I'm reading First Lady Michelle Obama's first book, American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America.
Even before President Obama won his election in 2008, Mrs. Obama was thinking about doing something about childhood obesity and she thought creating a garden on the White House lawn would be a beginning. In April 2009, she planted the first garden with the help of experts and school children. Now in its fourth year, the garden has been a great success, providing fresh produce for White House events and to a food bank. Visiting dignitaries receive baskets with bounty from the garden.
I've been gardening for decades but still am learning a few tricks from this book. I have a small vegetable garden, and it won't get much bigger because of the many shade trees we have here. I am happy with the trees, as are the flowers, so I make do with a small space. I grow beans, peas, lettuce, asparagus, squash, tomatoes, and a few other things. For the rest, we go to farmers' markets.
Mrs. Obama has the benefit of experts and many helpers. The National Park Service (the White House is their responsibility) provided a horticulturist. The many chefs in the White House include canning the produce in their responsibilities. A local organic farmer provides advice on design, plants and soil.
One of the White House carpenters raises bees as a hobby and brought hives to the garden. There were some interesting problems. The hives had to be strapped down because the winds from the presidential helicopter would knock them over. Parents of school children working in the garden worried they might be stung. (They weren't) In 2011, the hive produced 225 pounds of honey.
In reading this, I realized I wasn't seeing any honeybees in my garden this spring. In May, we had the little Mason bees that swarm around the tulips and daffodils and disappear around the time the honeybees show up. But this year, I am only seeing bumblebees and hornets. Was it the early spring followed by frosts? I do know that there are only a few apples forming and I am not seeing pears at all.
I am thinking about getting a bale of straw to use to cut down on weeds. There is also an idea about using paper cups with the bottoms cut out to start plants in the ground. I wonder if that would work for carrots.
I like trying new things. This year, I decided to put starter tomato pots on the bottom of one of Gary's bird feeders with impatiens pots at the top where they are shaded. Gary thinks the squirrels will knock everything over, but so far, so good. Once the tomatoes are planted elsewhere, I'll fill those pots with flowers, too.
We're still suffering from drought, so I must water the gardens nightly to keep things growing. But then in 2011, Washington, D.C. suffered from drought, a hurricane, and an earthquake, so Mrs. Obama has her gardening problems as well.
Even before President Obama won his election in 2008, Mrs. Obama was thinking about doing something about childhood obesity and she thought creating a garden on the White House lawn would be a beginning. In April 2009, she planted the first garden with the help of experts and school children. Now in its fourth year, the garden has been a great success, providing fresh produce for White House events and to a food bank. Visiting dignitaries receive baskets with bounty from the garden.
I've been gardening for decades but still am learning a few tricks from this book. I have a small vegetable garden, and it won't get much bigger because of the many shade trees we have here. I am happy with the trees, as are the flowers, so I make do with a small space. I grow beans, peas, lettuce, asparagus, squash, tomatoes, and a few other things. For the rest, we go to farmers' markets.
Mrs. Obama has the benefit of experts and many helpers. The National Park Service (the White House is their responsibility) provided a horticulturist. The many chefs in the White House include canning the produce in their responsibilities. A local organic farmer provides advice on design, plants and soil.
One of the White House carpenters raises bees as a hobby and brought hives to the garden. There were some interesting problems. The hives had to be strapped down because the winds from the presidential helicopter would knock them over. Parents of school children working in the garden worried they might be stung. (They weren't) In 2011, the hive produced 225 pounds of honey.
In reading this, I realized I wasn't seeing any honeybees in my garden this spring. In May, we had the little Mason bees that swarm around the tulips and daffodils and disappear around the time the honeybees show up. But this year, I am only seeing bumblebees and hornets. Was it the early spring followed by frosts? I do know that there are only a few apples forming and I am not seeing pears at all.
I am thinking about getting a bale of straw to use to cut down on weeds. There is also an idea about using paper cups with the bottoms cut out to start plants in the ground. I wonder if that would work for carrots.
I like trying new things. This year, I decided to put starter tomato pots on the bottom of one of Gary's bird feeders with impatiens pots at the top where they are shaded. Gary thinks the squirrels will knock everything over, but so far, so good. Once the tomatoes are planted elsewhere, I'll fill those pots with flowers, too.
We're still suffering from drought, so I must water the gardens nightly to keep things growing. But then in 2011, Washington, D.C. suffered from drought, a hurricane, and an earthquake, so Mrs. Obama has her gardening problems as well.
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