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
Ketchup as a vegetable as a vegetable", while a December "New York Times" piece from that same year noted that "ketchup, of course was never mentioned in the proposals, which were designed to give local school officials more flexibility in planning their meals." Administrator Hoagland elaborated on the media field day that resulted from the ketchup controversy, stating "it's an insult to me and to school lunchroom officials to say that we would even consider forcing kids to eat ketchup as a vegetable." Despite the fact that ketchup was not explicitly referenced as a vegetable substitute in the regulations, the condiment became an easy