Ecco

Last week we went to Ecco where we learned how to grow fruits and vegetables and how to raise animals without any resources but those offered in the great outdoors. We learned how to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We learned the amazing things you can do by reusing materials offered by nature and to reuse materials found in other people's trash. I thought one of the coolest plants they showed us was the miracle tree. It was crazy all of the different health benefits and various other benefits that the tree created for people in undeveloped or unfortunate situations. I thought that the coolest part about the things they were growing were the different models they had of ways to grow plants on top of their roofs. The different products they used like corn husks and bottles were fascinating.

corkscrew swamp

The other week we went to corkscrew swamp! It was pretty cool, a lot different than what I remember it being like. I saw different wildlife this time than I did last summer. The one part I really did enjoy was seeing the giant alligator and the little baby alligator. The part that I did not like so much was probably the mass amount of bugs that decided to swarm me and only me. Apparently I attract wasps now. Our tour guide was awesome though! He had so many cool stories of different bobcats and panthers and bears that they see a lot. I felt very close to nature out in the swamp where nature is surrounding you and it is so quiet and peaceful. It's incredible how being thrown into nature, away from all of our daily distractions can just give you a piece of mind.

Florida Summer Rain

The Florida daily summer rainshowers have officially begun as of yesterday. Coming from Oklahoma where the summers are dry and hot surviving Florida summers should be interesting. I have always wondered how an entire state could have rain showers every single day for 3 months straight. I believe that it is related to hurricane season and the coastal winds. The summer rain showers are one of the reasons that these produce farms in Florida thrive in the summer. The citrus farms turn out such a large sum of produce during the summer. The rain showers and constant hot temperatures are amazing for the produce industry, particularly the citrus market. The constant rain showers and extreme heat affect the travel industry in the summer. May, June, July, August and September are the months that are considered the off-season for Florida. The reason that these months are the "off-season" are because the heat is overwhelming and it rains every single day. The Florida Summer Rain showers affect many different businesses in the state of Florida.