WASHINGTON – Squirrels are living high on the hog thanks to the government stalemate – feasting on tomatoes from the First Lady’s beloved White House garden while federal gardeners remain idle.
With the shutdown entering its third week, the Park Service gardeners who normally tend the mushrooms, peppers, squash and other tasty items have only been permitted to water the plants.
Under the peculiar rules in effect, they are not allowed to rake or weed or even mow the grass.
“The tomato plants are now an impressive tangle of browning vines, with ripe Sungolds littering the ground beneath,” writes Eddie Gehman Kohan on her Obama Foodorama blog.
“Yellow and brown leaves now remain on crops throughout the garden, including on the potted dwarf papaya tree that sits on one side, now boasting five big green papayas,” she continues.
Local squirrels – already a nuisance in D.C. thanks to soft-hearted tourists bearing popcorn and other snacks – have been milking the shutdown as much as camera-hungry politicians.
“The squirrels are always a problem in the garden, eating the berry crop in the summer months,” notes Kohan. “But they’re now kids in a candy store, gorging themselves” on Sungolds and other tomatoes.
Many White House staff members who normally volunteer to help weed the garden are on furlough.
Food from the garden gets served at state dinners as well as an array of other events, and has been featured prominently in Mic e Obama’s healthy eating campaign.
“Due to the shutdown, regular maintenance has stopped and only periodic watering is being done, consistent with other National Park Service managed landscape areas,” a White House official told the Post.
http://nypost.com/2013/10/14/squirre...ring-shutdown/
The squirrels at the Portland Zoo will steal the goodies right off the top of your ice cream cones! They have balls!
I planted a dwarf Gala Apple tree some time back. I let the squirrels have the apples as the please. I'm not too keen on 2" diameter apples, but the squirrels can carry them off. I assume as the tree matures, the apples will get larger too. the tree is about 7 ft. tall.
"I planted a dwarf Gala Apple tree some time back."
how much do you pay your illegal immigrant apple pickers?
Surprised nobody brought up a joke about cotton yet...
Do you know how to comprehend what you read?
I don't pay those squirrels anything, and they were born here. In the trees in and around my yard! It is my charity to them.
I wish I had someone who would tend my garden as I got the praise for it and all.
Why doesn't she get off her ass and do it herself? Lazy .
You know what really surprises me?
That you didn't complain about my GMO fruit. I have two trees that were genetically modified to be dwarfs. The other is a nectarine tree, only about 3-1/2' to 4' tall.
Damn those are good!
Big trees in the city are a pain.
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