Gardens can be beautiful and productive
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and lord knows, over the years I’ve gotten used to the idea that not everyone thinks like me. BUT, when an idea seems so patently right, so purposeful and appropriate, timely and GOOD it is nothing less than a shock to hear about opposition.
Backstory: I love gardening. I love eating. I think integrating edibles with our ornamentals is the face of gardens to come. I think this is a very, very, VERY good idea. I (for once!) am not alone in this buoyant optimism and fruitful aspiration.
Recently I posted an essay about the work of some of the more ambitious and visionary prophets of productive landscapes. Their goal? Install, maintain and nurture an organic vegetable garden on the White House lawn. Brilliant!!! Apparently George Ball of Heronswood Nursery (you have no idea how hard that is for my Northwest hands to write) does not agree with this idea.
“Much has been written about a “White House garden” even to the absurd extent of tearing up the front lawn and planting vegetables and herbs-a giant kitchen garden. Ghastly.”
You can read his entire post, entitled Camp Obama at Heronswood Voice.
Bunny Williams formal potager
A Presidential vegetable garden is not an entirely new concept; Eleanor Roosevelt had a large Victory Garden at the White House in 1943. She was hardly the first, following as she did in the illustrious muddy footsteps of John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson; Woodrow Wilson even kept sheep. I was discussing all this recently, stars in my eyes, when a friend pointed out no doubt Eleanor herself was not immediately involved in the day to day care of the garden – DUH! That’s my point exactly!!! I do not expect President Obama to work the garden; planting seeds, watering them carefully and venturing out after dark with a flashlight on cutworm patrol to protect the baby lettuces. He’s busy and frankly, his plate is full with days spent shoveling a compost of a whole different sort.
Apparently, Mr. Ball would prefer a discreet little presidential plot somewhere out of the public eye where Michelle could putter. !!!!! It’s just this sort of “tidy front lawn” mentality that has gotten us to the sorry state of food today. Putting the garden back in the White House elevates good, clean healthy food and the efforts of the good people who produce it to their rightful status – front of the house – in a very public and communal manner.
Not everyone has a garden nor does everyone with land choose to grow food. But we all EAT. I think it’s time we reminded folks of where food comes from…not on a flight from Chili but out of the dark, rich soil. George – if I may be so bold to call you that, please feel free to call me Lorene – it’s time to bury the notion that only flower gardens are a thing of beauty. With the right plants and good husbandry edible landscapes feed the body and soul, the spirit and the belly. How can that be anything but a bold step in the right direction, RIGHT NOW!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Actually, this year I’m planning to mix some of my edibles in with the ornamentals, beyond the usual berry bush or three. I’ve got so many seeds I need to put them somewhere! Now I just need to read up on which plants make good companions.
Hear hear! We had a little discussion of that whole Herronswood/Burpee travesty at the meeting last week, it was pretty interesting. That guy seems kind of, um, inflexible? I love gardens that mix it up. Guess some people get scared off if they think they need to use different fertilizers or whatnot. My poor plants get to struggle along without much in the way of that, so I don’t have that issue. I already integrate herbs with other perennials but hope to move more of the food crops in with the rest this year. Great post!
Aw, it just warms my little horticultural foodie heart to hear this. Edibles have really put the passion back into gardening for me; i guess we’re never very far away from that little kid with a dixi cup and a bean sprout!
Dear Lorene,
I noticed your post on Google. Thank you for enabling your readers to link to mine.
As you can see from a careful reading of my post on the subject, I don’t disagree with a White House garden. I disagree with one imposed on the President and his family by some of the overzealous folks who have repeatedly petitioned the gardening community to support the installation of a large kitchen garden, urban farm and even a community garden on the grounds of the White House. They use, in my opinion, counterproductive tactics like cartoons of the President and First Lady with carrots in their mouths, and calling their organization a silly name. There’s nothing, in my view, "prophetic" or "brilliant" about it. As I say in my post, an elegant family vegetable garden could evolve on the property with the First Family’s participation. This would be more appropriate to me. With Camp David as a first step—which you don’t mention, yet is the entire point of my post, as well as its title—he and the family would become integrated into the process. Organic, if you will. What else is he going to do at Camp David—fish? Rather, he seems a bit more introverted and contemplative—a common profile of a gardener in my experience. (General George Marshall was a great example of a statesman-gardener.) My position is not "opposed" to a White House garden. It is in support of one.
Also, you misunderstood my reference to "Michelle’s Garden". I meant to refer to the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, one of the two large ornamental gardens already at the White House. Sorry I don’t make it clearer. Be assured that I wasn’t being the least bit disrespectful of her or of women in general. Far from it.
I’ve been in the garden industry for almost 30 years, with much experience in both flowers and vegetables here and abroad. You seem to cast me on the side of an imaginary enemy. I’m sure it’s based on the relocation of Heronswood. Please read the full story at The Two Year Move or at Blog for the Perplexed. The reality is, again, contrary to what you have suggested.
Thanks again for the attention to our blog and website.
Happy Gardening.
Hi George,
Please allow me to clarify. My post is in no way a response to the relocation of Heronswood. I may miss the garden in Kingston, but after operating a small specialty nursery in Seattle for 13 years, believe me I would probably have jumped at the opportunity to sell!
These days, post-nursery, my passion is integrating edibles into an ornamental landscape. The politics of good, healthy organic food can no longer be relegated to the backyard – even if it is the White House. Good people like Roger Dorion of Eat the View, and Michael Pollan, to name just a few are working to raise the public’s awareness of this important issue. A depiction of our first family with carrots in their mouth will get far more attention than our dry discourse here on my little soapbox. I see that as a VERY good thing.
I’d like to close with this clarification. In no way do I anticipate that the Obamas themselves will “work” the garden, any more than I expect they whip up a meal when they host dignitaries. I believe this is the work of the “Administration”, complete with a coordinator and spokesperson who can best communicate the message to people far beyond the reach of the literal harvest. Although the heat of DC would ripen tomatoes in a heartbeat…something we often miss out on here in the PNW.
Thank you so much for your response
Wow, Lorene, what a rabble-rouser you are. We’re talking vegetables, right?! On the other hand, we’re TALKING VEGETABLES! I am so impressed with your excellent, persuasive writing – let’s take it to the Op-Ed pages, girlfriend! xoxo Deb (PS, Oh how I am curious to know what LP would think of all this scandalous horticultural controversy….we can only guess!)