My third field trip was to ECHO. ECHO stands for Education Concerns Hunger Organization. This organization is designed not only to feed families but also to educate them how to grow their own food and be able to survive.
ECHO is directed towards families who make less than $100.00 a year. When our tour guide Mike Sullivan said that it made me realize how grateful I am every paycheck I receive.
The farm was incredible. I was very excited to be able to experience it again. I visited it originally with my Introduction to International Studies Class freshman year. So much of the property has changed.
To explain the relationship and complexity of production the seeds is, the life of aseed at ECHO gets cleaned, separated, put in the system and small amounts are sent out to families to experiment with. They are sample sizes.
A way to propagate plants is a system they use called “air layering”. The plant produces fruit immediately and grows very quickly. You cut the stem of the plant 12-15 inches and wrap in plastic and aluminum foil. You then unwrap the foil and you have a brand new plant with roots.
One of the issue’s with this business is climate. Climate is always changing. ECHO sets out to educate and show people how to grow their own food no matter what the climate is doing. They are on a mission and are sure to achieve every step.
A solution is called “urban gardening”. Urban gardening is, you take a container such as a tire or even pool buckets. Then you fill it with little soil and you can grow plants and trees.
With Livestock my tour guide Mike said that choosing goats over cows is better. They are not picky eaters. Goats eat anything and everything! Their manure is used for fertilizer. But they do need to be penned so that does not eat your crops.
Another solution to being environmental sustainable is, the duck and tilapia system. The manure from duck area goes into the Tilapia’s lake. This turns into algae and the tilapia feed off of it. Tilapia that feed of the ducks grow twice as fast as regular fish getting fed.
My favorite plant there is called Cranberry Hibiscus. I was very hesitant try it at first, but then when I tried it, it was so good! It almost tasted like a sweet tart but with a hint of cranberry. I then ate another leaf. I wanted to take the whole bush home.
