The Joys we Tended to in 2025

2025 has been a painful and heavy year for most, but as Olly Costello reminds us, "The Grief is Immense, Our Movements Grow, May the Joys We Tend Sustain Us."

As the year ends, we think about the joys we have tended to in the midst of everything else: stewarding the land, taking care of our community and sharing with others.

We planted 105 trees including pawpaws, chestnuts, hazelnuts. We cleared unmanaged brush and with it, we built dead hedges that will bring forth new life.

We hosted social gatherings with workshops open to everyone, including a Grief Retreat, a Foraging Camp and WonderFest! We have also repaired the main road, a huge effort that was possible thanks to the work of many hands!

Check our 2025 report here!

One thing we have noticed this year with concern, is how much the water level has dropped in our ponds (and everywhere). We take our responsibility to Water seriously and a big part of the stewarding in 2025 has gone to our wetlands and waterways.

We have built 5 check dams (aka BDAs) using unmanaged brush like honeysuckle and glossy buckthorn, under the guidance of human and non-human mentors, and with the support of amazing volunteers. And in the areas where we have built the dams, we are already seeing a slight water level increase!

In her book about Beavers and Blockades, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson writes:

“A beaver dam: a blockade:
Life-giving. Generative. Affirmative.
A world-building place, governed by deep relationality.
An expansive fantastical sharing of space.
A network of life-generating blockades that built and maintained the ecosystems that Nishnaabeg [...] lived as part of for thousands and thousands of years.”

Going back to the joys we’ve tended to, working on dams has been an important source of joy. And as you can see in the video, when we set our trailcam by one of the beaver dams, it’s when we saw most life!

lllinois is not safe for beavers, but we learned from The OAEC that community advocacy can make a big difference.

Our hope is that in 2026 we can continue to work on the life-giving possibilities of dams and the world-building possibilities of blockades, and we hope we can continue to share the joys with you all!

Thank you to everyone who makes our joys possible!