09/10/2026
A little while back I sat down with Kassie and Jude from Mixed Coast Collective to talk about who the green economy is really for. Then I got to see that work up close, and actually get my hands in the dirt.
I went to their rain garden party, and we planted one together.
Here’s what a rain garden does. It catches and slows down stormwater, so instead of rushing off and carrying pollutants into the ground, the water gets soaked up and filtered. This one sits right next to a food-growing space, so it helps protect what’s growing there too. And it’s all native plants, dogwood, red elderberry, blue iris, white pine, black spruce, eastern larch. Good for pollinators, birds, and a community that can stand up to a changing climate.
I came away having actually learned things, not just watched. Digging and planting, a bit of soil and water planning, how to tell the plants apart, working with the tools. All of it as a team, shoulder to shoulder with people I’d never met before the morning started.
The last photo is what it’ll look like once it grows in. Can’t wait to go back and see it.
