MLCA member believes in naturalizing rural properties in order to combat climate change.
By: Karyn Klaire Koski
Note: Reliance on statements made in this letter is subject to our Disclaimer.
In mid summer, 2002, our family became the proud owners of a double lot in the township of McKellar. The majority of the acreage was well shorn to the water’s edge, void of amphibious life and overly manicured for a countryside retreat. The property had a simple bunkie, a dirt floor shed and an outhouse that was curiously fashioned out of salvaged tin and old door frames.
It was a wide open space with a large lawn that went from the road, down a hill and smack into a wooden lakeside board walk that you walked over to access a possibly, man made beach. There was no privacy. An elderly neighbour told us that there were truck load after truck load of sand brought in to level out the natural hills and valleys and much tree cutting and grass mowing. The first thing we did was remove the wooden board walk over the Canadian Shield Rock and scraped away a sizeable swath of thinly grassed sod that was regularly mowed over the stone outcrop. All the while, we allowed the rest of the shoreline to become reclaimed by native riparian. Washed ashore logs were allowed to decompose. Soon came a flourish of pickerel weed and wetland ferns. Within a decade the property no longer looked the same. Now, we get annual turtle hatchlings, a multitude of frogs and naturally, the predators they attract. The change has been so significant that this shoreline has been a registered submissions site for the Toronto Zoo’s Adopt a Pond Wetland Conservation Program.
Dozens and dozens of trees have been planted, open expanses have been allowed to become meadow like and a new, modest cottage has been built using passive solar strategies, interior up cycled building materials, green products, reclaimed finishes and believe or not, Feng Shui. It’s a modern Canadiana Cabin with vintage First Nation’s Art that is situated purposely to peak out at the entrance of a somewhat hidden bay. Our Family enjoys living within nature.
I’m your Manitouwabing Lake cottage neighbour and I am an Environmentalist. I have written articles about climate action plans how to plant more native plants and I champion for municipal composting on social media. I am also an Earth Hour Leader. My name is Karyn Klaire Koski, most friends call me KK.
As we wait for Government and Policy Makers to transition us away from fossil fuels, design biofuel or electric watercraft and make alternative building heating sources available, we as permanent & seasonal members of MLCA can also create our own climate action plans by being better environmental stewards.
Learn everything you can about sequestration. It’s often called draw down, Basically it’s the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by having healthy natural soil and lots and lots of trees. Climate Change Scientists promote draw down and encourage home owners to rethink property management and evolve from what gardening trends will look like in the future. Rural lakeside living is all about living in alignment with nature and in order to do so, we must all collectively adapt.
Here are a few tips:
- Have pervious walkways and driveways so surface water flows through and nourishes the earth.
- Leave your leaves. Just rake leaf litter from walkways. Have you ever seen a forest raked? Leaves naturally decompose, convert to a state of humus which births microbes, which makes soil viable.
- Avoid barren lots, plant something, anything, soil needs roots from plants to prevent dust bowl erosion.
- It’s okay to enjoy your existing beach, just allow the rest of your waterfront to naturalize. Never put sand into the water.
- Eliminate or reduce lawns, at very least allow dandelion and such to attract pollinators through out the season. We only mow where people walk and around the campfire for access.
- Plant more native plants especially those that attract pollinators and are a source of food for creatures big and small. Eliminate or control invasive species which displace native habitats for wildlife. If wildlife has no food source, they decrease in numbers and move away.
- Increase the tree canopy. Trees are the lungs of the world, they provide a healthy carbon exchange which cleans the air from carbon gasses.
- Think of your cottage as being carved out of the wilderness, not as a building in a clearing where nature has been removed.
