Solano Gardens
About Solano Gardens
Solano Gardens collaborates with community members and organizations to create edible gardens based on the principles of permaculture to serve as a source of fresh produce, inspiration and companionship for people in need across diverse communities. Each garden design is unique to the community it serves and cared for by community champions passionate about sustainable food.
What Solano Gardens Offers
The Solano Gardens program has grown beyond its original scope of creating and supporting gardens that provide access to fresh produce in communities that have historically experienced limited access to healthy food. With the expansion of the program, the broader goal is to help Solano communities regain control over the growing, sharing and preparing of food in the following ways:
- Create and support community gardens
- Provide resources to community gardens, such as plants, seeds and trees
- Creating a network of support for residents interested in producing their own food
- Culinary training classes for youth with fresh, seasonal produce
Explore the Gardens
Solano Gardens supports more than 12 gardens. Learn about these community gardens here!
Active Garden Directory
Fairfield
- Parkway Plaza
- 188 E Alaska Ave.
- Tended by the residents of the senior center
- Fairfield High School
- 205 E. Atlantic Ave.
- Tended by Lisa and the Fairfield High Garden Club
- Armijo High School
- 824 Washington St.
- Tended by Sylvia and the Armijo High Garden Club
- City Church
- 743 E. Tabor Ave.
- Tended by Mike, Sarah, Scott, Veronica and other program participants
Vallejo
- First Christian Church
- 1035 Indiana St.
- Tended by Cheryl, Scott, and Glenda
- Emmanuel Temple
- 900 6th St.
- Tended by Rosita and Tony
- Griffin Academy
- 233 Hobbs Ave.
- Tended by Amanda, Tianna and the Griffin Academy Garden Club
- Vallejo Project Unity Garden
- 2166 Sacramento St.
- Tended by the Vallejo Project, shelter residents and community volunteers
- Youth Achievement Center
- 715 Tennessee St.
- Tended by Ressie and the youth program participants
A number of other gardens were developed, but not all of them are active; we are working with these communities to bring gardens back to life so our network can keep growing and nurturing all beings involved.
Know of a site that would support a community garden or a community garden in need of support?
Fill out our Solano Gardens Interest Form here!
We continue to look for residential sites to demonstrate waterwise edible landscapes. Have a site in mind?
Fill out our Sustainable Landscaping Interest Form here!
Find and support your neighborhood community garden!
Learn more about community gardens around the county here!
Donations
Considering an in-kind donation (non-cash gift) to Sustainable Solano?
Part of supporting our community of gardens is the sharing of plants, seeds and more among gardeners. Occasionally, individuals, corporations and organizations reach out to us with the offer of donating resources (time, services, plants, materials, etc.) to the community through SuSol.
We would be happy to work with you to coordinate a donation of a physical good (or a service) to help us better serve the Solano community. Please send a photograph and description of your donation(s) to patrick@sustainablesolano.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Please note, as a smaller organization we do not have a large amount of physical storage space, and may not be able to accommodate larger donations if we cannot immediately store your donation. We also cannot accept yard waste, live animals, perishable food, and dead or diseased plants.
Resources
Soil/Compost Resources
Solano Composting Rules (in the Farm to School Toolkit)
Caring for your Bare-Root Fruit Tree
Here are some resources to help with planting and pruning your new tree. Our local nurseries can provide expert advice as well on the care of your specific type of tree.
SuSol’s Plant Resources (click here and scroll down for fruit tree planting and pruning resources)
Winter Fruit Tree Care (watch this video to learn about how to care for your fruit trees in the winter, including planting bare-root fruit trees, from Lemuria Nursery’s Kristina Fink)
Planting a Bare-Root Fruit Tree (watch this short video for quick tips on planting your tree)
How to Plant a Fruit Tree (this video gives details on planting bare-root vs. potted trees)
Chicken Resources
Chicken Care & Resources in Spanish
Solano Chicken Rules (in the Farm to School Toolkit)
Learn More
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.
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.
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.
Solano Gardens is funded through support from Solano Public Health