I don't know how it happened, but I swear that I didn't know who Martha Stewart was until just about four years ago. Never heard of her.

Now, of course none of us can get away from her and the news blitz her latest adventures inspire, whether it's the new society, financial, media, editorial or, perhaps especially exciting, gay angle. It seems however that the spunky family which now lives in the Nutley, New Jersey, house in which she grew up has the hardest time of all. Still, they do appear to be having some fun with it.

"When we bought the house, the gardens were absolutely gorgeous," said Angela Cheney. "I killed everything."

"There were irises. I killed them," she said, grinning. "The rose bushes, I killed them when we put a deck in. The wisteria tree, I've tried to kill that. It brings a lot of bees."

"I'm no Martha Stewart."

....

Kooks have been sneaking into Cheney's backyard since Stewart put the address in her magazine. Some fanatics swipe figs from a tree. Others dig up dirt. One guy even ate the soil.

"They must think it's more fertile than normal dirt," said Cheney's daughter Nicole, 21. "It's tough keeping up with Martha Stewart."