For my service learning I had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at the Koreshan State Historic Site. Here I was introduced to air potatoes, which are an invasive plant species that was brought to the area after Hurricane Wilma hit. These plants grow so rapidly and can literally engulf all the natural flora and fauna in the area. The first day we arrived, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Mike, the volunteer coordinator, brought us to a site and showed us how to properly pull air potatoes from the ground. Not only do you have to pull the entire air potato out of the ground but you must make sure to pull out the tubers because this will kill the plant immediately. Four hours of pulling these plants later, I was covered in mosquito bites.
Other than the dreadful four hours, we were able to hike along the paths on the nature trail and went to visit the historic site. This was the most interesting part of the whole volunteer experience. Who knew that there was an entire little city behind 41? I didn’t. Walking around the historical site was at first a little creepy because we weren’t too sure about what we were going to find. We took a break in the Founder’s House where we learned all about the Koreshan religion and how the city developed. Back on the trails we found these bamboos that were growing so high. They were absolutely beautiful and people had begun carving their names into the stalks. I know that it may be mad for the plant, but it was cool to see how far back the signatures went. During another one of our breaks we took refuge on the dock where we saw the cutest blue crabs running around on the lake floor. They would come right up to the dock and stare at you to see who you were. Before we arrived to volunteer for the day, volunteers spotted manatees in the river swimming around.
The second day we went was more of pulling plants, getting bit my mosquitoes, and sweating. This time we filled up four buckets which was an achievement in itself!
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