Week 8 Reflection; Building a food forest!

This week in our class our group learned various things which ranged from growing a garden in the city and about the different layers of a food forest. Many discussion questions were asked, and they spurred much intellectual thought. One of the questions posed was; Why do you think Americans haven't caught on to this "food forest" trend which has been existing in other countries for centuries. I found that answer to spur many thoughts, and I believe the main reason is because of our ignorance (not necessarily a bad thing) to the concept. It had never even occurred to me prior to taking this class to grow my own food, but now it seems quite logical.  Not only does it decrease our reliance on a poor agriculture system, but it enables a healthier life style overall. In my personal opinion, I do not think our bureaucracy enables this way of thinking to trickle down into the populations. I know that sounds like brainwashing, but I don't think our agriculture system is our main focus at point in time. However, if we all took a step back, we may realize that our failing agriculture system has something to do with this downfall in the economy. Not only does permaculture assist in growing food more efficiently, but it alters your way of thinking in many different aspects. At the end of the class one of our classmates decided to actually bring what we read about to life- we got to plant several herbs. It was a rewarding experience, a bit messy, but overall extremely interesting. We will post pictures of our growing herbs as they sprout!

Leia Mais…

Week 7 Reflection

 This week we went on a fieldtrip to Calusa Nature Center.
http://www.calusanature.com/
When we arrived we got to see the Florida's native animals and insects. The Gofer
tortoises, snakes and even a baby alligator! Then we went to the planetarium where we
watched a movie about telescopes and galaxies. The room where they showed the movie was in the shape of a dome and the walls were completely white creating an illusion of being in space ship. 

It was truly a great experience! 

 

Of course we had to make it look like we are going to space!

~Super Alex~

Then we walked on a trail around the preserve. The guide introduced us to many Florida's
native plants and their purposes. For example, the palms and plamettos that at the
beginning stages of their growth look alike except for the sharp peak in the leaf in the
palm and no peak in palmetto ( refer to pictures in the folder). At the end of the trip
we got to see some amazing animals. They are wild animals who were previously injured
and weren't able to live in the wild.The weather was very hot and mosquitos were
annoying, despite all that we had fun.  



The first encounter we had with the Calusa Nature Center was two turtles "copulating." We're all adults here, but then in the insect room there was grasshoppers performing the same actions. Must be something in the air 

 

We always hear about alligators at our campus and their vitality to the biodiversity throughout our environment. These alligators are pretty big if you ask me!

In our nature walk we walked through various highlands and low-lands. The different areas possess different qualities varying in moisture and other characteristics. Below is a photograph of a cypress tree which has a wide base and thrives well in moist environments. Therefore, if there is one in your backyard, beware of mosquitos!!

 

There is a peak in this plant, so this is the palm.

 

Conserving water is very important! 

 

At the end of the day-girls just want to have fun!!

 

See you in the field trip =)

Leia Mais…

Week 6 Reflection

In this week’s class we discussed chapters 5-8 of of the book Gaia’s Garden.  We learned
about  the Nature’s key elements in maintaining its garden and how those elements work
together.  We discussed strategies  that will help the garden survive drought and wet
periods through better drainage, storing rain water for future use, and putting water
where it is needed the most. Also I learned that soap water is actually good for plants
because of the nutrients that plants can use. In the next chapter we discussed the
multipurpose plants such as soil fumigators, pest repellents, fortress plants, spike
roots and shelter builders.  We also talked about animals’ role as decomposers in the
nature’s garden. Garden must have predators, parasitic insects, pollinators and weed
feeders. And finally we talked about communities for the garden and guilds that can be
created within garden. Polycultures are very useful because they are dynamic and
self-organizing. The more diversity in the system, the more resiliency in the system. 

Leia Mais…

Week 6 Entry

During last class period, we went over chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8 from Gaia’s Garden book. All the presentations were very interesting and we learned from them some valuable ideas which we can incorporate in our permaculture design.

Chapter 5 discussed “Catching, Conserving and Using Water”. Throughout this chapter, he explained how much a rich soil is important in capturing and storing our precious water. He also added the role of swales, pond and lakes (artificial and natural ones).

Chapter 6 discussed “Plants with many uses”. For example, a tree can be used to provide a shaded area, create cool air breezes, increase oxygen level, create organic material ready to be usable for other organisms, attracts various animals resulting in fertilizing the soil, erosion-control system, etc.

Chapter 7 discussed “Bees, Birds, and Other Helpful Animals” and ways to attract them. It explained some of the benefits of having animals in our permaculture design such as to fertilize, pollinate, disperse, eat pests, provide food, and circulate nutrients… The chapter also mentioned how a balance between predators and prey is a requirement for a thriving ecosystem.

Chapter 8 discussed how to create communities for the garden, and stressed on the importance of having a polyculture rather than a monoculture to prevent disease or pests than we destroy vast amount of one crop.

Please stay tune for some wonderful photos from our next field trip, Wednesday October the 7^th

Leia Mais…

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…