Center Plans Organic Garden: So Does The White House

PRESIDENT'S CORNER. By Norris McDonald

The Center is planning its organic garden. Planting begins right around the last week of March. We wish we could duplicate the Accokeek Foundation's solar irrigation project, but we are too far from the Potomac River for that. They use a photovoltaic panel to charge a battery to power the drip irrigation system and electric fense. But we will be planting seed, including: lima beans, cauliflower, watermelon, cantaloupe, lettuce, artichoke, broccoli, sunflower, celery, cucumber, okra, chinese cabbage, sweet corn, celery, carrot, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, squash, and pepper. Flowers too: cosmos, marigold, zinnia, coreopsis, and black-eyed susan daisy. And I read in The Washington Post today that the White House is planning an organic garden too.

First Lady Michelle Obama is planning a garden on the South Lawn. It will be a 1,100-square-foot garden and will include 55 kinds of vegetables (The selection is a wish list put together by White House chefs). There will also be berries, herbs and two hives for honey that will be tended by a White House carpenter who is also a beekeeper. The chefs will use the produce to feed the first family, as well as for state dinners and other official events. The White House will use organic seedlings, as well as organic fertilizers and organic insect repellents. The garden will be near the tennis courts and be visible to passersby on the street. The whole Obama family will be involved in tending the garden.