We want to decolonize the traditional land-use paradigm. Our main tactics include education, lawn reclamation, and habitat/community building. We want you to catch the conservation “bug.” Ultimately, we undermine capitalism by providing you with the resources necessary to steward the land you occupy.

The team


  • Jessy started Undoing Ruin in 2018. He is a graduate from the Horticulture and Sustainable Agriculture programs at Reynolds Community College, a Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association (VNLA) Certified Horticulturist, a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP), a member of the Virginia Association for Biological Farming (VABF), and on the board of the Pocahontas chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society. Passion for the environment coupled with a punk-rock ethic drive the engine of Undoing Ruin.

    Jessy is active in the Richmond community through the music scene and his volunteering with Foodnotbombs. He can often be found scampering through the forest with his brilliant daughter and delightful dog.

  • Caitlin is passionate about creating diverse, robust ecosystems to support all forms of life. She has a certificate in Permaculture Design from Shenandoah Permaculture Institute, and in Sustainable Farming from Future Harvest, where she also serves on the Development Comittee. On days off she enjoys working in her own garden, going on slow hikes to identify flowers and mushrooms, and curling up on the couch with her cats and a good book.

  • Lynne Marie (LM) would have been an umpteenth-generation farmer if it hadn't been for crazy severe scoliosis and a desire to read books in coffee shops around the world. Then, she casually took an organic gardening class at Reynolds College because she had a yard that she wanted to obliterate.

    And LM learned that the farming gene wasn't so easy to ignore.

    With her beloved dogs by her side, Lynne Marie blissfully answers your emails, does all the scheduling, finds the native plants, and continually learns. She also volunteers for Local Ecotype Richmond Natives at its RVa nursery and at plant sales.