Eco-anxious? Come get involved in the garden!

October 24, 2025

Dear Sangha,

If you’ve been wondering what the plans are for the KCC backyard, the idea is to create a “micro forest” full of native plantings to replace a big section of the lawn behind KCC. The upcoming Mulch-Moving Work Party on Saturday 1 November from 8:00am to 10:30am will be a big-step to making this happen! We will be placing mulch over cardboard to smother the grass.

In addition to the labor of moving mulch, we also need LOTS OF CARDBOARD (plain brown, not shiny printed) and help to remove packing tape and labels from the cardboard before it is buried under the mulch.

If you want to get involved in the garden – please contact Sally Mead, Rosemarie Sweet, or Jennifer Chang. We’ve needed to organize a gardening/grounds group and just haven’t gotten around to it. In the spring, we will be planting more and setting up irrigation for all the new plants.

For me (Jennifer), my random acts of gardening and weeding have been an outlet to translate my existential worries into what I hope is positive action. Rosemarie and I got excited about transforming the brown summer lawn at KCC when we read how microforests in urban areas can contribute to absorption of carbon as well as providing wildlife benefits. More recently, Robin Wall Kimmerer launched a campaign called Plant Baby Plant that matches our motivations for the KCC landscape.

“With Plant, Baby, Plant, we will counter the forces of destruction with creative resistance in support of life. For generations, Indigenous communities, grassroots organizers, gardeners, scientists, artists, civil servants, foresters, food advocates, and others have championed the work of healing land and restoring our relationship with the Earth.”

Anyone is welcome to commit random acts of weeding and show care for a corner of the earth located in KCC’s yard.

Thank you,
Jennifer Chang