018
By: Nicole Newell, Sustainable Backyard Program Manager
The work at Suisun Wildlife Center was the most interesting and busiest installation yet! As we were learning, working, and getting to know each other, the raptors and a one-eyed coyote were watching us. Volunteers stopped by to get bottles for the baby squirrels and raccoons that are receiving in-home care and wounded baby possums, squirrels, raccoons and birds arrived as we installed the pollinator food forest. We saw first-hand the service that Suisun Wildlife Center provides to California native wildlife. Throughout the three days, city council members, board members, and community members interested in water-efficiency and wildlife visited us.
Andrew Torres, a student from the Airman Leadership School Globemaster class contacted me a few days prior to the installation and asked if we had a community service project available for the class to join. This healthy crew of young men and women studying to be sergeants delivered 15 yards of tree chips and dug 60 feet of swales in only two hours! Each year 35, 263 gallons of water will be diverted from the roof to the swales. Suisun City Vice Mayor, Lori Wilson, coordinated lunch with local eateries and McDonalds donated chicken salads (yes they were tasty!). At lunchtime, we spoke to the Globemaster class and learned about the important role that community service plays in becoming sergeants. The foundation of this garden was completed and the class learned how to harvest water in-ground and build soil by adding tree chips.
The next day, we did not have the help of the Globemaster class, but we did have a few solid participants that have been to our previous workshops ready to wrap up this project. Kevin brought his nifty drill that helped dig the holes and made planting in clay soil effortless. We planted over 30 different types of plants to attract pollinators. Rose from Morningsun Herb Farm recommended Newleaze Coral. This plant blooms from spring to fall and attracts many different types of bees including native bees. After we had our pizza lunch donated from Mountain Mikes, the Daisy Girl Scouts arrived to work on their honeybee award. The girls worked as a team to plant Russian Salvia; this plant attracts butterflies, hover flies and bees. Then they sprinkled laughter, joy and pollinator seeds all over the garden. Thank you to everyone that helped get this pollinator food forest installed at Suisun Wildlife Center. Vice Mayor Wilson supported the Suisun City Sustainable Backyard program from the beginning by introducing us to local organizations, launching our program at Denise Rushing’s speaker event and serving on the Advisory Board to help select both the private and public site in Suisun City.
This demonstration pollinator food forest at Suisun Wildlife Center is a public project funded by the Solano County Water Agency. The garden will serve as a community asset where people can learn simple techniques to design a resilient, water-wise landscape.
May 31, 2018
Sustainable Solano’s Sustainable Backyard program expanded to Suisun City earlier this spring and is now celebrating the completion of a public demonstration food forest garden at a private Suisun residence. The program offers informative workshops and inspiring talks on sustainable landscape design, community resilience and permaculture.
On Saturday, June 9th and Sunday, June 10th, community members are invited to help create a thriving ecosystem for pollinators, such as birds, bees, and butterflies, at Suisun Wildlife Center (SWC). This custom demonstration garden will focus on year-round pollinator plants and habitat for wildlife and will be fed primarily through secondary water sources such as roofwater diverted to swales. SWC is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue of native California wildlife to ensure that birds and animals receive the best possible care.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn hands-on how to build a proper foundation for a permaculture food forest, how to increase water-holding capacity in the ground, tips for building healthy soil in the garden and basic permaculture design principles that can be applied at home for self-sustaining, food-producing gardens all year-round.
Thank you to Vice Mayor, Lori Wilson, for coordinating lunch with local eateries on both days.
Workshop Dates:
Saturday, June 9th (Installation Day 1:) Laying the foundation: digging on contour swales, making berms and diverting the roof water to the landscape. Register here.
Sunday, June 10th (Installation Day 2): Creating habitat. Register here.
- Planting a community of pollinator plants with multiple functions that support a healthy, diverse ecosystem.
- Surface drip irrigation installation: Adding irrigation for young plants and water conservation.
- Covering the food forest with free woodchips (mulch) to prevent water evaporation and improve soil health.
There will be yearly ongoing workshops and tours of these demonstration food forest gardens on private and public land in each city. This project is made possible by funding and support of the Solano County Water Agency
Mar 30, 2018
One private yard in Suisun City has been selected for the installation of a demonstration food forest garden as part of Sustainable Solano’s Sustainable Backyard program offering informative workshops and inspiring talks on sustainable landscape design, community resilience, permaculture, and local food systems. The first of three public installation workshops will be held on Saturday, April 7th, at a private Suisun residence, where community members can help create the foundation of an edible ecosystem fed by secondary water sources such as greywater (laundry-to-landscape system) and roofwater. This workshop will focus on digging swales, making birms, diverting roofwater and planting fruit trees to increase water-holding capacity and building healthy soil in the garden.
Selected homeowner, Cassandra, a resident of Suisun City for over 21 years and passionate about growing food and healthy eating, was looking to replace her lawn with a more sustainable landscape that her family could eat from. This led her to apply to have her yard transformed into a steady, water-retaining food source that would not only increase resilience but catch the attention of lawn owners lining her neighborhood streets. “This project will help secure a source of local food for my family with a surplus to share with the community”, Cassandra said. The family has named the garden, “A Growing Future”.
Through this project, she will be joining a growing family of “food forest keepers” in Solano County that have committed to opening their demonstration food forest gardens for the public to learn about simple sustainable landscape techniques and ways to use water more wisely to grow food.
Her yard was selected among four other Suisun City homeowner applicants. The selection process for these sites are based on criteria such as yard access, greywater feasibility and sun orientation. Sites are assessed and selected by Sustainable Solano’s Sustainable Landscaping Advisory Board made up of dedicated Solano County residents aiming to raise sustainability awareness in Solano County.
The garden will take three full days to complete and all installation events are free and open to the community. There will be yearly ongoing workshops and tours of these demonstration food forest gardens on private and public land in each city. This project is made possible by funding and support of the Solano County Water Agency.
Registration is required for these FREE hands-on workshops. Visit our calendar to register.
The Sustainable Backyard and Conversations program will expand to Vacaville in the fall of 2018. Visit www.sustainablesolano.org and www.facebook.com/sustainablesolano for updates and details about this expansion.
Feb 22, 2018
In case you haven’t heard, Solano County is the latest area to establish a quarantine for the Mediterranean fruit fly also known as the Medfly. The quarantine started last fall and will continue until officials are sure the threat to the local orchards and farms has passed. Commercial growers are most impacted by this quarantine, but homeowners with fruits and vegetables in their home gardens also need to be aware of the regulations and impact of this action.
For those wishing to gather more information, click here.
California Exotic Fruit Fly Project: Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Exotic Fruit Fly Quarantines
Feb 1, 2018
By Elena Karoulina, Executive Director, Sustainable Solano
At the end of January, I was honored to attend the 38th Eco Farm Conference at Asilomar Conference Grounds. It’s an annual convergence of farmers, supporting people and organizations dedicated to “ecological farming” – farming that works in harmony with nature, that seeks to heal and regenerate our land and water, and to provide wholesome, nurturing food to our communities. Sustainable Solano is beginning to work toward the vision of a healthy and whole local food system in the county, and we welcome this opportunity to learn from the field and bring this knowledge back to Solano County.
Farm as a living organism, in harmony with nature and people, regenerating its own vitality and fertility on site
The central pole of the conference was sustainable agriculture – why, and most importantly, how. “Regenerating Our Soils” keynote opened the event, followed by many workshops on soil health and building soil fertility directly on the farm and not from the outside in the form of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Healthy soil is the foundation of sustainable agriculture. Cover crop and crop rotation, incorporating animals into farming operations (manure has been the foundation of land’s fertility since humanity began farming 12,000 years ago), no-till approach, composting – all this and more was presented by experienced farmers and scientist now proving in their labs what has been known around the globe for centuries. This attention to soil health is reinforced by our recent realization that improving soil health can reduce greenhouse gas emission and sequester carbon!
Farming workshops included a wide range of topics on plants nutrition, selection, health and diseases; classes on specific crops, irrigation, tools and machinery, greenhouses, seeds and seed saving. Permaculture and biodynamic agriculture were examined through numerous workshops and gatherings. Urban agriculture was included too – an inspiring example from our neighbors in Richmond, Urban Tilth.
“People in communities like Richmond are treated only as consumers, meant to consume the products that others create to help them realize their dreams, and help us continue with our grind. They give just enough to continue, but no more.” Keynote speaker Doria Robinson, Urban Tilth, Richmond, CA.
The next big topic was how to get this wonderful harvest to local communities. Almost a dozen of workshops dedicated to delivery and logistics solutions, Community Supported Agriculture, small independent retails stores and food co-ops, working with restaurants, food safety, and utilizing social media.
And then came everything that surrounds farming: land use, social justice, legal and financial constraints and considerations, farmland protection and farmers’ succession, and food policies – from a Farm Bill to state policies to local laws and ordinances, including zoning. One of the big takeaways for me was the notion of how quickly we are loosing farmland to development, land hoarding and speculation. Representatives from the Sustainable Economies Law Center (our partners in the development of Solano Local Food System!), California FarmLink, California Center for Cooperative Development, various land trusts and legal firms discussed options for farmland protections and creative funding to remove farmland from speculative real estate market and protect it forever for agriculture. Traditional land trusts, emerging affirmative agricultural easements, community land trusts – these and other legal forms were examined at length.
There is no planet B.
Inspiring key speakers kept all of us attuned to the vital importance of this work and kept things in perspective by returning us to big picture. Winona LaDuke spoke beautifully about sacred land and practices of native people, new economy, environmental justice and a choice between a well-worn, scorched path and a new, green path ahead of us. Dr. John Ikerd masterfully outlined the devastation caused by industrial agriculture and promise of small farms and ecological farming to finally end hunger. John argued that healthy food is a fundamental human right, and since market economy failed our food system, local jurisdictions can declare basic food to be a utility and thus be provided to all people as basic services, just like water or energy.
After these three days of intense learning and networking, going from inspiration to despair and back to resolve to make a difference, we returned home ready to tackle the most important, fundamental and life-giving area of our lives – healthy local food for all.
Made possible by Solano Public Health in partnership with the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
