Are you bored with the occasional tomato, pepper and aphid-riddled broccoli crown? Growing vegetables at home from seeds and seedlings from the box stores is easy, but the results can often be disappointing. There is a more rewarding way to grow vegetables that by design only gets better every year.

Great Grow Out Solano is an annual community of gardeners led by Master Gardeners in Solano County and the surrounding areas that will collectively grow the future of hyperlocal home garden vegetable varieties. The overall goal is to grow out as many vegetable varieties as possible and to share knowledge and seeds from our tastiest successes. In the process we improve or even create varieties that grow well in our area with minimal inputs and effort.

This annual effort provides the support and resources needed for any home gardener to do adaptive breeding at home. Adaptive breeding is the process of growing out vegetable plants and selectively saving seeds from plants that grow and produce best in our local conditions. Doing adaptive breeding is like making spaghetti sauce from scratch because you know it can be so much better than what comes from a jar. Adaptive breeding can make the food we grow easier and better.

Adaptive breeding also gains momentum the more plants that grow. This is where a community can make a huge difference. Working together increases the overall number of plants and the potential for identifying and selecting the very best. It also increases the total number of locally adapted varieties for home gardeners who live in our communities. These ideas, based on a foundation of generosity, are central to Great Grow Out Solano.

There are lots of resources to learn more about adaptive breeding. One key resource is the Experimental Farm Network, that sells seeds but also hosts a bulletin board for people nationwide who have their own breeding projects and are asking for help. Seed Savers Exchange is a primary source for information on saving seeds and adapting varieties for local conditions.

In terms of reading, you might start with Grow Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carol Deppe. For articles, read what you can find from Utah-based gardener Joseph Lofthouse. You can also search online for “adaptive breeding home garden.” There's a lot of information out there.

There aren't a lot of obstacles to joining Great Grow Out Solano. Only have a small plot for vegetables? That's fine—the total area planted increases with each gardener who takes part. Minimal gardening experience? No problem. Joining a Great Grow Out Project registered by a more experienced gardener means you have support to get the most out of the season.

Best of all, every home gardener chooses what they'd like to grow and improve. A project might be to grow out a specific variety of vegetable for the purposes of selecting the best growing and producing plants. A project could also be to cross pollinate different varieties to create something completely new. If you're looking for project ideas, we will also be posting projects that are open to joining.

There are lots of other ways to contribute besides growing your own vegetables. You can share and manage seeds as well as help keep track of seed sources and results for this year's Great Grow Out.

Great Grow Out Solano 2022 is well on its way but there is still plenty of time to join this year's efforts to help grow the future of home grown, hyperlocal food in Solano County.

Learn more about Great Grow Out Solano: https://solanomg.ucanr.edu/Great_Grow_Out_Solano/

To join, complete this online form: https://forms.gle/g3mAft1GL8YnX8697