第一夫人菜園拋荒 松鼠過得如在天堂

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.松鼠們得要感謝政府的歇業了，深受第一夫人鍾愛的白宮蔬果園裏，松鼠們生活奢侈，盡情地享受着番茄的美味，而照料這座蔬果園的聯邦園丁們卻閒得無事可做，這個著名的白宮蔬果園內成了這樣一幅景象：番茄爛在藤上、一些植物已經結籽，總統奧巴馬愛吃的甜薯成了蟲子的美食。

政府停業已經進入了第三個星期，原本照料園中那些蘑菇、辣椒、南瓜和其他美味園蔬的公園管理處園藝工們只能給這些蔬菜澆澆水了。

依據這個在實施中的怪異規則，園藝工們不許在園中鋤地、除草、甚至割草。

埃迪·而吉曼·科恩(Eddie Gehman Kohan)在她的‘奧巴馬口味’博客中寫道：“番茄藤現在長成了褐色的一團亂麻，太陽杏散落了一地，滿園盡是黃色或褐色的葉子殘留於枝頭，一株放置在園子一側的盆栽矮木瓜樹結了有5個大木瓜，而葉子也開始凋零了。”

松鼠在華盛頓特區一直叫人心煩，不過它們應感謝那些好心腸的遊客們餵給它們爆米花等小食品，這些松鼠們和有上鏡飢渴症的政客們一樣正貪婪地攫取着因政府停業所帶來的豐厚食物。

科恩註明：“園中松鼠一直是個問題，它們在夏天吃掉漿果禾苗，但現在它們如同孩子們來到了糖果店，松鼠們狼吞虎嚥地吃着太陽杏和番茄等蔬菜果實。”

園中產出的蔬菜果品會上到國家宴會和其他一大批場合中的餐桌上，也一直顯著地渲染着米歇爾·奧巴馬（Michelle Obama)的健康飲食運動。