Hi ! We’re Darren and Amalia — two doers with a vision bigger than ourselves — on a mission to transform our historic 1800's Maine farm into a Community Botanical Garden that is fully supported by the community.

With your support, we’re raising $80,000 to cover essential infrastructure and material costs needed to bring The Gardens at East Pine to life starting THIS SPRING !

All donations received through June 2026 will go directly toward developing The Gardens and installing essential infrastructure. Once we open to the public in June, visitors will be invited to contribute through a pay-what-you-can model to support the gardens’ ongoing care.
 

OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT ♡

We are deeply grateful for support in the following forms: financial donations, volunteer time, and local business partnerships offering plants, materials, or services like arborist work, irrigation, or landscaping. Every gift helps bring this vision to life.

If The Gardens or Greenhouse at East Pine have ever brought you peace, joy, or inspiration, you are already part of its story. Now we invite you to help us write this next chapter.

Email Hello@eastpineplantshop.com to get on our volunteer list, or chat about a partnership with your business.

THE VISION FOR THE GARDENS AT EAST PINE ✨
Theme: Sense of Wonder

Nestled among the steadfast trees that have stood for decades, The Gardens at East Pine are an immersive, playful, ever-changing landscape designed to delight the senses and spark wonder. Each path, plant, archway, and detail is intentional, offering something new with every visit.

This is a place that invites you to pause, linger, reflect, and reconnect — with yourself, with the Earth, and with the ever-changing seasons of life.

✋ The Sensory Garden
A space designed to awaken the 5 senses and bring you into the present moment.
• Fragrant herbs and flowers (lavender, lemon balm, rose, mint)
• Wind chimes, rustling grasses, a water feature/fountain
• Textures: lamb’s ear, moss, bark, smooth stones
• Invite people to slow down and feel.

🌈 The Rainbow Garden
A whimsical river of colorful blooms celebrating the diversity of colors found in nature.
• Prismatic Plantings: Red poppies, orange marigolds, yellow sunflowers, green ferns, blue forget-me-nots, and violet lavender.
• Invite people to find joy in every shade.

🧚 Fairyland
Whimsical, playful, storybook vibes.
• Mini doors, tiny houses, moss paths
• Ferns, creeping thyme, violets, pine cones
• Larger than life plants
• Little benches or stump stools
• Great for kids and inner-child energy.

🌿 The Tea Garden
A teaching + medicinal space.
• Calendula, Echinacea, Yarrow, Chamomile, Tulsi, Lavender, Rose, Ginger, Turmeric
• Features plants that can be picked fresh and used for tea & botanical infusions
• Signage about traditional uses for the plants

🍓 The Garden of Eatin’
Establishing connection to food through the sense of taste.
• Ready to eat food — Berry shrubs, fruit trees, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil
• Garden snacks — guide people to pick & eat flavor combinations during their visit
• Abundance + nourishment for all.

💐 The U-pick Wildflower Meadow
A joyful, ever-changing field where guests can wander, gather, and take a piece of beauty home with them.
• A colorful whimsical mix of native plants, grasses, and perennial + annual blooms
• Clearly marked walking paths woven through the flowers
• Buckets, clippers, and simple harvest guidance
• A place for slow wandering, and armfuls of color
• Designed to celebrate abundance, connection, and the simple magic of cutting flowers with your own hands.

🪽 The Angel Garden
A space to honor and connect with those who came before us.
• Angel Snow, White Moon Flower, White Phlox, White Roses
• Normalizing death as a part of life // healing through nature // creating a space to hold the grief

🕊️ The Quiet Contemplation Grove
Stillness + prayer + journaling.
• Benches tucked among trees
• Prayer flags, wind ribbons
• Little “leave a wish” station

🌲 The Future Forest
A living promise planted in honor of what came before.
• Tiny evergreen trees planted in remembrance of those we had to remove
• A long-term bonsai grove that will evolve year after year
• A quiet space to reflect on cycles of loss, stewardship, and renewal
• The Future Forest honors the trees that once stood here by nurturing new life in their place.

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE !

We are SO READY to fully realize The East Pine Gardens: A Community Botanical Garden, open to all, and fully supported by the community. A place where wonder, beauty, and connection are accessible to everyone.

With support from the community, our efforts in this next phase will focus on essential infrastructure — irrigation, deer fencing, signage, accessible pathways, seating, tree maintenance, soil systems, greenhouse upgrades, and protective structures. In addition to these necessary components, we are most excited to bring the gardens into their fullest expression starting this Spring (2026).

All donations received through June 2026 will go directly toward developing the gardens and installing essential infrastructure. Once we open to the public in June, visitors will be invited to contribute through a pay-what-you-can model to support the gardens’ ongoing care.

Follow along on Instagram & Tiktok for daily updates!

Instagram: @eastpine.maine
Tiktok: @eastpine.maine

♡ See you in The Gardens !! ♡