Nov 14, 2017
Our Sustainable Backyard program has begun digging into Fairfield! On November 4th, attendees of the first installation workshop at “Mom’s Delight” demonstration food forest site learned basic design principles for building a backyard permaculture food forest and helped build the foundation for this edible garden but grabbing shovels and breaking ground to create water-retaining swales and planting carefully selected trees and plants that work together to thrive. Almost two dozen community members gathered for this meaningful project that will create beauty, resiliency and educational opportunities for Fairfield residents and beyond to learn about growing food, the use of secondary water to feed a garden and community resiliency. Day One of installation was a total success and attendees took with them tools and techniques that can be applied immediately in their own home gardens.
Our second day of installation was focused on educating on the use and management of secondary water to feed trees and plants. A simple laundry-to-landscape greywater system was installed at this hands-on public workshop.
Felt inspired after attending our workshop and proceeded to put your shovel to use? Please send photos of your transformation and work in the garden to nicole@sustainablesolano.org.
Fairfield Demonstration Food Forest Installation: Day 1 of 3
[The Foundation]
Fairfield Demonstration Food Forest Installation: Day 2 of 3
[Greywater System Installation]
You can still join us on our last day of this three-part installation on Saturday, December 16th where you’ll help plant a fruit tree guild and more diverse food forest plants that support each other to create a self-sustaining ecosystem. Register here.
Nov 1, 2017
Sustainable Solano will be installing two demonstration food forest gardens in Fairfield at a private residence and one public location as part of its Sustainable Backyard program. The program aims to teach gardening techniques based on permaculture design principles (layered planting system that supports life) and wise water practices such as groundwater storage, roofwater catchment, and laundry-to-landscape greywater re-use. The expansion of these garden installation projects is funded by the Solano County Water Agency with the first project scheduled for 11/04, 11/11, and 12/16 at a private residential backyard.
This three-day installation will serve as a free, hands-on educational workshop open to Solano county residents. Attendees will have the opportunity to be a part of building the foundation for this garden by creating contour swales, building berms, planting fruit tree guilds and the installation of a laundry-to-landscape greywater system.
This holiday season, the program will also move forward with the creation of an edible “Christmas” food forest garden at Mission Solano, a transitional housing shelter that provides food, lodging, faith support and job training to over one hundred individuals and families in Solano County. Mission Solano sits on 3.5 acres with much of its land being underdeveloped making it an ideal location for a public demonstration food forest community garden. The demonstration garden will also include swales to capture rainwater, a laundry-to-landscape system, permaculture planting methods and will be open most Saturdays of the year for self-guided tours.
Mission Solano relies heavily on food donations and struggles with providing resident guests high-quality, nutritious food and access to fresh fruits and vegetables. A portion of food is purchased by the organization itself. Both partnering agencies saw an opportunity to not only reduce program food costs through this project, but to also serve the greater community by providing educational opportunities for Fairfield residents to learn about growing their own food, secondary water use and building resilient communities. On Saturday, 12/2 the public is welcome to attend a free greywater system installation workshop to learn how secondary water from your laundry and roof can feed an entire garden.
Most of the installation work and ongoing maintenance of this demo food forest garden will be completed by Mission Solano volunteers. The project is in in alignment with the agencies “job therapy” program that helps resident guests develop skills for future employment and sustainable living. Chief Operating Officer of Mission Solano, Shauna Hughes states, “By teaching our guests how to grow their own food, we can equip them to continue doing so once they establish permanent housing. This will help them overcome the barrier to good nutrition that most low-income residents face.”
Registration is required for all installation workshops for both public and private projects. Visit www.sustainablesolano.org/events to register.
The Sustainable Backyard program will expand to Suisun City next spring and to Vacaville in the fall of 2018. Sustainable Solano will be looking for both private and public lands to install food forests in these cities. Visit www.sustainablesolano.org and www.facebook.com/sustainablesolano for updates and details about this expansion.
About Sustainable Solano
Sustainable Solano a non-profit organization is a non-profit organization dedicated to Nurturing Initiatives for the Good of the Whole. For more information, email info@sustainablesolano.org or visit www.sustainablesolano.org.
Oct 2, 2017
Eight graders chiming in on their future food forest design.
Kathleen, Larry and Elena taught a hands-on swale workshop to the Suisun Valley eighth graders in the spring of 2017 on how to use swales in storing rainwater in the ground. Now that the kids are back in school, designing the Demonstration Food Forest is the next step.
Principal Jas Wright is including the kids in the design of the food forest. To get them thinking about that design, I held five sessions, speaking with seven classes of, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students. We had a conversation about Fruit Tree Guilds and the importance of choosing a diverse group of plants that benefit each other. Each plant should provide multiple functions.
The kids were engaged asking many questions. The one question that stood out in my mind: What is the opposite of a food forest? The answer is monoculture, the planting of only one type of crop in a given area. Our program encourages planting a polyculture and the importance of including plants that build the soil.
Fava beans have already been part of the Suisun Valley curriculum. Katie, one of the students was excited to tell me how they added nitrogen to the soil by planting fava beans as a cover crop. To prepare the demo garden site, Laura, the Garden Coordinator has already begun to sheet mulch. The site has two mature fig trees and an unidentified, mysterious fruit tree. These three trees will be included in the design.
Now the kids have a base understanding of what a fruit tree guild is. Each class will be responsible for the design, the installation and the care for one guild within the food forest. Over the next 2 weeks they will be naming their guilds and selecting the plants. On a side note, one of the classes is even working on restoring the California Native Plant Garden. So many opportunities to learn!
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.
Aug 17, 2017
This August, Sustainable Solano celebrates the expansion of its Sustainable Backyard Program bringing inspirational speakers and free educational workshops and classes to Fairfield. The program will offer Fairfield homeowners passionate about sustainability and community resilience an opportunity to become “food forest keepers” of public demonstration gardens in exchange for a 5-year commitment of public tours and workshops (once or twice per calendar year on a mutually agreed upon schedule). Installations and tours are free and open to the public for a hands-on experience on how to grow food, save water and build community.
The application period begins August 15th and ends September 30th. Installations will take place on three separate weekend dates for each yard in the months of October and November.
Two Fairfield yards will be selected for conversion into edible forest gardens based on permaculture design principles complete with a laundry-to-landscape and rain water catchment system. Rain and secondary water from the laundry will be diverted to mulch-filled ditches, called swales, to slow down and absorb water into the soil using every drop to feed fruit trees, shrubs and plants. Highly visible front-yard lawns are preferred but other types of landscapes (up to 2,000 square feet) are welcome to apply. Households will be evaluated for suitability for a permaculture food forest and a laundry-to-landscape greywater system.
The installation of these demonstration food forests are sponsored by the Solano County Water Agency and are free of cost to selected homeowners. The significant annual water-saving impact of the already established demonstration food forests in Benicia private homes caught the attention of the Solano County Water Agency who supported the expansion of the program to greater Solano County resulting in two additional private demonstration gardens in Vallejo installed in March and April of 2017.
Suisun City and Vacaville residents interested in the program can experience a preview of what is to come to their cities in 2018 by attending these public installations and future workshops after these gardens are established.
Applicants must be available on installation dates and are encouraged to attend the volunteer training workshops offered to the public to learn more about the Sustainable Backyard program, basic permaculture design principles and wise water usage. Fairfield residents may download an application by going to www.sustainablesolano.org or by contacting Sustainable Backyard Program Manager, Nicole Newell at nicole@sustainablsolano.org.
“Inspiring.” That was the most frequent word from participants who joined Sustainable Solano’s 10th annual Benicia & Vallejo Demonstration Food Forest Garden Tour. Having the opportunity to see how lively and full each garden was, I found it no surprise that participants took inspiration from these sites and each gardener’s stories.
Manpreet joined SuSol in February as our Public Education Coordinator Fellow through the Sustainability Service Corps. Here, she shares about her experience. It has been such a positive experience for the organization that we are honored to be a host site again this year for the September 2026-July 2027 Fellowship.
Our annual garden tour of Benicia and Vallejo demonstration food forest gardens returns for its 10th year! We’ll have permaculture gardens, community gardens and native plant gardens on this year’s tour.
Learn about each of the gardens featured on this year’s tour!
Do you live in Vallejo? Are you interested in working with your neighbors and community to install a demonstration food forest garden or native garden in your front yard? We are looking for a residential site in Vallejo to install a demo garden.
Scroll through the list below to read about the Benicia and Vallejo gardens that are featured on this year’s tour, and to learn about special offerings at some of the gardens! Register for the April 26 tour here! Benicia Food Forest, Pollinator & Community Gardens...
By Nicole Newell, Sustainable Landscaping Program ManagerEvery year, as the first blooms of spring peek through the soil, excitement fills the air in our Solano County community. It’s time for our 9th Annual Food Forest Garden Tour in Benicia & Vallejo — an event...
We are excited that this spring we will be coordinating with the city, the community and Fairfield artist Sheree Rayford to create a community mural along Linear Park Trail. We hope this mural will invite residents to use, enjoy and care for the trail more often. We thank Sheree for sharing her blog on this project and process.
We would like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who attended our 25th Anniversary celebration! Your presence truly made the evening special, and it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and meet new friends who share our passion for the mission of our organization.
This year marks a significant milestone for Sustainable Solano as we celebrate 25 years of fostering sustainability, resilience, and community well-being in Solano County. To commemorate this achievement, we invite you to join us Sept. 21 for an unforgettable evening in the picturesque Suisun Valley.
The Monarch Milkweed Project and the Vallejo People’s Garden are hosting the inaugural Bay Area Butterfly Festival on May 19!
SuSol’s annual tour of demonstration food forest gardens in Benicia and Vallejo returns on April 27 for its eighth year.
Learn about the Vallejo and Benicia demonstration food forest gardens featured in this year’s tour on April 27!
Tereasa Christopherson-Tso is working with Arts Benicia on an exhibit focused on water conservation. Tereasa reached out to SuSol and visited one of our demonstration food forests, where she beautifully captured the garden. She has given us permission to share her painting and artist statement, which we feel encapsulates why these gardens are so important.
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.
Interested in learning more about Fairfield or applying? Read the Memo Of Understanding or Download the Application!
Jun 15, 2017
For the past two years we’ve been working on our Demonstration Food Forests, with a major component of it being Wise Water use. Now, with the help of Constance Beutel, videographer extraordinaire, we wanted to share with everyone how very simple and replicable it is. Greywater workshops and installation workshops are always being offered. Please check our Events or contact Nicole Newell, Sustainable Landscaping Manager, for more information.
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