Month: July 2019

Fort Myers Farm Fights World Hunger by Planting A Seed [Video]

A plant growing in North Fort Myers has the power to transform lives around the world.

Be the change by planting a seed. It is the echo of a promise made on a 55-acre farm in North Fort Myers where thousands of plants grow for changing lives.

“I love the mission,” said Mark Trask, ECHO volunteer. “I love why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

Trask said he is helping grow a difference by volunteering for ECHO. ECHO provides resources and teaches farming methods to people around the world to make them self-sustaining.

Farm Manager Andy Cotarelo said since partnering with Community Cooperative in 2013, ECHO has donated more than 7,000 pounds of produce to the Southwest Florida soup kitchen.

“We try to give them what they can use,” Cotarelo said. “We also wanted to make it available for the public. So we make that available every Friday and Saturday through our stand at the bookstore.”

Produce sold at ECHO’s farm stand helps pay for their operations and mission to send seeds around the world where they can make the most significant impact.

“One thing we’ve really strive to do is make sure the seeds we sent out are open-pollinated,” Cotarelo said. “Those are gonna be real important for farmers.” 

The BEST Avocado Cake Recipe Ever

At ECHO, when avocados are ripe, we have a lot of them! When they’re in season, we can’t help but stash some away in the freezer. This is a great recipe in season and out! Works perfectly with frozen avocado if fresh aren’t available.

I spent six hours last week serving OVER 900 samples of this cake to many curious guests at the Taste of Lee Tropical Fruit Fair. Some were skeptical, but everyone went away raving about the flavor and texture of this cake. It’s not a healthy recipe, but when you want to include all the goodness of avocado into a unique dessert, this is the perfect recipe for you! It can also be modified to be gluten free or sugar free. Let me know in the comments if you are going to try it!

If you attended the event, what did you think of the cake?

Ingredients:

  • 2 and 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups avocado, pureed
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tsp baking soda
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk
  • 3 cup flour

Method:

  • Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and avocado.
  • Add spices, baking soda, salt, then buttermilk.
  • Mix well, then add flour.
  • Bake in greased 9×13 pan, 1 hour at 325. Toothpick should come out clean.
  • Optional, serve with whipped cream on top.

Come visit ECHO for tours of the Global Farm and Appropriate Technology Village, browse our plant nursery which specializes in edible perennials, fruits, and vegetables for your landscape, and shop the bookstore for cookbooks and an incredible array of books, gifts, and foods.

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ECHO provides sustainable options to world hunger through agricultural training, innovative options, and networking with community leaders and missionaries in 180 countries and online through ECHOcommunity.org. ECHO seeks to find agricultural solutions for families growing food under difficult conditions. ECHO’s international headquarters is located in Fort Myers, FL. Visit echonet.org

Around the World in Two Hours: A Look Inside an ECHO Tour

“There are abundant reasons to care about hunger and malnutrition around the world. The Bible commands it, our humanity demands it. For us, it’s a profound privilege.”

— David Erickson, President/CEO

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A Look Inside an ECHO Tour

By Zach Walker

The leaves tasted like mashed peas and the berries like cotton candy. Even the little girl who kept begging to be picked up by her mom scurried around the tour guide to get a taste.

The college student asked questions about planting procedures while the missionary took pictures of an outhouse and then used it. The girl with mud in her sandals talked to the pigs.

ECHO offers summer tours of its global farm three times every week. Guests arrive at 9:30 on Tuesday, Friday, or Saturday to learn about the tropical produce, agriculture practices, and mission of equipping the world with knowledge through two-hours of walking. Tours are also offered December through April on a more frequent basis.

Four fans whirled in tandem to offer air-conditioned comfort before the group ventured into the forest. Lines of plastic chairs faced a projector screen while Matt Cunningham, the tour guide, welcomed each new guest.

With a tap of his laptop trackpad, Matt introduced the group to ECHO’s global mission through a video that began showing the impacts of international research and training.

The screen projected animations of ECHO’s process with simple cartoon farmers and visual aides representing global impact.

A family from Tanzania was shown as an example of sustainable farming practices such as sack gardens and biogas stoves. To conclude, ECHO CEO David Erickson appeared on screen to speak about the mission.

“There are abundant reasons to care about hunger and malnutrition around the world,” Erickson said. “The Bible commands it, our humanity demands it. For us, it’s a profound privilege.”

Matt Cunningham explains the reasons behind ECHO’s mission to his tour group. ECHO serves an average of 167 countries every month by equipping farmers with knowledge of sustainable agriculture practices.

Matt led the way swinging his 32 oz. metal water bottle around his fingers. The group crossed the road and entered a different world. A world of chirping cicadas and mango trees. Of rainforests and mountains and humid lowlands.

A mango hangs from a tree near the start of the tour path. Mango trees are plentiful at ECHO and line many paths on the farm.

The group halted whenever a large white sign came into focus. Each one announced a reason as to why ECHO’s mission matters.

“75% of the world’s food is generated from only 12 plants and 5 animals species,” one sign read.

“There are close to one billion people living in hunger the world world today.”

“A child dies from hunger-related causes every 12 seconds.”

Guests asked Matt to identify fruits and explain why that papaya didn’t look like the papayas in their backyard. The little girl pointed at the tree while her mom smiled and listened.

Banana trees and palm fronds passed on each side of the dirt path as the group traveled to the hot humid lowlands. One of seven distinct environments on the ECHO campus, the lowlands mimics the agricultural conditions of humid countries like Thailand and the Philippines.

Billy Arthur, the lowlands intern, trims tomato plants near the tropical highlands mountain. The seven sections of the farm border each other but mimic each environment individually.

Matt pointed to a rice paddy cultivated using the system of rice intensification, or SRI. A bamboo shack stood in the trees to the right.

The path snaked through a field lined with pineapples where an intern was clipping tomato plants. Matt reached up toward his favorite plant on the farm, the caimito tree. The golden undersides of the leaves shimmered in the afternoon sun.

A man-made mountain towered over the group, the cornerstone of the tropical highlands area built to match the conditions of the sloped farms found in hilly countries like Lesotho and Honduras. A woman snapped close-up iPhone photos of the same leaves and stems used by highland farmers to stay alive.

Hawken Sawyer, the semi-arid intern, mixes cow manure with water to create biogas. The gas is then fed underground to a burner where tour guests can observe the resulting flame, a demonstration of biogas utility in villages across the world.

An intern pulled a wooden rod caked with liquid manure from a plastic drum. He explained the process of making biogas, a renewable fuel made from animal waste and water that can provide heating needs to low-income families in Africa. Matt lit a burner and produced a hot blue flame fueled solely by biogas.

Goat bleats and pig snorts accompanied the slight smell of manure in the air as the group departed the biogas area and approached the urban gardens, Matt’s speciality, which are designed to test plant performance in areas without open farmland. Rabbits chewed on banana leaves while plants sprouted from tires and kiddie pools. Green stems and colorful flowers contrasted with concrete.

After the urban gardens, Matt walked toward the end of the tour. A few more edible plant samples and explanations of the work being done overseas were given before reaching the final destination.

One more sign stood within a riot of branches and leaves. Two children forever smiling on the white plastic beside the words “Do You See What’s Possible?”. Matt encouraged the mother and child and the sandal girl and the missionary and the rest of the group to become part of ECHO’s efforts by volunteering or giving financially. Heads nodded and smiles spread.

“Thank you all,” Matt said. “Have a great rest of your day.”

You, too, can be part of ECHO’s mission of empowering the world with knowledge and escaping the grips of hunger. Sign up for our monthly newsletter, make a financial contribution, or simply learn more through our website. We hope you consider coming along for the journey.

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ECHO provides sustainable options to world hunger through agricultural training, innovative options, and networking with community leaders and missionaries in 180 countries and online through ECHOcommunity.org. ECHO seeks to find agricultural solutions for families growing food under difficult conditions. ECHO’s international headquarters is located in Fort Myers, FL. Visit echonet.org

Propagating Purple Sweet Potatoes

It is a gorgeous late Spring day on ECHO’s farm this morning! Today, our talented Propagation Manager shows us how to propagate some beautiful, purple sweet potato cuttings.  We utilized “soft-wood cuttings,” a type of cutting that is perfect for growing sweet potatoes. It is easy, efficient, and incredibly sustainable. If you have access to a particular sweet potato variety, you may want to hold onto it and grow it! Currently, ECHO has about 9 varieties of sweet potato on the farm—all of which have different qualities.

Before we begin the propagation process, ensure all of the materials you need are in front of you:

  • One (or a few) plastic planters
  • Compost/soil mixture
  • cutting shears
  • isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle (used to sterilize the shears before cutting)
  • 1 paper marker, to mark the date & variety of cuttings
  • 1/4 cup of fertilizer

Start by filling your planter(s) with a well-drained soil. For today’s propagation, we used a combination of sand, bark chips, and compost. The bark and sand help excess water drain off, while the compost holds onto the necessary amounts of water—keeping the balance perfect for dry and wet. Our propagation manager recommends NOT using pre-mixed fertilizer in this mix, because there are specific times when a grower would want to use that in the growing process.

The soil used for the propagation of purple sweet potatoes is a combination: sand, bark chips, & compost.

The soil used for the propagation of purple sweet potatoes is a combination: sand, bark chips, & compost.

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Our propagation manager proceeds to sprinkle about 1/4 cup of fertilizer around the perimeter of the pot, and afterwards, evenly distributed another layer of soil on top to cover it.

When your planter is full, you can proceed by sterilizing your cutting shears with your alcohol spray. This crucial step ensures fungi and bacteria are not passed from one plant, to another.

A mature sweet potato plant is flowering in the morning sun. Planted on ECHO’s research farm in Fort Myers, Florida.

A mature sweet potato plant is flowering in the morning sun. Planted on ECHO’s research farm in Fort Myers, Florida.

Ensure your shears are completely sterilized by spraying both sides completely with the isopropyl alcohol.

Ensure your shears are completely sterilized by spraying both sides completely with the isopropyl alcohol.

Next, begin to make cuttings from a current growing plant—you can see below, our propagation manager snipping a vine off a young purple potato plant.

From here, she cuts a few stems off of the vine. Make sure to choose ones with small growths—this is a good indicator if a thriving, strong plant (see below)

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When the stems are trimmed off, you can start to cut off most of the leaves, we left about 3 or so on the stem, and then cut them in half (see below).

Leaves can be compared to solar panels—they feed the plant, but also pull moisture from the soil. In order to reduce transpiration, the key is to reduce the number of leaves.

Place your final cuttings into your planter.

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The cuttings need water but not saturation: make sure to wet the soil and cuttings with a shower-like water pressure and keep the soil moist. The cuttings don’t have roots yet, and can’t pull enough moisture out of the soil, if you over water them, they will rot instead of flourish. Treat your cuttings as if they are recovering from surgery, you wouldn’t want it exposed to direct hot sunlight, or drenched in a ton of water; think of a more controlled environment.

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If you have access to a green house, you can place your planter towards the middle of the floor—away from the sun and elements that the plant would have been exposed to, if it were placed directly to one side. Greenhouses receive about 50% shade, so placing it in the middle, ensures your cuttings receive 50% sunlight as well. Once your cuttings start growing new leaves, then you can move them to full sun. Luckily, sweet potatoes can handle either sun or shade really well.

If you don’t have access to a greenhouse, place your planter in a slightly shadier spot, away from full direct sunlight.

Be sure to label everything you do and record any information you would want to keep for future reference. This is essential when propagating several cuttings in separate planters.

 As the grower, you can control what a specific cutting needs—some things need a ton of drainage, some things need more rich soil. However, each plant and environment is different. Research what plants flourish the best in your area—and from there you can determine what cutting technique is most efficient for the plant you want to grow.

One of the greatest aspects of propagation, comes from the ability to sustainably grow more crops in less time, compared to the amount of time needed to grow your crop from seeds.

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Picture taken 2 weeks following propagation.

ECHO has been using this propagation technique for decades, all across the globe. It is a vital practice for several third-world farmers and their families, who struggle to effectively grow food in challenging conditions; whether that be poor soil, droughts, lack of usable seeds, etc. ECHO’s mission involves not only solving hunger problems, but also the promotion of sustainable farming techniques; by introducing nutritional plants, and appropriate, reliable technology. The steps are well-tested and proven to be successful throughout various environments around the globe—from our research farm—all the way to Asia—these techniques give us all the opportunity to learn, grow, and become anew.

sweet potato 4 weeks .JPG
sweet potato 4 weeks.JPG
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