Families Growing in the Edible Garden

Instructor: Camille Van Sant

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-Git ‘ur Cowboy On

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Noon—4:00 pm

John French Connection

Silvertip

$2.00 per person,

(under 18 free)

Food, crafts, nature tours.

Noon—4:00 pm

941-322-1000 for  more information

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What do you want to learn? We teach survival skills, self-sustainability, how to grow plants, how to raise animals, traditional crafting and so much more. We are a school offering a wide range of practical skills, here you can learn the basic skills that never lose their usefulness. Our teachers are members of the community and our classes are based on community desire, need and participation. We teach classes in traditional arts and modern homestead skills along with sustainable agriculture practices and outdoor self-reliance.

Workshops are held on weekends and Wednesday evenings. Some classes are offered at Florida House Learning Center,  4454 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL 34233. Come and learn useful skills surrounded by Florida’s beautiful natural wilderness.

Crowley Folk School at Crowley, 16405 Myakka Road, Sarasota, FL 34240. This is in the Old Miakka comunity, only a scenic 15 minute drive east on Fruitville Rd. off I-75 at exit 210.

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Join us at Crowley for a thrilling guided moonlit hike out to the tower for the moonrise!

Dates Available

12/28, 1/27, 3/27, 4/25,4/26

7-9 pm

Reservations required

$20 adults $10 youth 6-12

Click here to Reserve online

ADDRESS: 16405 Myakka Road, Sarasota, FL 34240

DIRECTIONS: Interstate I75

Take exit #210 Fruitville Road and drive EAST 10 miles to the dead end. Turn RIGHT on Myakka road. Go 3 miles, Crowley is on your

LEFT. If you travel over the bridge to the north entrance of Myakka State Park, you missed us by a mile .

DIRECTIONS: Route #70

WEST: Take route #70, exit #217B, travel to Verna Road. Turn RIGHT and travel SOUTH for approximately 6 miles to the Crowley

entrance on your left.

EAST: Take hwy #70 to Verna Road. Turn LEFT. Travel approximately 6 miles to Crowley entrance on your LEFT.

This educational opportunity provided for you with the cooperation of

Not A Clue Adventures offering Eco-Tour Guide and Concierge Camping

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pictures of the 2012 Sugarcane Harvest:

Also, check out the videos on You Tube:

You Tube Sugarcane Harvest

If you missed this awesome event, be sure to join us at the 5th annual Southwest Florida Heritage Festival on February 9, 2013 for another swell time!

Saturday December 8, 2012

11 am to 7 pm

FREE

ADMISSION!

 Parking: $2 donation to Sarasota Military Academy, SMA (with complementary raffle ticket)

Come Experience the Sweet Taste of Early Florida Living!

• Sugar Cane Grinding
• Syrup Making
• Taffy Pulling
• Live Music
• Hands-on Crafting
• Storytelling
• Pancakes and Wild Hog Sausage
• Big Red’s BBQ
• Big Red’s Kettle Korn (different Big Red )
• Boy Scout Troop 89 Grilling Hot Dogs and Hamburgers
• And Even More!

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Background: Between 3000 B.C. and 500 B.C., unique Florida Indian cultures developed throughout every region of the state. It is these pre-Columbian societies that spawned the 350,000 American Indians, the Apalachee, Calusa, Potano, Mayaca, Tequesta and Guacata who inhabited the northern coast of Florida when Juan Ponce de Leon landed on this Atlantic coast in 1513 and then sailed around the peninsula to Estero Bay near Fort Myers.

Little documentation on the history of the Mayacan tribe exits, but we have recently given a letter written in 1940 by Secretary of the Seminole Indian Association, W. Stanley Hanson to Mr. Claude E. Ragan, then the Project Superintendent of Miakka River State Park (yes, “Miakka” not “Myakka”) explaining the history and origin of the various spellings. We have seen other evidence, that of the survey maps that detail the spelling of the region spelled by the United States Geographic Board, “Miakka”. According to this letter, Lake Myakka was originally known as “Mayaco”. Also, the lake is referred to as “Myakka” in 1856.

Click on this thumbnail to view this historic document,

At the bottom of the letter a hand written question asks what the name “Miami” means, as “Mayaca” is believed to have the same meaning. The “Mayaimi” Tribe lived near Lake Okeechobee, named from the Hitchiti words oki (water) and chubi (big). The oldest known name for Lake Okeechobee was, “Mayaimi”, also meaning “big water”. This was reported by Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda in the 16th century.

What remains to be yet discovered, is how the name Miakka/Myakka was given to the communities, river, and lakes in Sarasota when evidence shows that the Mayacan tribe lived in northern Florida, along the St. John’s River basin. Thank you to Woodward Stanley Hanson, great grandson of W. Stanley, for this submission.

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“Come on inside now, with the rest of us…” pleaded the counselor from the girl’s club. A suspicious looking 9-year-old girl held the door cracked and peaked in at the rest of the girls and the dog. The girl looked up at the counselor and shook her head, refusing to open the door all the way. When further encouragement met with opposition, the counselor gave in to her and the group headed for the picnic tables outside. “Why don’t we begin by asking if you have questions or concerns you want to share?” offered the Crowley naturalist guide.  A very small girl queried softly, “Could we get attacked by a panther?”

 “Heather is afraid of chickens, too!” the other girls disclosed while pointing to the chickens in the yard. The naturalist assured the girls that the chickens were not only harmless but that handicapped hen “Sarah”, in particular, was very affectionate with children. Unconvinced, Heather cowered behind the others. The rest of the girls also had concerns to share, most all of them around the risks involved in interacting with farm animals and wild animals.

As they walked along the boardwalk heading through the swamp, Heather pointed out a very large brightly colored Banana Spider hanging on a giant web. The girls all gasped. Heather pushed herself against the railing of the boardwalk as far away from the spider as she could manage. The trail guide reached out and touched the spider’s front leg with the handle of a butterfly net. The spider pulled her foot back. The naturalist touched a rear leg. The spider hastily retreated. The guide explained the spider had a job, and that job was to raise baby spiders and so the spider would not be inclined to risk her life and potentially fail at her mission. Also, because the spider was timid and non-venomous, it was therefore was large and brightly colored to scare off predators.

Heading toward Crowley Creek, the guide picked some newly sprouted Cat’s Briar shoots for the girls to taste. “Delicious!” remarked Heather, “Where is more?” When the group arrived at Crowley Creek, the guide instructed them to remove their shoes and follow her into the creek. One girl captured mosquito fish in a bug zoo and held them up for group observation. Standing along the edge of the creek Heather called out to the guide, “Is this a spider?!?” The guide and the rest of the girls came closer to investigate. A very large wolf spider sat on top of the water, inches from Heather’s legs. “Yes”, said the guide, “this is a wolf spider. Wolf spiders do not make webs to capture their prey like the Banana Spider; rather they hunt them down. This spider is waiting for a water bug to run by on the surface”. The girls circled the spider marveling at the rattlesnake-like markings.

The guide looked at the girls standing in the creek and then bent down and scooped up two handfuls of sand. Washing away the sand she exposed a giant snail and some small clams and handed the shellfish to the girls to examine. “This is how your ancestors survived. They foraged for plants, gathered shellfish, and hunted wild animals. They also built shelters from wood and other materials you see around you. Nature provides food and shelter for all of earth’s creatures.”

 Arriving back to the picnic area, the guide asked who would like to feed and pet the chicken. All the girls except Heather said they would like to. Once the other girls had fed and petted the chicken, Heather reluctantly reached out her hand tentatively brushing the feathers on the hen’s back. When the hen responded positively, she stroked her with more confidence. Soon, she was feeding her.  

The girls had lunch under the giant oaks with the chickens and the dog underfoot. By the time the girls loaded the bus all had developed a respect for natural systems and understood their place within this system. However, Heather had come the furthest and she announced proudly as she reached down to pet the hen one last time, “I’m not afraid of chickens!” The rest of the group looked at her and smiled.

For 38 years Crowley Museum and Nature Center has imparted a connection to the earth to children who have not been exposed to natural areas or rural farmlands. Many of these children are raised in urban areas with park playgrounds and manicured landscapes and little access to natural lands, and they often harbor fear of this unknown. They also do not know how their pre-packaged food is sourced. These children rarely understand that they have the ability to access and produce food and materials working within natural systems, a knowledge that builds confidence. In the Florida pioneer era, depicted at Crowley, having a vegetable garden was a necessity. During that time, it was widely believed that working the garden imparted a love of nature into children.

Jasper Crowley, teacher, farmer, and rancher, formed Crowley Museum and Nature Center, Inc. in 1968 with President of Audubon Society, fossil expert, and wildlife rehabilitator, Edina Truchot. Jasper and Edina believed that a connection with natural systems, including sources of food, was critical to health and wellbeing. Jasper began to teach at the Old Miakka one-room schoolhouse in 1933 and over the next 10 years he believed he had witnessed the birth of delinquency in children. He attributed this to a disconnection with natural systems and a lack of confidence.

At Crowley, connecting with the natural world will happen, to what degree it happens is neatly correlated with the amount of time invested here. 

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We’d like to thank all the volunteers for making it so amazing.  Also a special thanks to Janeane for decorating the trail and hosting the amazing camp out that weekend.

See you next year!

Bring the kiddies out to Crowley Natural & Cultural History Center for our annual Crawleyween event! October 27th, 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

This is a free event

The Children’s Discovery Path is transformed into a festively spooky path for trick or treating.  The path will be lined with spooky native critters and Costumed Treat Givers to guide you on your way.  

It’s good old-fashioned time, appropriate for kids of all ages.  Before sundown, we will have a lightly “haunted” Children’s Discovery Path for the bitty kiddies, hayrides, a costume contest, bobbing for apples, trick or treating and more.  Once the sun goes down, glow in the dark spiders and other creepy crawlies appear along with Jack-O-Lanterns to light your way. (We’ll have no zombies or super scary blood and guts.)

 

Not A Clue Adventures will offer concierge camping from Oct. 26-28 on the Crowley Indian Fields.  Contact Jeanene Arrington for more info: www.notaclueadventures.com/information/upcoming-group-activities/ - CAMPING FOR THESE DATES IS SOLD OUT

Come on along, bring a friend or two!

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Mentoring:

Jeff Scarbrough, our Sustainable Agriculture Director, has many years of experience in natural crop management, soil development, fertilization, pest management, natural resource management, and cattle rearing including “cracker” cattle. He will train those interested in becoming small scale vegetable gardeners, crop farmers, and cattle ranchers or managers of dairy cattle.

Consulting:

Jeff is available to come out to your farm and consult with you no matter what stage of farming you are in. He can help in farm development, and also aid in expansion efforts or problem solving with cattle or crop management.

Training:

Jeff is available for on farm training. He also teaches cattle rearing and natural vegetable gardening at Crowley Folk School.

Pricing varies with services required, contact us for more information.

Jeff Scarbrough

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