The spartina now greening Mingo Point began as seed gathered by hand. On a cold day in December 2024, fifteen volunteers waded through the marsh to collect stalks heavy with grain. Those seeds, taken from the very site where they would one day return, were sent to Charleston Aquatic and Environmental Inc., where they were nurtured through the dormant season and grown into plugs.
By spring, more than 1,600 young plants were thriving in trays. With funding from the Kiawah Island Golf Resort, the plugs were readied for their journey home. On June 20, 2025, nearly fifty volunteers carried them back to Mingo Point and pressed each one into the soft mud at low tide.
Some spartina is returning on its own, sprouting where mud has collected behind the reefs. But these plugs— grown from local seed, carried back by local hands— help fill the gaps and anchor the shoreline more quickly. Together, they tell the story of a marsh restored from within, its resilience multiplied by care and community.