Start Digging: Interview with Fred Sipp

If you’re a recreational cyclist, self-supported commuter, or casual walker in New Orleans, you’ve been on or heard about the Lafitte Greenway. A public trail created and maintained by the Friends Of Lafitte Greenway, the trail provides a scenic option to more trafficked and less direct roads. Connecting neighborhoods from Armstrong Park to City Park, this old railway turned trail and natural green corridor offers 500 shade trees, native plant meadows, bioswales, stormwater retention features, along with one highly intriguing urban farm carefully plotted and cared for by the one and only, Mr. Freddie. I headed over to his farm one morning, aptly named ‘Let’s Do This’, to sit with him under a giant oak tree and find out more about the Greenway’s most compelling attribute.

Could you introduce yourself?

My name, civic law name, is Fred Sipp. But that is improper because God didn’t give me that name. That’s a province of a slave master's name. My God-given true identity name is Israel-all-nightlong. Now if you don’t believe that, go to the shoe shop and put you a new heel on and maybe you’ll find out.

From where did you come? You were born in Mississippi.

I was born in a lil’ town called Sarah, Mississippi—a rural area on the outskirts of the city town Columbus, Mississippi.

And what was your childhood like growing up in Sarah?

My childhood life was like… I wasn’t a wedlock child. My mama wasn’t married when she had me. She was 17 years old. My grandparents raised me up on a BIG farm—199 acres. And I’ve been planting, riding mules and horses, milking cows, feeding chickens, and praising God ever since I was about 8 years old.

Wow, that’s great! So you really learned all your skills at an early age?

Right. My Grandma sent me out everyday to tell my Grandpa for water, and I watched him all the time. One day I watched and a li’l sweat was coming and he said “Get up!” And so I’ve been planting ever since I was working. As a 12-year-old, I could do as much work as a grown person could. As much as I could do right now! People don’t know nothing around here like this, child. I’m trying to tell you something.

And where did you get your water?

Pump, pump! Some people had a well, where you get that big long spout down in there and wind it back up, but we done had a pump. And that water was cool, cool, cool, cool. We didn’t have no icebox!

So when did you come to New Orleans?

I came to New Orleans in 1995. I had a prophetic dream! People don’t know what that is.

Could you tell us what that means to you?

That dream come directly from God. God knows what you need, and God helps those who try to help themselves. He sent me to New Orleans here—I was living at the time in Lynchburg, Mississippi. I was living with a girl and I had this prophetic dream.

So would you say this dream helped you know your purpose?

Right. The dream told me first to go back to Pascagoula where I come from. The job was there. But when I went to Pascagoula, I met a stranger. I knew everybody in Pascagoula. I don’t know this so-called said Negro. He was standin up the side of the road. And I walked up on him. He had paint on a white suit and I said, “Where you working? The shipyard?” He said, “I work at a shipyard in Avondale for a contractor named Skill Master.” He said, “You a professional painter?” I said, “All night long!” He said, “Go down there to that store and fill out an application. They want a hundred first-class painters in New Orleans.” So I went down there, and got the job.

The Greenway is a way for people to get out and be out doors, take a walk or a bike ride. Do you see that that’s helping the community? How do we get kids out of their rooms and be active like you’re doing?

This is a big problem. This is a question as well as an issue that needs to be conquered.

Yes.

Okay, so let’s conquer it. What you got to understand is there are people who probably never seen too many gardens. You understand? They don’t know these routines for a garden. They don’t know about their soil. They don’t know about how to prepare their garden. They don’t know nothing ‘bout how to plant seeds.

Especially, the youth who don’t grow up with it. I was cutting basil outside of my front door and a kid smelled it. He said, “Something smells like poison!”

It’s not only the youth. It’s their parents too. True care begins at home. I learned that from my grandfather, but who are they learning it from? So what the parents are doing is doing their thing. You Can’t. Do. That. And. Raise. Children. Proper.First thing you got to do is Clean. Up. The. Neighbor. Hood. I know that’s what makes a community better. I know all that they’ve done out here is good, but it’s not good enough for that community’s living quarters there.

So what could benefit them AND bring the community into this (Greenway).

Well, you got enough black men with enough money to do a much better job than they’re doing. Buy some property, fix the street, a space for a garden, and then a program for those apartments like the Lafitte has got for this community.

So for people who are interested in farming, gardening but they don’t know how to start, what are some tips that you could tell them? What would you tell someone if they said “Well, Mr. Freddie. I really want to do this but it’s daunting. It’s a big task!”

Okay, where you start at is find you a spot and dig down there. Have somebody to come down and test it, somebody from Tulane to test your area. If it’s bad soil, if it’s muck, go over it. Get you some tires and compost. Get you some sand and some dirt. Make you a bed on top of that bad soil. If it’s good soil, you don’t have to do that. If it’s good soil, you just take and chop it up. Till it up. Get some fertilizer in it, but let that fertilizer sit a week before you plant.

So you don’t burn the plants?

Right. And don’t use no kind of spray chemical or pesticides…make sure that the location that you pick for this garden gets plenty of sunlight!

And where do you get your water?

Right now, I got a drum and it fills up with the rainwater. And I water my chickens with that. I don’t worry about that, ‘cause there’s plenty of rain in Louisiana.

I’m so curious about your bikes. Why do you have so many? What does each one do?

Well, I got those bicycles hooked to what you call a wagon. You see those people that ride with the dogs? It’s the same thing you ride a puppy with. Tractors and mule wagons were the inspiration. That one right there, I put lawn mowers on, cut grass, go to the grocery store with and the laundry mat. Stuff like that. Anywhere in New Orleans, that bicycle can reach it.

Well, you may need a bike that floats. Some people say New Orleans is gonna be underwater by 2020…

The engineers are doing a lot of tearing down of bad drainage systems and pump houses. Looks like they’re getting ready for that. But they ain’t doing nothing for these communities, though—especially these black communities. They’ve begun to fix the roads up a little bit better, but they sure waited mighty long. What happened all this time and all that damn money?

Have you ever entertained the idea of teaching the youth here, at your farm?

Yeah, but you got to remember children are so bad. They don’t listen. You know what I’m saying? What I learned is, I paid attention to my Grandpa. He didn’t know I was watching. I’d watch how he did things.

I think it’s safe to say that your presence here on the Greenway is definitely seen and felt by everybody, including the kids that go up and down.

I put it there so it could be inspiring for people who want to see things like that and do things like that. I do it for that purpose right there because farming is a good way to survive. All the food you eat, you know about it! You know they didn’t put no pesticides on it to make it shine or look pretty and all that.

Any last thoughts on your mind today that you wanna share?

You got to keep a community clean.