Selima Hussain/Contributing Writer
The cottage stands in the large yard, alongside two mango trees, two avocado trees, oregano plants and rosemary herbs. A large black Labrador, Mu-Rain, roams around, searching for his best friend and owner, Joao Garcia.
When Garcia emerges from the cottage, clad in lime green swim trunks and baggy white T-shirt, Mu-Rain pounces with excitement. Garcia sips on a homemade fruit and vegetable smoothie made from avocado, watermelon, papaya, grapes, almonds and spinach. His long, tight curls are damp from an ocean swim – nature is his shampoo of choice.
Garcia, a 22-year-old environmental engineer major, is the president and founder of the Permaculture Club.
After his breakfast of what he calls “baby food,” Garcia will head to campus to oversee his first official Permaculture Club meeting.
“Permaculture is just a new way of doing old things,” said Garcia. “We take degenerated, devastated land, and we regenerate it – help it cure itself.”
Permaculture, or permanent culture/agriculture, is an ecological design that mimics patterns seen in nature. By applying these to the environment and the community, Garcia said he hopes to create a functioning, flourishing space at the University.
Garcia’s interest in permaculture came at a time of deep stress. Bonnie Quiceno, Garcia’s yoga instructor, suggested that he find his deepest passion.
“From the moment I met Joao, I knew he was a gentle person with a sweet spirit,” Quiceno said. “I call him Gentle Giant in my mind. I know he’s going to do great things.”
Angela Garcia, his mother, said J. Garcia’s passion for nature was clear from his childhood days.
“I recall one trip to Disney when [Joao] was around six,” Angela said. “He was more interested in the geckos at the bus stop than looking forward to going to the parks.”
J. Garcia does not own a TV, claiming it to be “tell-a-lie-vision.” Instead, he practices yoga and plays musical instruments, mainly the tambourine and the flute.
“[Joao is] an observer, patient with details and stripped from material values,” Sergio Garcia, his father, said. “He enjoys anything related to the joys of simple moments from nature, like having a rain shower, watching the full moon, [or] observing the plants growing.”
J. Garcia’s love for the environment – combined with his spiritual, theological and scientific views – create a unique and holistic outlook on life.
In his living room, a cross, candles, a few paintings and a series of colored rocks lay scattered across the coffee table in a swirl formation. Everyday, J. Garcia burns rosemary incense and carries one of the vividly colored “power rocks” in his pocket to bring positive energy.
“Religion and science are like twin sisters,” J. Garcia said. “One can’t exist without the other. One attempts to explain the other.”
Aside from being a very spiritual person, J. Garcia also makes various fruit and plant juices to maintain optimal health. Some of the ingredients are found in his own backyard.
One of the beverages he makes is chlorophyll juice, which consists of two blended apples and a series of J. Garcia’s favorite greens.
“It’s like the energy of the sun and Earth fused into a liquid,” he said.
Through research and sheer curiosity, J. Garcia came across permaculture. From June 24 to July 7, he visited Southern California to conduct research and take classes at Quail Springs Permaculture farm.
“[Quail Springs] used to be flowing with rivers and vegetation,” J. Garcia said. “After about 100 years of cattle grazing, the land turned into a desert.”
J. Garcia said that programs offered by Quail Springs aim to restore the area through planting crops, such as grape vines, that can grow easily in Southern California’s climate.
J. Garcia plans to restore Arch Creek East Environmental Reserve – a dry, parched land behind Biscayne Bay Campus – with the Urban Paradise Guild to remove deadly, threatening plants.
Australian pine, the Brazilian pepper-beret tree and heavy air potatoes that hang off tree branches are just a few of the dangerous plants in the preserve.
Sam Van Leer, president and founder of Urban Paradise Guild, said he is looking forward to teaming up with J. Garcia’s club to resurrect Arch Creek East.
“Arch Creek East has an infection,” Van Leer said.
[pullquote]“Right now, we’re acting as nature’s white blood cells.”[/pullquote]
Van Leer said the danger in plants like Australian pine and the Brazilian pepper-beret tree is chemical warfare. He said these non-native plants release underground chemicals that kill native plants, structures that act as food and even shelter for the animals living in the area.
Fish, birds, butterflies, manatees and a vervet monkey are just a few of the creatures residing in Arch Creek East. J. Garcia and Van Leer are working to plant mangrove trees, a supplemental source of food and shelter for the animals, around the park.
In addition to the Arch Creek East project, J. Garcia said he wants to focus on researching the tap water and grass at the campus.
“We’re located on a landfill, so we don’t really know how toxic our tap water or grass is,” J. Garcia said. “Eighty-five percent of our efforts in the Permaculture Club will be to research. We want to know what we’re working with before we act.”
J. Garcia also said that community outreach is a major part of what the Permaculture Club wants to achieve. He said this thought is based on the three principles of permaculture: care of the earth, care of the people and reinvesting the surplus.
“Nature is what I love,” J. Garcia said. “The forest is a self-sustaining life force, and not every tree bears fruit, but everything has its purpose.”
This story was reported and written as part of a class assignment in JOU 3300, Advanced News Writing, taught by Professor Fred Blevens.
About Post Author
