EVANSVILLE – Students from the Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School FFA recently took an educational trip to the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. area.
Advisor Lisa Luebkemann contacted Miami-Dade county Farm Bureau for some tour ideas that would show the students what agriculture looks like in South Florida. After much collaboration tours began to fall in place and the educational agricultural tour became a reality. The group flew to Fort Lauderdale and rented a VRBO.
And so the trip begins.
Day 1 began with learning aquaponics and how a couple brings in the community to teach aquaponics so they can set up their own systems in their backyards. Jon the owner said, “I wanted to do more for my community, I wanted to give people the knowledge of growing a ‘plate’ in their backyard.”
Later in the day the group traveled to Homestead to tour a winery and brewery. At the winery the group learned how they make wine and beer from avacados, lychees, coconuts and mangos that are all grown right on the property.
After the tour they headed to the “Robert is Here”, farmers market. They sampled fresh fruit shakes and learned of some rare fruit grown in Florida. Some of the fruit was Jack fruit, Mamey Sapote, Pitaya (dagon fruit) and Ciruelas “Jacotes”.
Next R.F Orchid Jungle did not disappoint. This tour was the kids favorite for the day. The owner gave the group a tour of their many greenhouses as well as a walk through the jungle to see the multiple varieties and colors of the orchids. The kids ate a leaf from one of the orchids which they make vanilla from and sell it in thier store. They have another nursery in Thailand which Robert will be visiting the end of this month.
Robert created a new hybrid after meeting Queen Elizabeth at an orchid show and later sent it to her. The containers which they put the orchids in for shows and sell at their store are designed at the Orchid Jungle and sent to Thailand to be made. Each ceramic container is handmade and shipped back to Florida.
Day 2
the group went to the Everglades Alligator farm. While at the alligator farm students learned what alligators eat, how much they eat and how they were hunted in the wild. They took an airboat ride and were able to hold a young alligator. Later that day they toured Atlantic Sapphire Bluehouse, salmon farm. The group was very surprised at the technology, details and biology that has went into building and pefecting this state of the art facility and business. Marketing and HR person for the company showed the group how the process works from the beginning of receiving the salmon eggs to sending the product out to the stores. The salmon are raised in an indoor, climate controlled facility. Once the salmon are approximately 8-10 lbs they are ready for processing. The entire proceedure was very intriging.
Day 3 was spent at Biscayne National Park. Students learned about an invasive species, the Lionfish. They learned how they got to Florida, where they originate, what they are eating and why they are invasive to the area. The group learned how Biscayne became a National Park and what mangroves are. After learning about the park and the Lionfish, students and other interns from both Biscayne NP and the Everglades NP disected the Lionfish. While disecting the stomach students found a baby shrimp. The students enjoyed Biscayne but also wished they had more time to explore the park island. The lunch stop for the day was Mama Mia’s pizza. This restaurant served the largest pizza the group had ever seen. Students and chaperone ended the trip with some souvenir shopping and a little evening beach time.