Are Bonsai and Topiary Tools Used at Global Village Farm in North Fort Myers Florida?
Are Bonsai and Topiary tools used at Global Village Farm in North Fort Myers, Florida? The farm enthusiasts there unleash creativity with bonsai tools. Carefully tending to their miniature trees and creating intricate topiary designs, these tools are indispensable for shaping and sculpting nature’s beauty. At Global Village Farm, the art of bonsai and topiary thrives, showcasing the skilled expertise and dedication of its caretakers.
Can Indoor Gardening Techniques from the Guide be Applied at Global Village Farm in North Fort Myers Florida?
Can the indoor gardening tips for winter from the guide be successfully applied at Global Village Farm in North Fort Myers, Florida? With its sunny and warm climate, North Fort Myers is ideal for outdoor gardening. However, for those looking to grow plants indoors during the winter months, these techniques can help them create a thriving indoor garden at the global village farm.
Sustainable Farming at Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization
The Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization is open for tours in North Fort Myers, Florida. The global village tests sustainable farming that will help poor people.
ECHO stands for the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization headquartered in North Fort Myers, Florida. At the global village, demonstrations of sustainable farming techniques are taught to food growers who feed poor people. Open to the public are tours of the global village farm, bookstore and tropical plant nursery.
A tour through ECHO offers community garden advocates as well as citizen gardeners a better sense of the challenges families face growing food in other countries. It is not a public garden designed for beauty but instead utilitarian; here gardeners will recognize ornamentals now used as valuable food sources. ECHO’s global village farm covers six regional descriptions found around the world:
- Hot humid lowlands are island environments with low altitude coastal areas in the wet tropics. Long rainy seasons are characteristic.
- Rain forest clearing is located at the equator where it is hot and humid most of the year. The clearings are created by unproductive slash and burn methods.
- Semi-arid tropics are hot dry regions where rainfall is low and unpredictable.
- Tropical monsoon climates are created by seasonal wind shifts that result in alternating wet and dry seasons.
- Urban gardening simulates densely populated environments like metropolitan cities where land is unavailable for growing food.
- Hillside farming replaces more valuable lands not available to poorer people. Practicing soil and water conservation is necessary to be a successful food grower on slopes.
Within each garden demonstration, visitors see food growing techniques and edible plants that thrive in the climate, soil conditions and man-made constraints of each region.Conservation Farming
Conservation farming techniques are frequently used to protect valuable soil, nutrients and water from being easily washed a way by erosion on steep slopes. In the hillside farming display ECHO uses pine logs and old tires in their terracing, as these are readily available inexpensive materials in North Fort Myers.
Growing contour hedges is a technique seen for stabilizing sandy soil. Here, leguminous trees and grasses create hedgerows that can be sub-planted with vegetables periodically harvested. The residual plant material is used for mulch or to feed animals.
Growing Ornamental Plants for a Food Source
Gardeners will recognize many edible plants grown in the demonstrations as ornamental plants. While the banana plant is valued for its huge tropical leaves to shade a backyard patio, here it is a valuable cash crop. Planted at the base of a slope, banana plants serve a dual purpose by inhibiting erosion of natural resources then harvested for its fruit and sold.
The long tassel flowers on the grain amaranth, botanically known as Amaranthea hypochondriacus will remind plant lovers of the dramatic annuals called Joseph’s coat. But grain amaranth is tougher and an important food source. The plant has proven more drought tolerant than corn and does not require rich soil. In addition to being a high quality protein food, the leaves are easily cooked like spinach.
Hibiscus acetosella, well known in Florida as cranberry hibiscus, is a tropical African native plant that thrives in sandy soil. While the deep red maple shaped leaves are beautiful in the home garden, it is the red leaves eaten fresh or cooked that is its true value at ECHO. Cranberry hibiscus is a perennial vegetable plant that is insect and nematode resistant.
Tropical Plant Nursery for Native Floridians
ECHO’s Tropical Fruit Nursery is open to local retail gardeners. The plant inventory includes tropical and sub-tropical fruit trees, herbs and spices and tropical clumping bamboo that will grow well in southwestern Florida. Plants are very reasonably priced and helpers are there to answer questions and assist customers.
The seed bank stores a collection of seeds that produce under-utilized crops. These seeds are only available to workers who teach about growing food. Local home gardeners will find a large selection of seeds at the bookstore. Purchases made at the plant nursery and bookstore support this life-affirming global village farm project.
What is ECHO
The Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization is an interdenominational Christian group. Their purpose is to teach non-governmental workers and missionaries the agricultural techniques and food plants proven successful in feeding poor people in third-world environments.
The ECHO campus located in North Fort Myers, Florida, includes a research center, reference library, bookstore, tropical plant nursery and seed bank. Visitors to the demonstration farm will learn how poor people grow food around the world.
