Since learning of ECHO Farm a few years ago, I knew that I needed to go there. My initial impression was that we shared a similar goal: to demonstrate that more than mangoes grow well in Florida.

One fine day in November, I purchased tickets for ECHO’s Global Farm tour on a whim. The following early morning, my #1 rider (aka my twin sister, Latisha) & I excitedly made our way to North Ft. Myers.

One demonstration garden after the next, ECHO affirmed what I knew was possible despite the challenges of turning depleted, sandy Florida lawn into a layered, subtropical food forest.

I saw full grown, fruiting trees that I suspected could grow well here, but had never before seen in real life. I saw animals of all kinds being used conscientiously to support self-sufficiency. I saw what was possible with resourcefulness & a reliance on Ancestral knowledge.

I left the tour reinvigorated & more sure than ever that we live on land that wants to give abundantly if only we would allow it🤲🏾

I also left the tour with a car full of hard-to-find fruit trees, but that’s a story for another time😏