<table> </table> Foodies and the go-green movement are ecstatic about the Obamas&#8217; foray into organic vegetable gardening.</p><p>Me, too. But as an avid gardener, I noticed one important detail was left out of all the news coverage concerning the new presidential pea patch. So I called the White House and spoke with Michelle Obama&#8217;s deputy press secretary, Semonti Mustaphi. That conversation ended something like this.</p><p>Me:<em> I did have one more question.</em></p><p>Mustaphi:<em> Ask it and I&#8217;d be happy to try and find the answer.</em></p><p>Me:<em> Uh, gee, this might sound a bit odd, but I was wondering about the squirrels.</em></p><p>(Pause.)</p><p>Mustaphi:<em> Squirrels?</em></p><p>Me:<em> Yes, the squirrels that are so abundant in Washington, and does the first lady have a plan to deal with them?</em></p><p>I went on to explain that, by squirrels, I was not referring to the White House press corps or Congress. I was talking about the furry rodents that live in trees and scamper merrily to and fro waving their bushy tails in our nation&#8217;s capital.</p><p>They happen to be murder on vegetable gardens, I said, explaining that you can fence out the rabbits but there&#8217;s just no keeping the squirrels out of your garden once they&#8217;ve set their beady little eyes on it.</p><p>And did she know that Washington, D.C., has one of the highest-density squirrel populations in the nation, even before adding in lobbyists?</p><p>Moreover, Lafayette Park, across from the White House, is shag-rug thick with gray squirrels, which entertain tourists and Washingtonians alike.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s true, there are a lot of squirrels,&#8221; Mustaphi agreed.</p><p>You bet, and not even Homeland Security will be able to keep them out of the first family&#8217;s patch of plenty.</p><p>So the question is, how does the White House respond?</p><p>Let the tree rats run wild and ruin this public attempt to encourage the nation to eat its vegetables? No, a plan needs to be in place to address the looming squirrel crisis before growing season gets too much further along.</p><p>Almost every possible solution carries a potential for scandal and political recrimination.</p><p>Shoot them, and animals lovers would storm the gates.</p><p>Quietly poison them, and there&#8217;d be an investigation.</p><p>Meanwhile, animal repellants are worthless. At my house, the squirrels prefer their ripe tomatoes with hot pepper spray.</p><p>So I practice a policy of rendition. Just before the tomatoes turn ripe, I bait a live trap with peanut butter, wait and then transport the caged occupant to an undisclosed location.</p><p>All this I explained to the woman at the White House, who promised to get back to me on that.</p><p>And sure enough she did.</p><p>But while awaiting that info, I called Dennis Patton at the Johnson County extension office to see whether he thought Michelle Obama&#8217;s green thumb might boost interest in vegetable gardening nationwide.</p><p>He agreed that it would but said the Kansas City area was experiencing a surge in raising vegetables.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s really caught on lately,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Extension classes for gardening beginners are selling out, he said.</p><p>&#8220;I think the economy is part of it, but partly the green movement. &#8230; I think it&#8217;s good that people are reconnecting with the land.&#8221;</p><p>It is a good thing. But new gardeners don&#8217;t always take into account that we share the land and its bounty. Sometimes we share to an intolerable degree, and certain measures must be taken ...</p><p>But wait, this just in from the White House:</p><p>&#8220;On background: We will be using natural pesticides &#8212; nothing synthetic. And we will use fine see-through netting for squirrels if needed.&#8221;</p><p>Yeah, well, good luck with that, unnamed White House source.</p><p>But if that doesn&#8217;t work, somebody there should have a number for Dick Cheney.</p><p>You can bet he&#8217;d know what to do.