This is the SECOND EDITION of Mary's Garden - bigger, brighter and less expensive. It is the story of how Mary's Garden grows into an environmental justice project. Colorfully illustrated with original drawings and photographs. The author, Marika Love, has woven stories and photos of her own childhood into the story. All profits from sales of Mary's Garden will be donated to the JOY OF LEARNING CENTER'S Prosperity Project, which is creating local, organic gardens in Marin County, CA, and sharing how-to information with groups in other locations. So if you buy the book, you'll be supporting local, organic gardens in Marin, and in your own area. Mary, a little girl, loves gardening and wants a garden in her yard. But she is just too busy to spend time growing flowers and vegetables. This makes her very sad. She visits Santa Claus and asks him for a garden. Her father decides to help her bring the garden back to life. Mary realizes that she can invite her neighbors and friends to participate too. Soon, the garden is producing more food than they can eat! Mary decides to offer some of the extra food to people who live in a poor area of her county. She organizes presentations to show them the health benefits and satisfactions of having a community garden. Soon, the community gets permission to use vacant land nearby. They create a garden, and a kitchen where the food is cooked and offered for sale. This evolves into a crafts store too. The story ends with a wonderful coloring book about composting: Wiggle E. Worm. There are also a few tips on how to get started; and a sample flyer so that people can start their own community or backyard gardens. A Spanish translation of the story is available separately at www.joyoflearningcenters.org.
About the Author: Marika Love founded the nonprofit 501(c)3 JOY OF LEARNING CENTER to help teach the principles of wholistic health to low income communities. "Human health begins with the health of the Earth," she says. She has gardened most of her life, and was part of the Green Revolution (back to the land movement) of the 60's. Her organization is a member of the Bioneers (www.Bioneers.org). At a recent Bioneers Conference, LaDonna Redmond gave a talk about how she wanted to improve her son's health with good food. They lived in Inner City Chicago. She made the shocking statement, "In our neighborhood, it was easier to buy a 38 caliber pistol than an organic apple!" So she and her husband started a local store offering healthy food. Working together with AMGAT, (Asociacion Maya Guatemalteca Abaj Takalik), seven organic gardens have already been created through the Prosperity Project. Marika suggests, "Perhaps our neighbors from Mexico, Central and South America are here to help us make the shift to a more agrarian society." Marika is the mother of four children, and the grandmother of eight. "I've learned more from my children, my gardens and my goats than I did in school!" She is a talented Polarity (Energy Massage) Practitioner and has an M. A. Degree in Wholistic Health Sciences. She envisions a patchwork quilt of organic gardens spreading across the county, the nation and the world.