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. In the famous White House kitchen garden, tomatoes are rotting on the vine. Herbs have gone to seed. And the sweet potatoes - a favorite of President Barack Obama - have become worm food.
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 Michelle 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.松鼠们得要感谢政府的歇业了，深受第一夫人钟爱的白宫蔬果园里，松鼠们生活奢侈，尽情地享受着番茄的美味，而照料这座蔬果园的联邦园丁们却闲得无事可做，这个著名的白宫蔬果园内成了这样一幅景象：番茄烂在藤上、一些植物已经结籽，总统奥巴马爱吃的甜薯成了虫子的美食。
政府停业已经进入了第三个星期，原本照料园中那些蘑菇、辣椒、南瓜和其他美味园蔬的公园管理处园艺工们只能给这些蔬菜浇浇水了。
依据这个在实施中的怪异规则，园艺工们不许在园中锄地、除草、甚至割草。
埃迪·而吉曼·科恩(Eddie Gehman Kohan)在她的‘奥巴马口味’博客中写道：“番茄藤现在长成了褐色的一团乱麻，太阳杏散落了一地，满园尽是黄色或褐色的叶子残留于枝头，一株放置在园子一侧的盆栽矮木瓜树结了有5个大木瓜，而叶子也开始凋零了。”
松鼠在华盛顿特区一直叫人心烦，不过它们应感谢那些好心肠的游客们喂给它们爆米花等小食品，这些松鼠们和有上镜饥渴症的政客们一样正贪婪地攫取着因政府停业所带来的丰厚食物。
科恩注明：“园中松鼠一直是个问题，它们在夏天吃掉浆果禾苗，但现在它们如同孩子们来到了糖果店，松鼠们狼吞虎咽地吃着太阳杏和番茄等蔬菜果实。”
园中产出的蔬菜果品会上到国家宴会和其他一大批场合中的餐桌上，也一直显著地渲染着米歇尔·奥巴马（Michelle Obama)的健康饮食运动。