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Landmark College Blog

Farm Hike

Eric S:

Today 1/14/2020 our Landmark Sharks hiked at Ridge 2 Reef. We started going up and up and up until we reached an old sugar mill that used to be used however it was no longer in use. We all stepped inside a hole in the wall and stood inside the sugar mill and were taught about how it was used with gears to grind sugar cane. Our guide from R2R Nate showed us an abundance of plant wildlife. We all could try berries that were mini apples. Some were sweet some sour but overall delicious! We learned about a bean called Castor. This bean is bad and by bad I mean Deadly within seconds. We were also shown many of their vegetables in the fields, some of which were tented (I was impressed). Lastly we got to see some of the Horrific effects Hurricane Maria had to the farm. It was nothing like I’d ever seen in person. You see it on TV all the time but, being there physically to see made a massive difference in my perception on how bad Hurricanes can be.

Meg:

Here are some pics. The first is of Nate Olive, our host here at Ridge to Reef who is a font of information about the history of the island (apparently it first rose up in the Pacific Ocean, and then plate tectonics did their work and it ended up in the Atlantic Ocean—magic!), the history of all of the people who have lived here, and all of the flora and fauna.

nate

It was a slow walk up to the sugar mill because he kept seeing plants he wanted to tell us about, all very interesting. For this reason all of the workers on the farm joined us so that they could learn more. Odin the dog also joined us, although I think he had ulterior motives. The sugar mill, like all of the sugar mills in the islands, is on the ridge so that they could use gravity to send the sugary juices down to be boiled. Here is a picture of the group in front of the mill:

group at sugar mill

Most of the crew climbed inside, and found a large tree growing inside. Here is the tree from the entrance hole:
tree inside sugar mill

On the way back we went to look at a very cool treehouse, which was apparently the first community building they had on the farm. It has since fallen into disrepair but they are going to try to fix it up now that the much of the hurricane cleanup is completed and they have a carpenter on board.

tree house

Near the treehouse is a bamboo forest, which makes a lovely clacking sound in the wind:

group at bamboo  Sam and bamboo

Here is a picture that I forgot to put on yesterday’s entry. On the farm they blow a conch shell to call people to meals, and this is Ethan sending out the call for a group dinner:

Ethan calling people to dinner on conch

This afternoon we will be doing some weeding for the farm, and then heading down to Frederiksted for dinner.

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