A Philadelphia Inquirer article published late last week included comments from UC Cooperative Extension resident historian Rose Hayden-Smith, a 4-H Youth Development advisor in Ventura County.
Hayden-Smith's expertise is sought from time to time when media outlets are writing trend pieces on growing interest in gardening. In this one, reporter Ginny Smith writes about front-yard vegetable gardening and an activist's call for the next president to plant a garden on the front lawn of the White House.
Hayden-Smith said several presidents "probably had vegetable, herb or kitchen gardens."
"Early presidents were responsible for providing for their own households and feeding dignitaries," Hayden-Smith was quoted. "But in general, the history of vegetable gardening at the White House got lost because it's so ordinary."
A Penn State Cooperative Extension educator who also was interviewed for the story doesn't see the idea taking off in today's world.
"To pretend (vegetable gardens) can be a functional part of a front-yard ornamental landscape is a stretch," he is quoted. "Bashing lawns as useless and environmentally unsound is a tired old story."