Yes, We Have No Tomatoes
Posted at 4:58 AM on March 23, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(33 Comments)
With the announcement last week and groundbreaking last Friday for the White House Garden, the vegetable race is on!
You can see a garden schematic online. This plot will be tended by the first family and White House staff. Wouldn't it be fun to have a multi-state mirror garden being nurtured by Radio Heartland listeners?
There are many areas where we are already planting the same things.
In both the White House and RH gardens, there will be ...
- Peas, watered by Gail in Wisconsin, Kathy in Wisconsin and elinor.
- Spinach grown by Gail.
- Broccoli from Don in West St. Paul.
- Lettuce, thanks to Julie, Gail , Kathy , Kate, Mark, Joanne and Don.
- Onions, overseen by Julie, Barb in Blackhoof and Kathy.
- Chard, guarded by Barb.
- Carrots, kept rabbit-free by Barb, Mark and Don.
- Blueberries by Barb, Kathy and Amy in St. Paul.
- Raspberries from Julie, Barb, Gail and Amy.
- Bees, tended by Cynthia.
Anise, Arugula, Blackberries, Chamomile, Chives, Cilantro, Collards, Dill, Fennel, Garlic chives, Hyssop, Kale, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Parsley, Rhubarb, Rosemary, Sage, Shallot, Sorrel, Thyme and Tomatillos.
How about it? As an online community, we're not restricted by our growing zone. Is anyone planting these items?
Here are some things RH listeners have declared they will plant, that the White House chefs apparently have no use for:
Asparagus, Beets, Cucumbers, Currants, Eggplant, Gourds, Grapes, Green beans, Pear and Plum Trees, Popcorn, Potatoes, Radishes, Squash, Strawberries, Sunflowers, Tomatoes and Chickens.
Ok, chickens aren't a vegetable, but why no tomatoes in the Obama garden? Is that a Secret Service precaution? Entertainers know how useful the rotten tomato can be as a form of commentary ... perhaps politicians recoil, instinctively.
Comments (33)
interesting. three beds of spinach. and it looks like 120 sq. feet plus of collards and kale! certainly lots of leafy greens there - nutritious and delicious. no sweet corn? must have marauding raccoons there too. i recommend a solar-powered electric mesh fence
i bet most everyone has a rhubarb to share with them so they wouldn't have to even plant but i'm not sharing my asparagus - sorry.
good morning all. nice to talk about gardening when it's pelting icy rain up here :-)
I can commit to rosemary! Does anything smell better? I think not.
Happy Monday, all.
i'll tend the collards and kale, but they should know that i like both very, very much.
oh bummer - our satellite internet is on and off d/t the storm. it may go again at any min...
I just ordered basil, rosemary, chives and cilantro from my daughter's gymnastics spring flower sale! Sign me up. Oh, and nasturiums -- to go on top of all those great greens in salads!
Good Morning!
We attended the home show at North High on Saturday and learned more about urban agriculture and rain gardens. Cilantro will be added to our planting plan since it's my favorite garnish. I've never had any luck with chickens but I don't know if I planted them too deep or too close together...
Later in the day we went out for our first ride on our road bikes, a sure sign of spring! Just a quick spin around the lake but since it was Lake Minnetonka, it was a pretty good ride.
It's a Marvelous Monday!
Good Morning,
Yesterday in the New York Times there was a link to an op-ed piece Michael Pollan had written in 1991 suggesting the then Pres GHW Bush turn the White House lawn into anything but lawn...including an orchard, but primarily a garden. So...18 years later...hmmm...time flies, eh?
I do have three large Rosemary plants I winter over, but Elinor has dibs on it (yes, is there anything more fragrant?) Ican do Lavender for the salads...and the bees.
Icy rain indeed...
Free-range (& -thinking?) turkeys will be a seasonally appreciated crop, I would think.
Once the list of my 40+ varieties of heirloom tomatoes gets into the right hands, there will be plans to grow tomatoes in their plot.
Now if I could just persuade them to accept one of our ready-to-go Rat Terriers as the presidential pooch pick!
Happy day from the thawing tundra.....
Good Morning, everyone.
Shiela, feel free to post your list of 40 varieties of Heirloom tomatoes, or send the list to me and I'll work it into some future blog. My e-mail address is dale@radioheartland.org
And Cynthia, please don't limit your planting just because someone else is growing the same thing.
If the dreaded Rosemary borer hits elinor's place, we'll still have a crop!
Greetings Heartlanders!
I'm thrilled the Obamas are doing a garden on the White House lawn -- a great example for the country. But how they can have a garden (or a salad) without tomatoes and cucumbers is beyond me. Is it because tomatoes are nightshades? Or are the Obamas allergic? Although cucumbers can take a lot of space ...
Anyway, I'm not much of a gardener or a cook, and I'm not confident enough to try some of those "exotic" items. I'll do my part, though.
My favorite crop has always been zucchini. It can be super wet or super dry and the plants continue to produce. Nothing seems to slow it down.
I have an herb garden that has parsley, thyme, sage, chives, basil,rosemary, mint....and I try to grow cilantro and dill but I never have luck with those, for some reason they are very spindley and they never really develop but I keep trying.
Does anyone have tips for growing either of thoes?
I'll grow parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme....and rhubarb.
I can try to have a supply shallots to back up the White House garden. I'm still trying to perfect my shallot growing methods, but I might have some to share. I have some Odetta's White Shallot which I am saving and sharing with other members of the Seed Saver's Exchange that I might be able to part with to help out the White House chefs. If all of the Odetta's White Shallots are not used up as food some can be saved to so that the Obama's can have an heirloom shallots in their garden next year, or I can send them some to plant next year.
I just looked at the White House garden plan and noticed that it said spring garden. I think the plan is just for spring crops and they must be planning to do more planting of summer crops such as tomatoes, corn, squash. Maybe they have another location for summer crops or will follow some of the crops in this garden with latter plantings of the summer crops.
To Mike in Mississippi -- I think that must be a universal trait of zucchini. Even I grew monster zucchini here in Minnesota -- especially if you forget to pick for a few days or if they're hiding under their big leaves and you're not looking thoroughly.
Jim -- excellent observation -- I bet you're right. Washington, D.C. has milder weather and probably could do two plantings. It's just un-American to not grow tomatoes if you have a garden!
Of course it's just a spring garden! What cook could do without 'maters? I love the flowers lining the gardens!
We have an herb garden and are putting in a raised bed vegie garden as soon as the ground is dry. We're deeply involded in plotting the conents, we'll see what happens! Of course there's always the St. Paul Farmer's Market, lots of great vegies there!
Our garden is not complete without Kohlrabi which I would gladly share! And Nankin Cherries, although I only got one last year so sharing might be difficult. But I live in the woods so all the chokecherries a person would ever want is available later in the summer and fall.
i will happily be one of the people to whom excess produce is given--yep, when the zukes and cukes and tomaters and beans are outgrowing your ability to consume, just leave them in a paper bag on my back step--i'll know it's from you, and you'll know i appreciate their fresh goodness!
:-)
oh, oh, and chokecherries!!
i would also commit to taking people's chokecherries, highbush cranberries, and the like and turning them into jam, jelly, and/or pancake syrup---yum!
hissss-op - full name anise hyssop - and one only need plant it once :-) it's a generous plant. but makes good tea. sweet and anise-flavored.
DC is so warm, i think y'all are correct about the planting for the weather. my brother lives in Baton Rouge and he can't plant in summer because it is too hot for most crops. there are advantages to this weather up here. we can have perennials such as peony and bulb plants such as tulips without having to have them in the refrigerator for a few months - the only place one can find cold enough for the plants' needs.
but i think the planting is kind of faulty. broccoli and peas planted this late in the season in DC will wilt in the heat. they should wait until fall to plant them..... they should have consulted the RH folks BEFORE planting, huh?
I am really good at growing weeds - but I don't see those anywhere on the list...perhaps I should just volunteer to grow weeds for everyone - I've got lots, and that way you won't see them in your much better tended gardens. (And last time I tried anything edible in a garden - squash - my basset hound ate them right off the vine as soon as they got to about 2" across...caught her in the act, so I know it wasn't bunnies...)
Anna....weeds, that's what I grow best...and for those gardens without chemicals...eat the dandelions, lambs quarters and stinging nettles. (I discovered the nettles last spring -- have to take all these "weeds" early when they are very young -- but the nettles are better than spinach, VERY tasty!) dandelions can go in salad raw, very nutritious. Wild violet flowers are excellent in salad also.
I'll bet there are RHers who are experts in wild foods...speak up...there are more wild plants that are edible, I know, just cant think of them.
Happy Monday all...I'm off to venture in the pouring rain that isn't soaking into the ground...puddles everywhere.
We'll supply the arugula. I love it, but it makes no sense to buy it by the plastic bagful. A little at a time...
We also have wonderful pear trees, a bartlett and a bosc, that are now bearing enough fruit that the squirrels are now sharing it with us. Quarts and quarts of pear butter last year. It kind of made up for the fact that we only got one or two zucchini, (unlike Mike and Joanne and probably everyone else)... strange year, usually we have baseball bats!
I can see the headline now: "Alert Secret Service Agents Wrestle Raccoon to the Ground."
The garden might also reflect the realization that downtown D.C. in July and August is one of the most miserable places on the planet. I wouldn't want to go out there and weed. It's when you know, beyond a doubt, that the city was built on a swamp.
Jefferson, while president, meticulously plotted the first and last appearances of 37 vegetables at the Washington market for eight years. A few that he had that didn't make the current list were corn salad, sorrel, turnips, cabbage, and "sprouts" (Brussels, I'm guessing). These were probably not trucked in from Florida or California.
Oh - I've got the garlic chives covered. And maybe the blackberries. The plants survive, but keeping the individual canes alive long enough to bear fruit is a once every few years proposition.
I heard (on KNOW, of course) that there are no beets because the president does not care for them. Seems kind of selfish to me, denying the rest of the family and guests of state the sensory delights of fresh beets only a few hours out of the ground.
Myself, I've given up on growing vegetables. My Minneapolis yard is way too shady. Boy, have we got hostas, though!
Cynthia & all
I am an appreciater more than an expert, but I will say that our great state of Minnesota has a plethora of great 'wild foods'. Right now I have friends tapping their Box Elders (Acer negundo--Maple family) for sap to cook into syrup. Soon will be the season to hunt for morel mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns, and then asparagus!
Then it's time to garden intensively (compulsively?)
Then Strawberries start in June, Chokecherries and Raspberries late July, and then the fabulous wild blueberries! And that's just dipping one's toes in--there is wild-ricing and many more foraging opportunities around the next bend.
Maybe we should get together a Minnesota (or regional) foods gift basket for our gourmand-leaning first family....
Off-topic...
I'm listening to the rebroadcast and the part about sandbagging in Fargo/Moorhead - I have a friend at NDSU who's out sandbagging today because classes are cancelled. I can't even imagine the effort everyone's putting into the whole thing up there.
Thanks for all the public spirited vegetable growing, everyone.
I'll work up a list of today's veggie commitments shortly.
And Gus, it's certainly true that a great many people are giving up their time and energy to help protect Fargo and Moorhead and other communities along the Red River this week. If you want to follow the events and find out how online groups are helping out take a look at Bob Collins' "News Cut" blog!
No garden, but my windowbox holds basil, lemongrass, garlic chives and a very determined (and thirsty) alpine strawberry!
Here's the latest list of garden additions for the Radio Heartland audience, bringing us closer in line with the White House Garden.
Feel free to make corrections and elaborations.
Rosemary – elinor, sherrilee
Collards, Kale - Barb
Basil, Chives – sherrilee, Kate,
Garlic Chives – Don, MN in Mpls
Lemongrass, Alpine Strawberry – MN in Mpls
Nasturiums – sherrilee
Cilantro – Mark, sherrilee, Kate
Rosemary, Lavender – Cynthia
Zucchini – Mike from Mississippi
Mint, Dill – Kate
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme – Patricia, Kate, Simon and Garfunkel
Shallots - Jim
Kohlrabi, Nankin Cherries, Chokecherries - Marianne
Arugula. Pears – Barbara in Robbinsdale
Blackberries – Don
I can't believe that tomatillos went unclaimed this late in the day. Should I offer green or purple ones---they and ground cherries kinda grow like weeds in my gardens. In the interest of uncertain tastes, I offer to keep both colors for our RH White House Garden West.
So glad Simon & G got into the act, Dale. Who knew?
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