Veggie Gardens and Other Ideas for the Obamas

[babylonsister]

Veggie Gardens and Other Ideas for the Obamas
Advocates Are Pushing Bushels of Suggestions; Clothesline for a Day

By ANNE MARIE CHAKER


WASHINGTON -- After three months on the road getting signatures for their petition, Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow finally rolled into the nation's capital in early November. Their mission: To persuade President-elect Barack Obama to plant an organic farm at the White House.

It's not such a loopy idea, say the young former Peace Corps volunteers, who drive a converted school bus with a rooftop garden. They believe there's plenty of room on the 18-acre White House grounds.

Seizing the Moment

Alexander Lee, of Project Laundry List, points to a 1910 picture that suggests a clothesline once hung at the White House.

Library of Congress

Circa 1910, the White House had a cross-shaped clothesline in the yard.

Ben Davis, a marketing entrepreneur, wants the Obamas to install one to set an example for energy consumption. Mr. Davis has gathered 828 signatures for his Right 2 Dry effort.

Former Peace Corps volunteers Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow have also been getting signatures for their TheWhoFarm project. They want an organic garden planted at the White House.

Roger Doiron is running a campaign called Eat the View: The White House Organic Garden Campaign. He wants a vegetable garden at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

"This is a real opportunity for the president to lead by example," Mr. Simon says. He points out that past administrations have had gardens and grown vegetables, including those of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. And First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, like millions of other Americans, had a Victory Garden during World War II.

Groups pushing all sorts of causes sense opportunity in the Obama White House. Advocates of everything from stray dogs to backyard clotheslines are hoping the new first family will give their causes the ultimate seal of approval: a personal endorsement and a home at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

more...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123214377908391635.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

[cali]

1. yes to the organic vegetable garden

and add an organic herb garden to that. No, to the clothesline. That's just silly.

[Clio the Leo]

2. I'm all about the goats...

... in the backyard to help keep the grass down.

[cali]

3. heh. love the goats. wasn't that TR?

[Clio the Leo]

4. WH Harrison is in the pic....

Here's a bigger version....



and here are some sheep


.... but I dont doubt that TR had goats too. His family had everything else.

[babylonsister]

5. Wonderful pix! But the Obamas can't seem to decide

on a dog, I wonder what they'd do with goats and sheep? ;)

[Clio the Leo]

7. Come on now,

pay attention ..... they'd scoop the poop!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL1_9MgOjdg

[ensho]

6. the W.H. kitchen already has a herb garden so there must be a

paid gardner at the W.H. who could head up the veg. garden work.