The White House Garden in April

What does the White House vegetable look like a month after the groundbreaking?

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Last weekend I find out myself in Washington , DC , for my girl ’s baby shower . Like much of the East Coast , Washington was in the throe of an former - season heat undulation . With temperatures in the mid - 90 , we — sister , son , son - in - law , nephew , and myself — guide to the Mall for a Sunday morning stroll , while daughter caught up on her sleep . I was hop to catch a glimpse of theObamas ’ fresh veggie gardenand check on its advancement .

In 1919 , as part of the wartime cost - cutting effort , sheep reduce the lawn . Shall they safely crop there again ? pic : Library of Congress .

Along with hundreds of tourists , we circulate the White House enclave , start on the western side and continue in a clockwise direction . The front of the building is not too exciting visually , with its fountain and a predictable circle of perfect cherry tulips . It ’s the view from the Confederate States that is grand . Mature trees , each with historical meaning , flank the South Portico and the South Lawn , a magnificent setting for affairs of state , Easter ballock hunts , and now , vegetable horticulture .

The Modern vegetable garden is tucked into an bay of sorting at the southwesterly corner of the South Lawn . Mid - sized Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree break the malarkey on three sides without occlude the sunshine . The garden is n’t visible from the White House , and it ’s scantily seeable from the street . So the Obamas , the school children , and the staff member will be able to plant , water supply , weed , and harvest in relative privateness if they choose .

So how do things take care in tardy April ? The raised - bed planting ( it looks like rhubarb ) are thriving , and in the garden proper seedling seem to be getting a unspoilt start , despite the other - season blast of heat . The soil looks really , really teetotal . It was all I could do to resist the urge to scale the wrought - atomic number 26 fence and hurry in to mulch …

This garden is not the first food - growing effort at the White House by any mean . ( SeeThe Garden of Eatin’for an diverting video display of that issue . ) One wonders if the constituent vegetable garden will leave to other “ green ” changes at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue . Perhaps . We probably wo n’t find oneself sheep exchange lawnmowers ( as they did during the governing of Woodrow Wilson ) .

Take a photo of the White House vegetable garden , and mail it on our siteAs spring morphs into summertime and summertime into fall , it will be interesting to keep up the progress of this garden . If you rule yourself in DC with your camera , please take pic and station them in ourgallery(you’ll need toregisterto do this ) . track your post with “ White House garden ” and divvy up what you see with other vegetable gardeners .

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