Reflection · Seeds of Kindness
A Yard With Room for Everyone
Shared by John Kaminski
Team: Christmas Island Worldwide · Team member John Kaminski
One of the most important lessons from this project has been that restoration does not have to mean pushing people or productive land out. The neighbours still rent part of the property for farming. Other areas have been planted with a tremendous number of trees. Wet places have been allowed to become more wetland-like again. There are spaces for vegetables and fruit, places for pollinators, and enough varied habitat that the yard now attracts far more life than it once did. Deer, squirrels, badgers and other wildlife move through. Coyotes and even wolves are part of the wider landscape. Butterflies and hummingbirds find flowers and shelter. It is not a finished project. It is an evolving balance between growing food, supporting neighbours, repairing habitat and leaving room for wild things.
Farming still has a place
Part of the property continues to be farmed by neighbours who rent the space. Keeping that relationship mattered to me. The project became an experiment in coexistence: how much ecological function can be restored while still leaving room for productive use?
Trees, food and habitat together
A large number of new trees now help create shelter and structure. Other areas are used for vegetables and fruits. Flowering plants support pollinators. Wetlands add another layer entirely. Each part of the property has a different job, and together they create far more habitat than a single-use yard could.
An ongoing Seeds of Kindness story
For me, this is what Seeds of Kindness can mean at a larger scale. A seed can be one small act, but so can planting a tree, protecting a pond edge, leaving cover for wildlife or making room for native plants. None of it has to be perfect. Enough small decisions, repeated over years, can change what a place is capable of supporting.
Rama, Saskatchewan · reflection