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.
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Benicia & Vallejo Food Forest Garden Tour Celebrates Its 10th Year!
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.
2026 Benicia & Vallejo Tour: Featured Gardens
Learn about each of the gardens featured on this year’s tour!
A Toxic Facility in Your Neighborhood? It Could Happen with Changes to State Law
Imagine waking up to find a manufacturing facility being built in your community, one that may release arsenic, lead, PFAS, hexavalent chromium, and other toxic chemicals into your air and water. If you live near industrial-zoned land anywhere in California, this can now happen without your receiving notice of the project’s construction or its associated health risks. Learn about this change and efforts to restore key protections.
A Note From Our Founding Executive Director
It is with gratitude, excitement and some sadness I am ready to announce that after 15 amazing years of creating and managing Sustainable Solano, I will be transitioning out of my executive director’s role this summer.
Dixon Youth Air Protectors Reflect on Program
Youth Air Protectors is a high school internship where students learn about air quality challenges that affect their cities and seek ways to educate the community about those challenges and possible solutions while working on hands-on projects. In 2025, we were fortunate to receive funding from the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District to bring the Youth Air Protectors program to Dixon. Here are reflections from two students in the program, which will conclude by May.
Get Your Garden Growing with Benicia Garden Series
We are excited to offer this new workshop series for all of you gardeners! Master Gardener Maggie Kolk will guide participants through the growing season with sessions on garden planning, seed starting, companion planting, pest management, harvesting and so much more! Resources will be provided at each class.
Roots in the Ground: Tree Planting
One of our Rio Vista Youth Air Protectors reflects on the experience of planting trees in partnership with the City of Rio Vista: Planting a tree seems like such a small act, until you hold it and place it in the ground. When you walk away, knowing it’ll be in the same spot it was left in, that small act seems much bigger. At the tree planting in Rio Vista last November, the sense of community was touching, the small group we started with grew as it came time to start planting.
Transform Your Yard: Vallejo Residential Demo Garden Site Search
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.
Sowing Seeds of Connection: 2025 Permaculture Design Course
Our 2025 Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) in Benicia blended online zoom sessions with hands-on, in-person training for nine students from August through December. As part of their training, students and instructors collaborated on redesigning an 850-square-foot residential lawn into a permaculture oasis, featuring rainwater-capturing swales, laundry-to-landscape, and native plant guilds.
Celebrating Petite Sirah & SuSol in Suisun City
It was a wonderful evening of wine, music, poetry and conversation around Sustainable Solano and local food at the Petite Sirah meet & greet.
All About Agritourism
While purchasing crops and products from local farms is an important part of supporting our local food system, it is only one way to support the work and livelihood of local farmers. Another way is agritourism, which puts farms and farmers face-to-face with community members who can grow to know them.
Little Free Library and Pollinator Garden Installed at the Rio Vista Roots Community Garden
SuSol installed a Little Free Library in the verge strip next to the Rio Vista Roots Community garden on Sept. 6. This library will serve as a resource for the community and was made possible by the Rio Vista Youth Air Protectors program.
Learning All Things Compost at the Vaca Valley Garden Club
Sustainable Solano connected Lori Caldwell, consultant, landscaper, and educator, with the Vaca Valley Garden Club
May There Be Rain: Challenging times in nonprofit funding
We all hear the news: significant reduction in federal funding, resulting reductions in state and local funding, uncertainty for the nonprofit sector overall, massive layoffs in the sector. It has affected so many nonprofits in Solano County, including Sustainable Solano. Funding partners like Magic Cabinet and Solano Community Foundation are driving action toward solutions.
Doing Good: Thistle
Sustainable Solano is naming Thistle as a recipient of our Doing Good business recognition award. Thistle is an example of a local business that exemplifies the permaculture principles that guide Sustainable Solano’s work and that we want to recognize in others: Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share, or taking care of the planet, taking care of employees and supporting local communities.
Doing Good: Morningsun Herb Farm
Sustainable Solano is naming Morningsun Herb Farm as a recipient of our Doing Good business recognition program. Their commitment to Earth Care and Fair Share is evident in every corner of the farm.
Solano’s 3rd Permaculture Design Course Starts in August
We are excited to have Anne Freiwald and Lydia Neilsen of Vital Cycles return this summer for our next Permaculture Design Certificate course in Benicia — starting Aug. 23! In this blog, Anne and Lydia reflect on past programs, talk about what will be covered in this year’s program, and we share a few videos and upcoming talks.
Celebrating Outstanding Service: Honoring Noah Galgan and Stephanie Oelsligle Jordan
In recognition of their exceptional work to reach Solano County youth through Sustainable Solano’s Youth Wellness Program, Local Food program managers Noah Galgan and Stephanie Oelsligle Jordan were recognized at the 19th Annual CAC Recognition Awards.
Introducing the new Solano Local Food System Alliance Logo
The Alliance Steering Committee began this process about a year ago in collaboration with a graphic designer to enhance our presence in the county (and among other food policy councils) and provide a brand for when we engage in advocacy, policy work and send statements to outside groups.
2025 Benicia & Vallejo Tour: Featured Gardens
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...
Public Art Makes Spaces More Walkable and Welcoming
By Taylor Collins, Development & Communications CoordinatorPublic art has a way of transforming everyday spaces into places where people want to slow down, gather, and enjoy their surroundings. Too often, we move through our cities at a rushed and urgent pace,...
2025 Benicia & Vallejo Demonstration Food Forest Garden Tour: April 26
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...
Why Understanding Air Quality Matters More Than Ever in California
Air quality is something many of us take for granted — until it becomes a problem. However, with careful planning, we can protect ourselves while indoors. Learning about air filtration, monitoring air quality indexes, and improving indoor air circulation can help you stay safe.
Fairfield in Full Bloom
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.
EcoFarm Insight: Reflection, Observation & Irrigation
I had the opportunity to attend EcoFarm’s 45th Anniversary conference this year and had a wonderful time. My colleagues and I attended a variety of presentations and participated in a number of wonderful discussions with people from around California who work on similar projects related to urban agriculture, local food, and creating connections in their community.
Fairfield Residents Invited To Track Their Air Quality With Free Monitors
Sustainable Solano is seeking four households or businesses in Fairfield to receive a free outdoor Purple Air Monitor to help create a community-led air monitoring network.
Meals on Wheels Partnership a Breath of Fresh Air
As part of the Climate Disaster Impact on Solano Air Quality program, we were fortunate to partner with Meals on Wheels Solano County to help with distributing 40 home air purifiers and educational materials on air quality and environmental hazards to community members who most needed them.
Celebration Gratitude from Sustainable Solano
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.
Internship Addresses Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, Solutions
Our Nature-Based Solutions internship in Suisun City focused on the risks posed by sea level rise and possibilities with nature-based solutions to flooding. Interns learned about these approaches and brought their insight to community gatherings to get resident insight about risks, how they use the waterfront, and what types of solutions they prioritize. Here, Alan shares about his experience in the internship.
SuSol Celebrates its 25th Year with Milestone Event
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.
Looking for more? Find our blog archive here!
