Happy President's Day!

Today, I took the day off. Oh, boy howdy, how I needed a three-day-weekend! But I wasn't completely lazy, oh no. In a completely appropriate manner, I celebrated the holiday by starting some seeds.

Appropriate how, you ask? Well, there has been a long tradition of Presidents and their First Ladies to pass some time in the garden between meetings, and signing bills, and so forth. So instead of thinking all they did was buy furniture (I mean, really...a couch to celebrate our Presidents??), here's some Presidential facts that might just inspire you to start this year's garden today:

George Washington, the first of our illustrious line of Presidents, was an avid farmer, gardener and mule-breeder extraordinaire. He was very dedicated to his gardening projects, and often wrote letters home dictating what needed to be accomplished in the orchards and veggie beds. In fact, he was so dedicated to the ins-and-outs of managing his farm at Mt. Vernon after his retirement from politics, that he spent an entire early spring day outside in April 1799, in a nasty sleety storm, checking on all his lovely gardens...which eventually led to his death, when he contracted pneumonia and died two days later.

John Adams was the President who established the first White House vegetable garden (although he only enjoyed it for four months). Thomas Jefferson (who inspired John to start the garden) took home gardening to a whole new level. In his 1000 foot vegetable garden at Monticello, he maintained 250 varieties of 70 species of vegetables. His orchards boasted 170 varieties of fruit. And, because he was that kind of guy, every year he hosted the First English Pea challenge in the neighborhood (to see who could grow the first fresh spring pea of the season...what a great competition!)

And let's not forget Woodrow Wilson, the much-maligned President during World War I. In 1917, he ordered sheep to graze on the south lawn of the White House estate, to help with landscaping. Okay, granted, it was mostly because there was a lack of men to do the gardening for him. But still, sheep grazing at the White House. You have to admire that degree of farming initiative!

But it wasn't only the boys who had the gardening bug. Eleanor Rosevelt was a champion Victory Gardener, planting beans and carrots on what used to be a lawn. (You know, that giant green thing they use only to roll eggs down come Easter.) She inspired 20 million Americans to grow Victory Gardens during World War II, which produced 40% of the nation's vegetables and fruit during the war years. And Lady Bird Johnson, who was not known for her veg gardening, was instrumental in establishing the Wildflower Center in Texas. The Center functions as the official Seed Bank for the State of Texas, preserving native species which might otherwise be lost to development.

It is amazing how the long history of gardening continues in our nation today. The Obamas have brought back the vegetable garden in a big way at the White House (read about it here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/The-Story-of-the-White-House-Garden/). Millions of Americans are returning to the idea of the backyard as a place to sustain the body, as well as nourish the soul, through a connection with growing little vegetable plants in a patch of earth. And you all know how I cultivate nearly every spare inch of my yard. To quote a fairly famous gentleman:

Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its' liberty and interests by the most lasting bands." --Thomas Jefferson

Gardening. It's the patriotic (and Presidential) thing to do!