Six Mile Cypress

I unfortunately missed the field trip to the corkscrew swamps but to make up for the missed day I went to Six Mile Cypress Preserve. I was a little skeptical to go because I heard so many great things about the swamps from my classmates that I felt that I was not going to enjoy the Preserve. However I had to be open minded and I grabbed a friend who was into the outdoors and we headed out there.  Because I did have to pay for the parking I really did appreciate that it was only one dollar. I felt like they were saying that you came here to connect to nature not from them to steal our money. Nature is free and everyone is entitled to experience without having to pay large sums of money. Walking on the long zig zag board walk right smack dab in the middle of the preserve made me a little nervous. I remembered watching the video where the cougar was on the board walk and I was so uncomfortable the first few minutes. 

As we continued to walk, I became more and more relaxed seeing the small animals in the trees, the woodpeckers, small snakes slithering through the low parts of the swamps, the birds flying, and the turtles bunched together. My friend swore that she saw a black hog run past us but I didn’t see it. I enjoyed the walk it didn’t feel like I was walking forever and it did not feel like it was too short, it was the right distance. It was a really great place to unwind and feel like that I was cut off from the stress of college. I feel like it was a little gem tucked away from the world, it was very peaceful. We were only there an hour but it was well worth the trip. The only flaw to the trip, is that it was really hot and I did not being sunscreen and I feel that it would have been better if we did a guided tour because I feel that we missed out on so many educational portions. There were a lot of plants and birds  that I did not know what they were or how they affect the preserve or the world. It was a defiantly a relaxing trip just no really educational. I still think it was a great experience and I can’t believe that it is right in a our backyard and I have never been or heard of it. I now know this is something that I will start going to more often when I need to wind down.

FGCU Food Forest

I thought FGCU’s Food Forest was an amazing experience to be a part of, I never been before but always heard great things about it. Walking inside, I kind of felt like it was a whimsical forest the way it was formed; I thought about a scene in the movie the bridge of Terabithia. When we first walked in, we were greeted by tall plants called chai, we were informed they were the barriers to the forest to stop some of the wind, I thought of these as the protectors of the food forest. Taking two more steps, I was able to find a plant that has the abilities to relieve the pain of my mosquito’s bites. As we twisted, turned, and ducked more into the eye shaped food forest, we found ourselves in the back of the forest, looking at the banana trees. This was fascinating for me to see because I saw banana tress before but just not in person, so to think that we actually had those in our back yard had me in awe. Since they were not in season, we were not able to see any until we were walking away; however, we found one sprouted in a tree. As we continued to follow the paths of the eye, we next found some papaya trees and mulberry trees. Honestly, I was very upset that the papaya and mulberries were not ready to harvest but I would have loved to experience harvesting my own food but I know that is something that I will have the opportunity to do in the future. In the middle of the eye, we found the beloved fruit, which only comes once a year I believe our guide said. It was sad to know that someone harvested the plant before its time and that we are never to see it grow to its full potential. I forgot the name of the plant but it was actually my favorite part of the day, still on the inside of the eye, it was a type of plant that closes when you touch the leaves; they close up. It was a bit like magic to me; it swiped my hand over a lot of them and like sea grass in the wind, they rippled shut. Leaving we looked more at the grass, and the food harvesting section. I cannot wait to go back and see the Sunflowers bloom, papaya and bananas. The food forest exemplifies exactly what is FGCU, this is a student started, student ran, and student loved forest; this forest thrives off the students. It more than goes with our mission statements with the sustainability, because not every university as a place they can harvest their own food for free and learn how to harvest these plants. The food forest is one of the small things that make FGCU special.