Last week we took our class fieldtrip to the Echo Global Farm in Fort Myers. I have lived in southwest Florida my entire life and hadn’t ever heard of the farm.
When we first got to the farm we were introduced to a very friendly little man who was our guide for the fieldtrip.
I didn’t catch his name, but his humor made the walk through the farm interesting and enjoyable.
According to the Echo website, (
http://www.echonet.org/), Echo is a non-profit organization whose vision is “to bring glory to God and a blessing to mankind by using science and technology to help the poor.”
The website also goes on to say that ECHO understands that there is a wealth of agricultural knowledge among the poor farmers we seek to assist.
As such, Echo does not “teach” people to farm.
Rather we work to make farmers more effective at growing food producing crops under harsh conditions.
I find that to be a very interesting concept.
As we walked around the farm there was evidence of this concept all around.
In some areas they were using old tires filled with soil and plants growing out of them.
Another very interesting concept was using the roof to grow plants and crops.
In third world countries, this allows individuals to grow their own crops, and not use up the surrounding land while doing so.
Our guide also said that this also allows the housing, or shacks that the people are living in, to stay cooler under the hot sun.
So you end up not only having food to eat, but also cooling your home.
One of my favorite spots along the walk through the farm was the rice patties.
I have never seen them before, and thought that to be very interesting.
My Dad served in Vietnam and I have a couple of Uncles as well, and they had made several references to rice patties, and I guess there was some sort of connection there when I saw them. Another area I enjoyed in the farm was the bamboo area. It was nice and peaceful over there with a lot of shade.
I could have hung out in that area for the afternoon.
Echo is a very interesting place and holds a wealth of knowledge when it comes to farming in extreme conditions.
They also have a seed bank that contains some of the most rare and hard to find seeds that thrive in the tropics.
After sharing the field trip and looking at the website with my family, we have decided to visit Echo in the near future.
I find that to be a very interesting concept. As we walked around the farm there was evidence of this concept all around. In some areas they were using old tires filled with soil and plants growing out of them. Another very interesting concept was using the roof to grow plants and crops. In third world countries, this allows individuals to grow their own crops, and not use up the surrounding land while doing so. Our guide also said that this also allows the housing, or shacks that the people are living in, to stay cooler under the hot sun. So you end up not only having food to eat, but also cooling your home. One of my favorite spots along the walk through the farm was the rice patties. 
I have never seen them before, and thought that to be very interesting. My Dad served in Vietnam and I have a couple of Uncles as well, and they had made several references to rice patties, and I guess there was some sort of connection there when I saw them. Another area I enjoyed in the farm was the bamboo area. It was nice and peaceful over there with a lot of shade. I could have hung out in that area for the afternoon. Echo is a very interesting place and holds a wealth of knowledge when it comes to farming in extreme conditions. They also have a seed bank that contains some of the most rare and hard to find seeds that thrive in the tropics. After sharing the field trip and looking at the website with my family, we have decided to visit Echo in the near future.
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