White House Vegetable Garden heirloom seeds and 10 different herbs such as anise hyssop and Thai basil. Former presidents' favorite produce were also sown, such as President Thomas Jefferson’s preferred vegetables, “Brown Dutch and Tennis Ball lettuce, Prickly Seed spinach and Savoy cabbage” but beets were not grown because President Obama did not like them. Along with the vegetable garden, a beehive was added near the chef’s kitchen that is overseen by Charlie Brandts, a beekeeper and White House carpenter. Honey collected from the beehives has been used to brew White House Honey Ale. The contributing gardeners responsible for the early stages of the
Ken Choy of the journalistic dialectic, "Living with Bill and Rob," an ongoing research project which explores the link between racism and mental illness and how those both are unflinchingly harnessed as a viable excuse for lack of human and community involvement and participation. Choy traversed those manifestations in a roommate situation with the titular subjects. Choy is the producer and founder of Breaking the Bow: The Independent Asian Pacific Islander Performing Artists and Writers Festival. The 1st festival was held October 22–25, 2009. The festival was produced by Mavericks of Asian Pacific Islander Descent (MAPID). Choy founded MAPID. Choy co-organized ID