Redesign- Week 5

After finding out that two of our honors students dropped the class, it was vital to rearrange our groups in order to accomplish our ultimate task. Therefore, instead of having three seperate teams, the Aquatics/Nitrogen fixers merged into one team, while the Fruits and Veggies acquired more team-members. That being said, this new blog consists of both teams which includes Samantha, Rebecca, Alexandra and Maria. This allows us to work with more of our classmates and acquire more knowledge of the other plants in the data-base. This week I learned various concepts concerning permaculture and gardening. It seems very logical that traditional gardening is not efficient and must be tweaked in order to really supply food. This is demonstrated in the traditional rows that are implemented in most gardens, which decreases the area of food being grown.Also, I learned about the basic structures of soil, and how it should not be referred to as dirt- a derogatory term previously unthought of. Permaculture's ideals seem so logical and easily sustainable, and it baffles me why this hasnt been implemented on a grand-scale. Monocultures are easily susceptible to various diseases and as a result get wiped out on a regular basis from pests. The topic of invasive species was also brought up, but the term invasive carries such a heavy connotation that it should be thrown out. Humans are the top invasive species on the planet, depleting resources at an astronomical rate and we throw this word out interchangeably as if it's going to solve something. Invasive plant species may indeed cause a problem, however some may thrive and nourish others in the area. Although this isn't my area of specialty, I truly feel like I am getting alot of knowledge and awareness out of this class.

-Rebecca

There is always an equilibrium that Nature keeps between all things - a web of life where everything is interconnected.In this week's class we took a step forward to understanding the process of designing our own permaculture garden. We were introduced
to the the big picture of creating ecological garden and began taking apart its components.There is a powerful quote from Chapter 3 of Gaia's Garden that really stood out to me : "A place designed according to principles deeper than those of surface appearance can still be beautiful but will also shelter wildlife, feed people and animals, purify air and water, store carbon, and be an asset to Earth".
-Alexandra

Leia Mais…

Week 4 Entry

Echo Field trip time!!

This past Wednesday (August the 16th) we got a great opportunity to visit ECHO. 

What is ECHO?

"ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) is a non-profit, inter-denominational Christian organization located on a demonstration farm in North Fort Myers, FL. ECHO has been assisting a global network of missionaries and development workers since 1981 and is currently serving agricultural workers in 180 countries.

ECHO exists for one major reason, to help those working internationally with the poor be more effective, especially in the area of agriculture!  We are a technical support organization helping community development organizations and workers do what they do . . . better!"

 This trip was informative, educational and fun at the same time. We left FGCU campus around 2:15 pm  and we arrived at ECHO after ~15 min. 

                                                 Our ride :)                                                   

                                                                                          

 

Our group :)

  

 

We were so excited to finally run away from our crazy busy life and get lost in nature, even if only for a small while. When we first arrived to ECHO, what first attracted us was the richness and the diversity of the plants present. We were lucky to have an ECHO staff with us during the field trip. He first explained the history and the purpose of ECHO, and then we started our field trip =)

 

Our guide explained that in order for the plants to thrive and grow to their fullest they need a rich brown soil rather than the white sand usually present in SW Florida. To achieve the quality of the soil desired, the ground was covered with mulch and shred of broken wood left to decompose and bring their organic material back to the soil. You can see in the picture below the richness of the brown soil at ECHO.

  We went over the characteristics of some of the plants present than we were separated in our group for a better time management. Our group was responsible for Nitrogen fixating plants. Most of the plants we viewed belonged to the bean family and had a unique leaves shape. 

 After viewing the Nitrogen fixers plants and adding any new plants we were missing on our list, we went in a small tour discovering ECHO and the creative ways they invented to live with nature. Here some of the pictures: 

                                Rain Water Catchment  

The biggest hill in SW Florida!

Leia Mais…

Week 3 Entry

This week we looked into the book Plan B along with other readings that allowed us to look and make a connection with nature growing up. One of the current favorite nature spots in SWF was a trip that was taken to the Kissimmee River where the Army Corp of Engineers are currently re-creating it after they made the natural curvy Kissimmee River into a canal. Once at the part of the Kissimmee River that has been restored it is absolutely amazing. There is no phone signal and no internet so one of the few things to do is to just admire the beauty that is around you. It allows you to just lose track of time, relax, and lets you just let your mind wonder. Below is a picture of the sunset that was taken while on the walk through the prairie fields. This picture captures the beauty of the entire trip.

Leia Mais…

Week Two Entry

During this week of class, we got a glimpse into the world of healthy living through natural, organic foods. There were so many things that we were surprised to hear; such as the true nature of dairy products – leading cause of pathological calcification. We also discussed few way of staying healthy.

1. To exercise (flush out toxins)
2. To get enough sleep
3. To acquire vitamins and minerals from fresh, raw, organic, local fruits and vegetables.

Added to this blog is a video showing some important ideas on how to be healthy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwNxsjRZds0&feature=related


We also talked about the main goals from this class:
1. Be familiar with standard colloquium material
2. Complete an online database for useful plants grown in SW Florida
3. Create a permaculture design for our campus. Our group was assigned to finish the database on Nitrogen fixers.

 

"Growing food in powerful"

"The danger of growing food is you become free"

Leia Mais…

Week One Entry

Wednesday the 26th of August was our first Colloquium class. A little bit scared and excited at the same time, we did not know what to expect from this course. What first caught our attention is the relatively small size of our class which contained 12 ladies only and one very interesting professor, Dr. Segal. After completing some long surveys, we discussed is the earth sustainable or not. Unanimously, we all decided that our only blue planet is very unsustainable and that change needed to be done quickly in order to decelerate the rapid destruction of earth’s resources and stop it if possible. The earth in no longer capable of supporting the exponentially increasing demands of the human population. Earth’s resources are limited, however, human population keeps growing. The rapid growth of human population, added to the increase of consumption, have put a strain of earth’s resources demanding for more food, more energy resources, more paper etc. therefore, disturbing the balance in nature. Global warming, melting the Arctic ice, climate change, increase levels of carbon dioxide produced, crops drought and many other examples are strong evidence showing to the imbalance present in nature these days. If this trend continues, disaster will occur!


What is the solution? According to Dr. Segal, permaculture is the solution!

What is permaculture?

Permaculture is an ecosystem capable of regenerating itself, without the interference form the outside world. It should contain all the living and non living organism that will make it self sustainable, ranging from the nitrogen fixating bacteria, to the green algae producing sugar, to the fungi and lichen to help plants grow faster and also aid in the decomposition of dead material and bring it back to its usable organic molecules, followed by the simple plants then more complex plants. Animals feeding on predators should also be included in this small ecosystem. Most fruit trees can be grown in the permaculture garden since they live from year to year. However, vegetables and plants surviving for only one year or less will not aid in the sustainability of the permaculture garden.

The project of this semester is to design a successful permaculture garden capable of sustaining itself. We will keep you posted on our progress, and we hope that our project will encourage you to help restore the planet rather than working against it. Thank you.

Leia Mais…

Welcome to our blog!

This blog was created by Maria Jose El Khoury, Alexandra Sanafeeva and Crystal Owen for our Honors Colloquium Class at Florida Gulf Coast University. Entries representing our reflections on the class discussions and readings, field trips, or any point of views will be added weekly. We hope that you will like our blog. Enjoy!

Leia Mais…