Certainly the White House vegetable garden - planted and harvested by first lady Michelle Obama and her school children helpers -- is among the top 10 gardening news stories of the year in 2009, right up there with tomato blight and the devastated pumpkin harvest.

But I make the case in my op-ed column in The Baltimore Sun today that it might just be THE news story of the year.

The White House garden was copied around the world -- even the Queen of England planted one -- and it was used as a backdrop not only for reality television shows (Biggest Loser and Iron Chef), but for the launch of the president's health care initiative.

Even the first lady pronounced it the best thing she has ever done, and pollsters credited it with softening her image and lifting her approval rating.

The White House garden stirred up the conspiracy theorists and provided ingredients for the Obama's first state dinner. The honey produced by the bee hive was given as gifts to the wives of heads of state at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh.

No other small plot of dirt has received this kind of attention since the Alamo.