Did you see the news yesterday about a kitchen garden at the White House? Michelle Obama is breaking ground today on a new White House kitchen garden, which reportedly will be filled with organic seeds and seedlings and fertilized with compost from the White House kitchens. That last nugget of information nearly sent us into spasms of joy: the White House composts? Excellent!
What do you think about this new garden? Do you think it will prompt other Americans to plant their own backyard vegetable gardens?
The garden, as you can see from the White House's plan above, will be rather large - about an acre - and have the potential to produce a lot more food than the small container gardens the cooks have been keeping on the roof. It also will be visible from the street, and Obama intends to bring a whole class of children in to help break ground. We love that passersby will be able to see a garden on the lawn of the White House, and the crowds of visiting schoolchildren will associate a big kitchen garden with the seat of power in our nation.
We liked this quote from the First Lady, too:
“A real delicious heirloom tomato is one of the sweetest things that you’ll ever eat,” she said. “And my children know the difference, and that’s how I’ve been able to get them to try different things.
“I wanted to be able to bring what I learned to a broader base of people. And what better way to do it than to plant a vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House?”
Yes! This makes us so happy. Apparently this garden will be overseen by Sam Kass, a chef the Obamas brought along with them from Chicago, and the garden is only the first step in creating a "16-acre edible landscape" around the White House.
We had hoped the First Lady would work towards better food during her time in the White House, modeling an example like this, but this goes rather beyond our wildest dreams.
One final point: we are so inspired, looking at the big layout of the garden above (don't we wish we had a whole acre and professional gardeners to help us tend it!). One thing we noticed is that the mint has been given its own little plot off to the side and away from the other vegetables and herbs. The gardeners obviously know what they're doing: mint is wildly, rampantly aggressive, and you should never plant it near other things you like - it will take over!
To read the full story of the garden try these sources:
• Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden at White House - NY Times
• Obamas ready to start a White House garden - Chicago Tribune
• Foodies Celebrate White House Veggie Garden - ABC News
Related: Designing the New Kitchen Garden: An American Potager Handbook
(Image: The White House, via The New York Times)
It's funny that there's a quote about tomatoes, but no sign of tomatoes in the garden plan. Potatoes and squash are two surprising omissions as well.
view angorian's profile
Gosh, that is funny! I wonder if they'll be added later? I know that there won't be any beets: President Obama doesn't care for them.
view faith's profile
thats great! i would love to grow some produce.
Maybe the soil/climate isnt right for tomatoes? (I dont know much about growing produce... but just a thought).
Maybe AT kitchen has already done it and I missed it, but I would love to see some posts about growing produce in containers suitable for apartment life.
view adamwa's profile
yeah, I noticed that about the tomatoes too. Maybe they are going to keep doing those on the roof? Also, that is a TON of spinach.
view cptmoll's profile
I guess they really like that "no-cream" creamed spinach recipe.
view heather77's profile
adamwa--i was thinking the same thing! i have plenty of space on my roof deck in manhattan, i'm just not sure what i can grow in pots!
view amanda25's profile
For any new gardener, but especially for container gardens, I highly recommend McGee & Stuckey's "The bountiful container: a container garden of vegetables, herbs, fruits, and edible flowers".
This books tells you exactly what you can (almost everything) and cannot grow in a pot, what is most likely to be successful, how to choose the varieties that are best suited to small spaces, and when to plant.
view amanda1018's profile
my first thought was where's the tomatoes and basil too! also notice peppers and zucchini are missing.
but all in all, it think it's so wonderful the obama's are doing this!!!!
view 2T's profile
Thanks Amanda! Ill check that book out. I have a large balcony and plenty of pots, would love to try my hand at growing something I can eat besides herbs, even if its only a small quantity.
view adamwa's profile
Seems to be the wrong place for it. E St is still open to traffic so there will be a fair bit of dirt and exhaust hitting the garden, never mind someone trying to foul the plants over the fence. Growing produce closer to the White House would make for cleaner, healthier produce, just as most of us grow our edibles in the backyard and not the front.
There are restrictions on the estate (need to land helicopters, Rose Garden ceremonies, etc), it's just surprising that this is where they'd put the garden.
view preppycuisine's profile
preppycuisine - i think like Faith pointed out it is visible to the common passerby and visitor, and most likely intentionally so. I think this is a key element, lets not forget that this is probably somewhat of a PR thing. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for it to be effective it needs to be highly visible.
view adamwa's profile
If I had to guess, this is the plan of the plants they are breaking ground with as they appear to be mostly cooler weather plants. Living in NC I am just starting my garden with lettuces and chards. Here I will wait till April or May to put in tomatoes and peppers. It seems DC would have to wait longer still to put in "hot weather" plants.
view sara13's profile
I'm waiting for Rush Limbaugh to declare home-grown produce to be an un-American attempt to socialism to the masses by eroding the foundation of factory farming.
view Plaid Ninja's profile
This is another great book to check out.
http://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Vegetables-Self-Watering-Containers-Amazing/dp/1580175562
I grew vegetables on my balcony last year in self watering containers and it went great. I am by no means good at growing anything. I grew 8 ball zucchini, red peppers, and golden cherry tomatoes. This year I will be "branching" out even more (yeah, I know, bad joke). My wife is a vegetarian so I grew most of her food for the summer. My balcony is also east facing, so I only got partial sun. I was able to grow enough for her, and i gave lots away to my co workers.
The key is to get the right kinds of plants. There are special ones suited for containers that are smaller plants but still grow full size fruits and veggies. Also, self watering planters helped a lot, the keep the plants watered al day long instead of the wet/dry/wet/dry etc cycle. This also allows you to take a vacation and come back to healthy plants. However tomatoes at the zucchinis still required a lot of water.
If you want more info let me know, i'd be happy to help.
view jmorey's profile
oops, sent too soon! There was supposed to be a 'bring' in there.
Anyway, as a very public example of how produce can be locally grown in a densely populated urban evironment, I think its great. Maybe it will convince people that they too can grow their own crops, and inspire some community gardens in cities across the country.
view Plaid Ninja's profile
This is awesome!
adam & heather - You can grow just about anything in containers! (Including cucumbers, melons, etc.) Get self watering containers, since that's the biggest problem with container gardening - the containers dry out very quickly. You could even have a fruit tree like these!
check out:
You Grow Girl
All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew and online at squarefootgardening.com
Fresh Food from Small Spaces: The Square Inch Gardener's Guide to Year Round Growing, Fermenting, and Sprouting by RJ Ruppenthal
Check out your library for more info on container and "urban" gardening. Also look into community gardens in your area. (Where you get a patch to grow in.)
view cara_mia's profile
@preppycuisine - Plants clean the air, so why would putting the garden there be so bad? Most people don't plant vegetable gardens in their front yards because they want to eat the produce themselves, front yard produce would get picked by passerby in the middle of the night. (At least around here.) And E St. may be open to traffic, but only if you get through the check point. It's not like they're putting a garden in the middle of Dupont Circle.
view cara_mia's profile
What a great layout!
view Dana McCauley's profile
PS - the distance between their garden and the street is more than the distance between my backyard and my street. Probably greater than the distance of most urban gardens and their streets. You're not even allowed to get up to the fence any more.
view cara_mia's profile
Hummmm. I wonder if they will be "exempt" from H.R. 875 then????
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=12671
view Gardengal18's profile
And does anyone else garden in a tight black mini-dress, black leggings and shiny black booties? I seriously doubt so. And the whole family including BO will be out "pulling weeds"? I seriously doubt that. I think the only thing being "pulled" is the Good Citizen's of this country chain! Nice PR Stunt though. lol!
view Gardengal18's profile
Love it!
Erin
http://the6x8garden.blogspot.com
view erinpeace's profile