The First Lady’s Garden

This past weekend, I went to visit family and friends back in DC and VA where I’m from.  I spent the weekend also doing something I hadn’t done in many years, since 3rd or 4th grade, I became a tourist 🙂  I took my entourage to the White House to the Washington Monument to the Smithsonian and back (after that we drove to Haine’s Point and the Wharf for some yummy seafood).  It really brought me back to my childhood and why I love DC so much.  At the White House, I was able to get a few shots of the First Lady’s organic vegetable and herb garden.  And since this is a garden blog, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take pictures and get more information.  The garden is located on the south lawn of the White House.  The 1,100 square foot plot has over 1,000 pounds of Japanese eggplant, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, spinach, collard greens, purple cauliflower, fennel and herbs.  Mrs. Obama uses the crops to donate to neighborhood soup kitchens and to teach children who visit the White House about healthy eating.  It was even used in a cook off on an episode of “Iron Chef America”  with famous chefs, Cristeta Comerford, Bobby Flay, Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse.  The challenge was that they had to cook five dishes using any of the vegetables and herbs from the garden.  Michelle Obama also has a beehive close to the garden that produces 134 pounds of honey and pollinates her garden.  While I am sure that she has a full time staff of horticulturists and gardeners to help her manage her garden, it makes me appreciate how much hard work goes into gardening and how sometimes we take for granted that we can just go into a store and pick up vegetables without having to harvest them.  Her garden is very inspiring and of course my trip turned out to be great.  Got to tour DC, got to see my best friend Toy and got to spend some much needed time with distant family!