Prototype Issue
Watts Wonder: The Powerful Green Thumb of Anne Marie Carter
By Erin Powers
(page 2 of 2)Everyone is involved. They come and volunteer every day. We have think-tank sessions and try to figure out where can we get more land and expand this into neighborhoods. Now the churches are coming and giving us space behind their church or parts of their parking lots.
Everyone’s coming and taking classes on organic farming. It’s a seed that’s growing and taking off like crazy. We’ve even evolved it a step further. We grow the food at our farmers’ market, and one or two days a week we open up the organopónico garden, and you can come and pick the food yourself.
This sounds simple, yet revolutionary. It’s really revolutionary because there are large corporate interests, the bioengineering firms who don’t want us growing our own crops. They are trying to patent seeds so that any seed you use that has their DNA print, you will owe them for. We try to teach you how to collect your own seeds from your own crops. It’s an organic solution to ending world hunger and combating global warming at the same time, because these little gardens produce a lot of oxygen and good food.
And people who have been displaced by the corporate world can roll their gardens along with them. I’ve been talking to the Oregon Tilth, a certifying agency for things that are organic, and they love the idea. We really want this to spread all over so everyone can have their own organic gardens. We want to take it global, and we’re in contact with different international ministries to see if they will help us get it into the small villages. A lot of these villages in India, Africa dont have sewer systems and they are growing their food where there’s water waste, which spreads malaria and cholera.
You are a wonderful role model. I feel that it’s a great responsibility to keep my head on straight and do the right thing at all times. The way I walk. The way I talk. The way I dress. The way I address them. How I speak to them. I call them all Mrs. and Mr., and Ms. and Miss. I talk to them in those terms. A lot of people say, “Why do you call them by their last name, ‘Mr.’ and ‘Ms.’?” I said, “That’s respect.” They call me Ms. Anna Marie. I call them Ms. or Mr. whatever. We respect each other here, and that’s what it’s all about. It’s all about love.
So yeah, the Garden Club is a cool place.
Anna Marie on Anna Marie: Home: LA apartment Age: 50 Family status: Single, one adopted child Recreational Activity: Gardening Favorite Place in LA County: The beach Favorite Restaurant: My kitchen Favorite Music: Straight-ahead jazz Personal Style: Funky retro Berkeley [laughs]
For more information on the Watts Garden Club, check out www.seed-lady.com.
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