Service Learning Reflection 15 and 16

 

Heartland Gardens is a not-for-profit organization where I completed my service learning portion for this course.  It is a single acre located off of McGregor Blvd that you could not even notice if you didn’t know it was there.  Everything that is cultivated in this garden is organically grown and distributed locally.  The garden offers classes about anything from proper composting to fungi growth and sustainable gardening.  One great thing about this small business is that they exchange volunteer time for money toward their classes.  Every hour spent volunteering in the garden counts as five dollars toward a class.

The 10 hours that I volunteered spanned over two days; during which time my roommate and I completed the construction of a rather large spiral herb garden.  The garden was a mere patch of dirt when we were first told what we would be doing.  The men who worked at Heartland Gardens helped us with the measurements and drew out the lines in the dirt where we would need to begin digging.  With their help, we dug a spiral about 6 or 7 inches deep into the ground.  We then laid a relatively thin layer of shells in the spiral that we had just dug.  We spent the rest of the first day filling it to the brim with palms to create a cushioned walk way.  While the palms were a fabulous idea, there never seemed to be enough.  Every time we reached the top of the garden, we had to run around it and compact it down, then add more.

During the second day we traveled with one of the Heartland Gardens Employees to a rock quarry to collect truck loads of rock.  The rock was then layered on top of the existing palm passageway to create and aesthetically pleasing and functional path around the garden.  As we only had one truck and it required a great deal of rock, this process took all day. We were informed by founder Ben Pino that they were going to build the soil up in the center and make it slowly decline down the spiral.  This would allow for a multitude of herbs to be grown in the same garden.  Water craving herbs would be kept closer to the ground while the drier weather herbs could be kept toward the top of the spiral.

This garden is doing so many great and innovative things that people from ECHO were actually there to exchange ideas and enhance both of their locations.  It was encouraging to see the collaboration between the two organizations and made me hope that more people would be encouraged to start backyard sustainable gardening.

El Laguno del Espiritu Santo #14

That is what the Spanish called the forbidding but awe inspiring Everglades. 
I loved the author's description of the area as, "vast, miasmic swamps, poisonous lagoons, huge dismal marshes without outlet, a rotting, shallow, inland sea, or labyrinths of dark trees hung and looped about with snakes and dripping mosses, malignant with tropical fevers and malarias, evil to the white man."  Perhaps this was my favorite depiction of the Everglades because that is what I used to assume it was like.  As I have stated several times before, I am no nature lover and I actually fear the idea of unknown living things lurking just out of sight.
The author does however offer the counter point of the beauty and majesty of the vast expanse that is the shining green emerald located on the oversize spit that we call home.

My only experiences through the Everglades have been driving down Alligator Alley, often during the unlit hours of the night.  I find the entire situation rather terrifying and it has deterred me from wanting to see what it is that other people love about the area. However, my views might change as I have been convinced to go on an airboat with a friend of mine and witness the splendor for myself.

In the Year 2000 #13

Saving the Everglades is something that should be important to every Floridian.  It is a designated national park but at the time of this article, it was falling to pieces.  There was a major push for an Everglades restoration project which, despite cost concerns, most politicians were behind.  It is difficult to justify not supporting the restoration of one of the mostly untouched areas of the state and conservationists were pushing the plan heavily.
The only issues was that the conservationists were concerned as to what was actually going to be done and, like every other environmental bill run at either the state or national level, politics got in the way.

While I understand that our government has a representative government in place to uphold the ideals of the constituency, I cannot grasp how this fell through the cracks at any point.  The interest groups in Florida believed that it would elevate the rights of the environment over the people and it seemed as though the action was dead in the water.  It is upsetting that people do not understand that the environment and nature determine the well being and very existence of the people that they are so concerned about.  It is easy to forget what is important in this world but preserving what little nature we have left should not slip through the cracks so easily.

Trial by Fire #12

ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) was the first field trip that we took and I definitely feel that it was our most intense.  I honestly worried that all of our subsequent trips were going to be equally fast paced and overwhelming. There was a great deal of information to take in that day, the bugs were definitely out, and the heat was more than noticeable.
I love the idea and vision of the non-profit organization whose goal is to create a more sustainable food source for the third world and here at home. They provide various options for growing food as well as simple technologies to limit the need for coal and wood burning cookers.

My favorite part was definitely the urban garden options.  It made me want to go out and start growing herbs in a tire that instant.  It is easy to forget that many cities around the world house starving people and by teaching them to grow their own food withing the confines of their home or front porch eases this burden.  I also liked the idea of community gardens where they community as a whole comes together to grow food to feed the whole.  This not only encourages strong bonds and cooperation but solves the food issue.

Trapsing Through the Swamp #11

I actually enjoyed having the class split into two separate groups.  It allowed us to take in more of our surroundings without having to wait for an entire class of people. 
While I was well aware that various bugs were going to be prevalent, I was not expecting to see an alligator on this trip, never mind two.  It was absolutely hilarious to see DeAnna get so excited over the tiny gator that she discovered. I would have appreciated it more if I had not been panicking over the various bugs that continuously found their way onto my person; or even worse, my fellow classmates pretending to be bugs just to watch me squirm.
All in all, I actually enjoyed the trip considering that I am not the outdoorsy type. However, I could have lived without the torrential downpour. While it was a nice reprieve from the seemingly blistering heat, it put a damper on the experience and limited the time that we spent learning about the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

Although I will most likely never visit this place again, I did enjoy the little excursion and would recommend it to people who enjoy this sort of activity.

Downtown and All Around

Exploring Downtown Fort Myers was definitely a new experience for me.  While I had attended my sorority's semiformal at Harborside in 2010, I never really appreciated my surroundings.  At the time, I did not even notice that there was an Olympics museum only a couple yards away.
I truly enjoyed the scavenger hunt and it forced me to look at the area in a way that I never would have before.  In its own way, it forced me to appreciate the thriving independent businesses as well as inform me of the history of this area that I have called home for the past two years.
I think my favorite part was having to look at the details of every little thing to find the answers. For example, I not only read every sign that I crossed but I also paid attention to the graffiti and stickers that people have left throughout the years.  When you take the time to truly look around and appreciate the beauty and personality of the downtown streets, you have a whole new respect for it.  I definitely plan to revisit the downtown area both in the day and at night to take in all that it has to offer.

Politics and the Environment #9

I honestly was never aware of the various things that the government had tried to do in order to control climate change.  I had no idea that Lieberman had been attempting to promote greener practices since the 1980's. Perhaps this is because there has been almost no push toward it until recent years.  I don't understand why we have to wait until things are already bad before we are willing to sit up and listen. It brings to mind the Winston Churchill quote, "Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other possibilities."
The one major thing that I learned from this article is that our country seems to be more concerned with short term goals as opposed to long term sustainability.  I cannot fathom how politicians can justify ignoring climate change in exchange for a seat in the senate for the next term.  If they continue to pay no heed to the impending crisis, there will no longer be a senate for them to be elected to.
Perhaps, as constituents, we are to blame.  It is not fair to expect politicians to do the right thing if we do not demand it from them