On February 14th, the class made a trip to ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization).
According to their website:
"ECHO exists to improve the abilities of community development workers assisting poor farmers by providing useful, important information and by networking their skills and knowledge with one another. We also provide hard-to-find beneficial food plants and seeds. 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 how to farm. Rather we work to make farmers more effective at growing food-producing crops under harsh conditions." http://www.echonet.org/content/innovativeOptions
Many parts of ECHO stand out to me. This was my 5th trip to the location as my in-laws are donors to the organization so we take tours each time they are in town. In some ways their practices are relevant to the growing "green" culture of farming practices, however, they do more to supply foreign starving nations with the ability to farm. Many practices do not have a relative need in the United States but I can see how many practices could be applied with home gardening/farming.
One of the things they discuss is something called appropriate technology. This is when technology practices, typically rudimentary compared to US practices, are employed in order to maintain farming. One instance we saw at ECHO was a hand and bike pump to irrigate the land. (seen below)
This would be a very interesting location to participate in an internship or service learning activity.
Below are some highlights of the trip!
Many parts of ECHO stand out to me. This was my 5th trip to the location as my in-laws are donors to the organization so we take tours each time they are in town. In some ways their practices are relevant to the growing "green" culture of farming practices, however, they do more to supply foreign starving nations with the ability to farm. Many practices do not have a relative need in the United States but I can see how many practices could be applied with home gardening/farming.
One of the things they discuss is something called appropriate technology. This is when technology practices, typically rudimentary compared to US practices, are employed in order to maintain farming. One instance we saw at ECHO was a hand and bike pump to irrigate the land. (seen below)
This would be a very interesting location to participate in an internship or service learning activity.
Below are some highlights of the trip!
 |
| Lettuce being grown on terracing. |
 |
| Key Lime tree |
 |
| Good 'ol scarecrow used to keep away unwanted birds. I find it interesting that in this world of technology, the simplest means still have a practical application. |
 |
| Learning about rice. We were able to try freshly harvested raw rice. It was amazing! |
 |
| Moringa |
 |
| It was actually very tasty! Lots of citrus flavor. |
 |
| Nutritional information for Moringa. I have decided I need to grow this! |
 |
| What most of the farm looks like. Not the pretty linear farms we are used to seeing but pretty does not always mean better! |
 |
| Cranberry Hibiscus. Another plant I need to grow. The leaves demand to be eaten! Really sweet! |
 |
| Our littler caterpillar buddy found along the path. |
No comments:
Post a Comment