History of Ft. Myers

I found the history of Ft. Myers interesting because I always thought it was mostly a retirement haven; however in the 1920's Ft. Myers was a huge party town. It was called the "Boom Time". Most of the Mediterranean Revival buildings seen throughout the City were built during this period. During the 1920's people from all over the country come down to come party in downtown Ft. Myers. During WWII there was a military base here. The people at the base fell so in love with Ft. Myers that many of them wanted to retire here.  

Lovers Key

Lovers Key is a state park that is located on Florida's gulf coast. Today, it is one of four barrier islands that make up this state park. There is a lot if wildlife Lovers Key is home to West Indian manatees, Bottle nose dolphins, roseate spoonbills, marsh rabbits, and bald eagles. I didn't know that so many different types of animals lived here

Melaleuca

I found an article about Melaleuca trees ruining Florida's ecological system. Melaleuca is an exotic invasive tree that was introduced into South Florida from Australia in the late 19th century. It is used extensively as an decorative plant and as a soil stabilizer in swampy areas; but unfortunately it has done more harm then good. It has displaced native plants and animals, took up water from wetlands, and is a fire hazard.

Cities

When we were talking about our ecological footprints I was surprised to learn that people who live in the cities have a smaller footprint than people that live in the cities. People in cities take trains, subways, and walk more than people in suburbs. In cities public transportation is taken advantage of where as in the suburbs it is not. I think that we need to work on making public transportation more appealing to people to minimize CO2 emissions. 

 

The Importance of Education

In the book, Plan B 4.0 one of the chapters talks about the importance of educating people around the world. Education lowers the birth rate and helps people become self-sufficient. When women are more educated they are less likely to become pregnant. One illness that is very prevalent and causes many deaths  in third world countries is dysentery. I was sad when I read that because it is so curable. The book talked about teaching women how to make a solution to help stop the dysentery. I thought that it is important to educate people how to take care of it rather than just giving women the solution. 

Pollution

pol·lu·tion  

/pəˈlo͞oSHən/

Noun

The presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects. Pollution in our air is a huge problem. It is caused from emissions of CO2 and other chemicals into the air. Cars, trains, planes, factories, and many other industrialized cities give off millions of tons of CO2 each year. I found a list of countries that produce the most CO2 per year. The countries are: China, United States, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, Canada  UK, South Korea, and Iran. All theses countries need to work on cutting back on CO2 emissions, because our 1 Earth cannot continue to thrive with the billions of CO2 emissions produced by these countries.

Moringa Leaves

ECHO and FGCU's Food Forest both had Moringa Trees. Both places emphasized the health benefits of Moringa leave. I am interested in health and fitness so I started researching the benefits of Moringa leaves. This is what I found out: they have more vitamin A than carrots, more calcium than milk, more potassium that bananas, more protein than yogurt, more vitamin C than oranges, and more iron that spinach. Moringa is used to help with blood pressure, blood sugar, increases lactation, and helps people that have anemia. 

Moringa Tree

ECHO

(Education Concerns Hunger Organization)

ECHO is a non-profit, inter-denominational Christian organization located on a demonstration farm in North Fort Myers, FL. ECHO exists for one major reason, to help those working internationally with the poor be more effective, especially in the area of agriculture! They do this in three ways: education and training, innovative options, and networking. When our class visited ECHO we went on a tour and learned about all of the different plants and tools they have created to help people all around the world. The people that work at ECHO teach people how to farm and how to be able to support themselves. 

ECHO Farms Ft. Myers

Red- Cockaded Woodpecker

When we went to the Corckscrew Swamp we saw a Red- Cockaded woodpecker. This woodpecker was huge and not what I expected a woodpeck to look like. My idea of what a woodpecker looked like was Woody Woodpecker until our field trip. The federally endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker lives in the southeastern United States, and Florida is its stronghold. This colonial woodpecker is a year-round resident and is easiest to find in mature pine forest near sunrise and sunset as they leave for or return from foraging bouts. They create large holes in pine trees. The pine tress that had red heart rod are preferable for the woodpeckers because the fungus makes the center of the tree soft, allowing the woodpecker to create nest hole.

Red-Cockaded Woodpecker

PERMACULTURE:

per·ma·cul·ture

/ˈpərməˌkəlCHər/

Noun: The development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient. Before taking our field trip to the Food Forest at FGCU I had never heard of the term "permaculture". I learned the it is an importance of knowing what permaculture is during this trip. When I think of gardening I think of having to prune,trim, soil, and water various types of plants. All of the work required to gardening is the reason I do NOT garden, but after learning about this type of agruiculture I may reconsider. I realized how many native plants Florida can sustain and how I can grow my own types of food instead of buying it in the store. This is a form of growing our own food without having to work hard to maintain a garden.

Red Flower Indigo