March 7th through March 11th 2023
Tours, Experiences, and Workshops for the whole family!
Festival Location:
17391 Durrance Road, North Fort Myers, FL 33917
Festival Location:
17391 Durrance Road, North Fort Myers, FL 33917
10:30 am
FULL Bunches of Bananas with ECHO’s Stacy Swartz
$20 pp
12 pm
Tropical Tasting Lunch – Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! Offered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!
$25 pp
1:30 pm
Chapin Drip Bucket Irrigation Workshop with ECHO’s Elliott Toevs
$60 pp
10:30 am
Up Close with the Goats for Homeschoolers
You know that learning doesn’t have to happen indoors! Join us for an outdoor adventure as we learn about ECHO’s goats, their diet, feed them, and solve some math problems geared toward animal husbandry!
$10 pp ages 4-16 (Parents come for free)
12 pm
Tropical Tasting Lunch – Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! Offered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!
$25 pp
Saturday Farm Day – 9am – 3pm – Spend the day at our 57-acre Global Farm and tour a tropical rainforest demonstration or learn about alternative energies as they are demonstrated in the appropriate technology area! Kids of all ages can taste, touch, and experience their way around the world as they learn about world hunger and ways they can make an impact!
We invite you to join us for this festival of fun and unique experiences!
9:30
Integrated Pest Management for the Florida Home Garden – Stacy Swartz
We will be talking about the major pests and diseases faced by the home gardener in SWFL as well as some at-home integrated pest management techniques you can use! If you have specimens for ID, please bring photos or samples to the session. Please also be ready to share what you have found to work well in your garden.
10:30
Organic methods for garden pest management – Kara Tyler-Julian
Growing food in Southwest Florida comes with many challenges. Some of the trickiest challenges facing gardeners are the insect and mite pests that feed on the plants and spread diseases. In this presentation you will learn about some of the common plant-feeding invertebrates that plague local gardens and learn about organic products and methods that can be used to protect your plants. Entomologist and gardener Kara Tyler-Julian will share her knowledge gained through 10+ years of professional and personal experience in the field of integrated pest management.
10:30
Edible Landscape Design – Tim Watkins
Learn the basics of backyard perennial edible garden design beginning with principles of agroforestry and food forest design. Explore several examples of perennial gardens at ECHO that illustrate various design principles. Guests will have the opportunity to create simple perennial plant arrangements based on design tools learned in the workshop.
1:00
Facing Climate Change – Ariel Hoover
In this presentation, you will gain an in-depth understanding of the myriad impacts of climate change here and around the world and how to make changes that will keep Florida more resilient, and make your life better at the same time. Ariel Hoover is a retired as an instructor at Tufts University outside Boston, MA.
1:00
Edible Perennial Walking Tour – Melissa Hall and Tim Watkins
Get a tour of the ECHO Global farm focusing on the edible perennials, unique fruits, and greens. Join Melissa and Tim as they highlights their favorite edible landscaping plants! 25 participants max. (First come, first spots)
2:00
Renewable Energy Solutions – Bob Hoover
This workshop will give an overview of developments in the renewable energy space and offer an optimistic view of how the transition to clean energy can shift the course of climate change destruction in the context of a more sustainable economy. We’ll discuss the role individuals can and must play to make a sustainable future a possibility for our kids and grandkids. Bob Moore is a retired business person currently focused on facilitating adoption of sustainable and resilient development practices in Southwest Florida.
10:30 am
FULL Seed Saving with Emma Buchanan-Rodriguez
This workshop will provide an overview of the basic skills required to begin the art and practice of seed saving in your garden. Relevant for home and community gardeners. Topics covered will include information on plant reproduction, planning for the seed garden, seed harvest, drying, processing, and storage, with hands-on activities to tie it all together.
$10 pp
12 pm
Tropical Tasting Lunch – Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! Offered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!
$25 pp
1:30 pm
FULL Hands-On Grafting Workshop with Melissa Hall
Start your grafting journey with this hands-on workshop that includes a hands-on, step-by-step grafting seminar, root stock, scions, and wrap. Grafting knives will be provided for the workshop or feel free to bring your own. Afterward, you will take home your grafted trees!
$20 pp
10:30 am
Create a Kid-Friendly Food Forest in Your Backyard
Learn how to plan, and design a backyard food forest based on kid-friendly perennials. Replace groceries starting the first year. Then, choose a one-gallon perennial plant from the ECHO Nursery to take home!
Amanda Pike, Ph.D. is the Author of Transforming Florida Yards: A Regional Food Forest Guide, an artist, an AIRBNB super host, and owner of a two-acre, Florida permaculture farm complete with hundreds of species of edible plants, free-roaming chickens, and 26 beehives.
$15 pp
12 pm
FULL Tropical Tasting Lunch – Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! Offered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!
$25 pp
1:30 pm
Homesteading: A Variety of Food Preservation Methods
Learn from return presenters Dan and Julie Kolb as they share their expertise from the garden to your plates. They’ll discuss a variety of food preservation methods that you can replicate in your own kitchen. Then, take home a packet of freeze-dried food from their garden in Pasco County.
$15 pp
1:30 pm
The Beekeeping Experience
Join Expert Steve Eisele on a walking tour of ECHO’s beehives. Want to be more self sufficient? Want to connect with nature? Learn the basics about keeping bees, or just learn more about these fascinating creatures that mean so much for our ecosystem!
$10 pp
Bones Coffee tasting – Learn about roasting, grinding and storing coffee from a local roast master and a barista who will have tasting samples available.
10:30
Cooking with Tropicals Watch the demonstration and then taste gluten-free cassava pancakes with homemade jams and sauces from the garden.
11:45
Fire And Steel – Scratch Pad Thai At Home It’s back, a perennial favorite at the Global Food and Farm Festival! Join us for a live cooking demonstration of this sweet and salty favorite: Pad Thai. Learn how to make this Asian dish in your kitchen, or if you do it the way we will, in your own backyard! We’ll talk about sourcing ingredients from your garden or local groceries; then, we’ll fire up the wok and make some for you to taste.
1:30
Safe Mushrooms Happy Mushrooms. The Lee County Extension agent will demonstrate and answer questions about growing and using mushrooms safely at home.
Rubbish to Rooftops
Use recycled materials to help make planters in our Urban Garden.
We Feed the Goats; the Goats Feed the Farm
This bioliquid fertilizer demonstration will make fertilizer from goat manure, water, tithonia leaves, ash, and soil. See the different phases of the fertilizer process and participate in small steps along the way.
Starfruit Smorgasbord!
The Lowlands is home to ECHO’s starfruit collection, so come and sample starfruit and bananas
The Tea Room
Did you know that leaves and flowers are used to make and flavor the tea that you drink?! Make your own tea bag with a selection of different tea products found around the farm including lemongrass, mint, moujean, echinacea and more!
Rocket Stove Tea Time
Learn how rocket stoves work and try West African hibiscus tea.
Mountain – Plant Parts Scavenger Hunt
What are the six different parts of a plant? Seek and find on the mountain in a fun botanical scavenger hunt.
“Monsoon Maquillage”
Come by the Monsoon hut and get your face painted with your favorite tropical plant or farm animal!
Tropical Treat Match-up
Test your tropical fruit and spice knowledge with this interactive matching activity! Then learn about why they’re so good for you and how to use them.”
17391 Durrance Road
North Fort Myers, FL 33917
239.543.3246
info@echonet.org
We are voluntarily evaluated for financial transparency and accountability by these independent third-party organizations.
ECHO, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization registered under EIN: 23-7275283.