Elizabeth's Secret Garden

The Butterfly Estates in Fort Myers, FL is striving towards making a positive difference in our environment as we face habitat loss, increasing species extinction, and the harmful effects of pollution. They believe that the fragile condition of butterflies and their state of well-being serve as warnings of an unhealthy environment. The Butterfly Estates partners with earth-friendly organizations and is involved with providing public awareness about our environment and ways to make more sustainable choices.     The Butterfly Estates is helping in the effort of preserving native butterflies in South Florida. One of the ways they promote butterfly awareness is by providing an educational butterfly guide (link below) for teachers to use when leading school excursions through the conservatory. The Butterfly Estates encourage visitors to start their own backyard butterfly garden and hope that their garden design will help visitors when planning their garden. Many of the bu...

  Thomas Edison was an American inventor, businessman, and scientist. According to Wikipedia he holds more than 1,093 patents to his name! He had great intelligence and invented the phonograph, motion picture camera and electrical light bulb. When Edison wanted to create a winter retreat to escape the cold winters of his home base in New Jersey, he decided upon a property along the Caloosahatchee river. To create his winter retreat, Edison created a sketch that included elaborate homes, exotic gardens, maintenance shop, and laboratory. (The Edison estate is in the picture below to the left behind the row of quilts.)   One of the highlight events during October at the Edison and Ford Estates was the Estates Clothesline Quilt Show. Each quilt was unique and had a story to tell. My favorite was the quilt that looked like a face! The designer of this quilt had a sense of humor and great imagination.   I even got to meet Mr Edison, his wife, and Henry Ford! They lo...

Echo is a non-profit inter-denominational Christian organization that is working towards fighting hunger and improving the lives of poor. Their vision is to honor God through sustainable hunger solutions. They are accomplishing this by providing access to ECHO documents, supplying seeds, and teaching appropriate agricultural techniques to farmers in poor countries who are living in difficult growing climates. http://www.echonet.org/ ECHO works in 180 different countries. Their main office and demonstration farm is located in North Fort Myers, Florida. To provide education and training, ECHO has an internship program and teaches workshops. They host an annual conference for networking. Echo earns income through their bookstore and nursery. For running the demonstration farm, ECHO has 30 permanent staff and 200 volunteers who are currently involved. Echo also accepts donations for use in operating their mission.   The photo to the left is the plant nursery which showcase...