White House Fruits and Veggies
Friday, March 20, 2009 at 12:52 PM 
Photo credit: Jason Reed / Reuters Today Mrs. O will be joined by a group of 5th grade students from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington, D.C. to dig and plant the White House vegetable garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt's victory garden. The garden will include a medley of vegetables, berries and herbs that the students will help to plant, harvest and cook. To see the full plan, click here. The garden is part of the First Lady's cause for healthier eating. As she described to the New York Times:
“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?”
We wonder if Ms. Alice Waters had a hand in this? In last Sunday's edition of "60 Minutes", the slow-food movement leader made a timely case for a White House vegetable garden.
"I have been talking nonstop about the symbolism of an edible landscape at the White House. I think it says everything about stewardship of the land and about the nourishment of a nation," Waters said.
Asked if she thinks she'll achieve such a garden at the White House, Waters told Lesley Stahl, "Well, I'm very hopeful. I've always liked the idea of doing press conferences at the compost heap."
All very exciting, with a promise of Spring no less. Of course, we can't wait to see Mrs. O's take on gardening gear. Update: It proves to be quite a chic take indeed: a long black wrap sweater, paired with one of Mrs. O's signature belts, leggings and black patent leather boots. The official word from Mrs. O and the White House blog:
"This is a big day. We've been talking it since the day we moved in," said the First Lady as she and two dozen local students broke ground on the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn of the White House. Those students will be involved in the garden as it develops and grows, producing delicious, healthy vegetables to be cooked in the White House Kitchen and given to Miriam's Kitchen, which serves the homeless in Washington, DC.
Photo credit: Joyce N. Boghasian / White House
Reader Comments (81)
C'mon, folks, she's not going to actually schlep out to the garden on a daily basis and deal with the dirt and the weeds and the insects and all that (you can tell I don't garden, either)! The outfit's fine for what it was--photo op--but even then the patent leather boots were an odd choice. She's not gonna turn into Mrs. McGregor. Thank heavens.
Chicagoan -Are Honeycrisps good for applesauce?
Michelle's sweater looks navy blue to me in most of the links provided today.
Nancy I thought the patent leather boots were a perfect choice, the dirt wipes right off
I think our first lady looks great. The sweater does seem to be navy and not black and while the boots may not be that gardening-friendly, they sure look good on her.
What a perfect way to spend the Spring Equinox.
Here is a video, if it has not been posted already.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/03/20/sotvo.michelle.obama.garden.cnn?iref=videosearch
I hope Mrs. O lets Mr. O know that there is legislation under consideration now that could threaten her garden and all of our gardens, organic gardens and eating locally. It is the Food Safety Act (I think there are several of them right now). They are written and backed by Monsanto and other Big Agri corps. It will be an end to heirloom seeds and organic gardening. It is against everything she is working for. And like many previous initiatives with cutesy names, it will do nothing to make our food safe. It will just protect the interests of Big Agri. Period. Write your senators and congressmen and tell them you are against this. Because with the focus on Madoff, AIG and all of the financial mess, this is an opportune time for Monsanto et al to get this passed when no one is looking.
This all warms my heart. And I second the person who said in ann earlier post "do not get me started on Alice Waters." The Obamas are plugged in enough to healthy lifestyles not to need Californian uber-foodies to "educate" them.
FYI - I deleted a few comments because they were reactions to a comment left by a troll (who was impersonating a site regular).
Thanks to all that make and keep this such a fun little community!
The belt that Michelle wore today over the sweater in the garden looks like the same one that she wore yesterday over the jacket when she went to the school event.
I think she should put together a 'gruby' wardrobe for events like the gardening and building construction, etc. Save the good stuff for the special events and have different stuff for when she is trying to look like she is getting her hands dirty. I would like to see Michelle add a pair of work boots, Crocs, sweatshirts, faded out Levi blue jeans, and some designer overalls to her closet.
I am still not over the fact that she wore the inauguration sweater to the construction site.
Heh, designer overalls. I'm not laughing at you, Leah D...I'm just trying to imagine the reaction if people found out that Mrs. O was wearing a $3,000 pair of overalls.
In a way, I almost wished she hadn't picked up a rake or a shovel. She just was trying to get into the spirit of things. I feel like if she just came out and talked to the kids, no one would have anything to say about what she was wearing. Since she truly is not going to be the one out there breaking ground, I really think dressing in grubby clothing would have been overkill. I think that she looked nice and casual for the occasion.
Honest to goodness, I guarantee that if she had looked really grubby, people would have said that she wasn't showing enough reverence for her "office. Look how some folks reacted when they heard the president doesn't always wear a tie in the Oval Office.
I didn't really mean 'expensive' overalls -- I meant 'stylish' ones.
A few years ago I picked up some bib overalls at a resale shop for under $10 a piece. One has lots of copper rivets all over them and the other has some black leather trim here and there.
I won't be online much tomorrow and Sunday because I will be working in the garden getting the plants in. In case anyone is wondering I will have on an old comfortable t-shirt, worn out jeans, and I'll be barefooted.
Ohhhh... I thought just popped into my head - I hope the the spring/summer we will get a chance to see Michelle in a garden hat.
Hahaha...
My previous sentence should have read:
Ohhhh… A thought just popped into my head - I hope THAT THIS spring/summer we will get a chance to see Michelle in a garden hat.
(cut me off - my fingers are drunk!)
Leah D, Leah D, lol I don't care if Valentino himself came out of retirement and stitched them himself, may Mrs.O never wear overalls NEVER.
Your giving me flashbacks to the mid 90s and my fav pair of Limited Too overalls, but I was 10 I had an excuse lol
Mrs. Obama Speaks Out About Her Household
WASHINGTON — Reporters are not the only ones with a particularly keen interest in what Michelle Obama wears. Her husband, Mrs. Obama says, notices everything. In fact, she has learned not to wear a certain gray metallic belt when the president is around.
“Barack calls it my ‘Star Trek’ belt,” the first lady said in an interview this week. “He doesn’t understand fashion.”
The interview, which started out on the subject of the new White House vegetable garden, ended up ranging over a variety of household topics, which Mrs. Obama addressed with substantial fun-poking at her husband, her mother and herself.
On the president and her wardrobe:
“He’s always asking: ‘Is that new? I haven’t seen that before.’ It’s like, Why don’t you mind your own business? Solve world hunger. Get out of my closet.”
She teasingly imitated him: “You didn’t need any more shoes. The shoes you had on yesterday were fine. Why can’t you just wear that for the rest of the presidency?”
More here ---> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/us/politics/21michelle.html
Some funny-sweet comments about Michelle's wardrobe in this NYT piece:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/us/politics/21michelle.html?_r=1&hp
I don't care what those boots are made of, look at those thick heels - they're serious boots. I think she looks great, as always.
Michelle doesn't seem to feel the cold as much as other people, first Inauguration day, now a sweater when the kids are in parkas.
p.s. It's too early to plant tomatoes in our neck of the woods. I'm thinking they're after an early crop of spinach, then the tomatoes go in.
And some people don't wear gloves when gardening, it's like, ah, wearing gloves in other activities :-)
I just have to say how incredibly refreshing it is to see a first family treating the Whitehouse like a real home: putting up a swing set, planting a garden, inviting people over, acting like the new neighbors in town. After 8 years of a first family who couldn't wait for the next opportunity to run back to the family homestead, it has been wonderful to see this family really living in the people's house!!!
Also, I love the silhouette of this outfit. The sweater length is MUCH more flattering that the one she wore to the St. Patrick's Day event. I love everything about this, including the boots!
She looks fine until the boots - wrong length and patent. Would have look better with knee or ankle boots - still flat like these.
A White House vegetable garden is a wonderful thing. Thank you, Mrs. O, for getting it started!
Thanks to all the commenters who were also turned off by Alice Waters' interview on last week's 60 Minutes. She came off as a real tool, and I was particularly offended by her idea to dig out the Rose Garden and plant a "sustainable" garden. There's room for both, lady!
Lynn W - That would be a shame if the Rose Garden were dug up because it represents a great piece of rose cultivation history - there is a rose named after almost every first lady in the garden if I am not mistaken.
Thanks to the Obamas there will be room for both!
Chicagoan - I think this is a wonderful idea!
"I’ve been thinking about inviting the “Mrs O.org fan club of Chicago” to do something some time!"
Does anyone know where the sweater is from? I love it!
This outfit was all wrong. I love Michelle O and thinks she looks good to great most of the time, but she needed the earth tones that are typical of gardening clothes, just a higher-end, more fashionable version. Some sort of cool khakis, Wellies, an olive jacket or sweater, with a dash of color. The black was completely wrong. On a related note, when people are suffering economically, enough with the fancy designers -- let's see more H&M, J. Crew, etc.
Michelle looks lovely!
And come on guys, Sam Kass is HOT, HOT, HOT! I know many like TBG, but Sam's my guy anyday - HOT + socially conscious = One heck of guy (My opinion anyway - LOL!)
I just mentioned this on another blog; when people have ceremonial ribbon cuttings, do we say to the officials there, "hey, why aren't you dressed in construction clothes?" Of course we don't. Michelle isn't really "gardening" any more than an official is really "building" when they take those fake golden shovels and dig out a little dirt. This was a photo op that lasted 15 minutes or so, everyone did a little digging and then had some treats from the White House kitchen, so it was a perfectly appropriate outfit for that type of occasion. Did we really think Mrs. O was going to stay out there for the hours and hours it will take to dig up and cultivate a garden that's going to be an acre large? She is not going to be the primary caretaker of this garden.
Regarding the fancy designers: most of the clothing we're seeing her wear now is stuff we've seen before. If you're going to wear clothes by fancy designers, isn't it okay to wear those clothes more than once? Or should she get a whole new wardrobe from H&M just to demonstrate she's one of us? And do we yet know if this ensemble is made by a fancy designer or not? How can she win? Maybe she didn't have those higher-end gardening clothes that some feel she should have worn, and so went with clothes already in her closet. Isn't that being appropriately thrifty in these economic times?
Re Sam Kass: yes, he is cute. And unlike TBG, he doesn't seem so much like he'll shoot you.
Just back from the farm... sorry the for the late reply, Bevi. Yes, Honeycrisp apples make excellent applesauce. But, as they're firm apples, it will be a chunky sauce unless you put it through a food mill.
Hyde Parker, let's do it! I'll email Mrs T and see if she'll forward my email to you. Maybe we could get together for brunch or something?
Dee, I'm with you, there is no redemption for Crocs.
Well, I'm deeeeeeLIGHTed to see this article as I've been hoping that the Family O would create a garden that would be maintained by the community. I just had an inkling after the kitchen interview, that this might be on its way. Yay!
Also, having already planted my garlic, onions, cauliflower, peas, beans, tomatoes, parsnips, beetroot, parsley, aubergine and the first lettuces, I think a vegetable garden is the way forward. We have terrible soil in our garden, so we do the whole lot in containers. Potatoes go in next weekend!
Anyway, I'd better say that I love the gardening outfit before I get carried away with planting gossip. Having walked my dog in patent boots, a ballgown and fairy wings I see nothing wrong with patent boots for a groundbreaking day. At least they had a sensible heel. And trousers and a really smart sweater. Mrs O looks quite lovely and perfectly appropriate. It is possible to look marvellous whatever you're doing, so long as you accept that everything will probably get covered in earth.
This is awesome, it brought back such wonderful memeories of my mother and I working together in our garden that has harvested for fifty years. My mother would intentinally grow crops and cook them up and freeze and share with us for meals. She also used them to bless anyone else that needed a little care package form time to time. I am in constant prayer for the seeds that you are planting in the natural ground as well as seeds of service to our nation. I will continue to pray for you as I promised when you and I met at Oprah's Legends ball a few years back. You will always have a sister in Michigan lifting you and your family up in prayer. Be Blessed and beyond!!!
Her black outfit would have been more appropriate for a helicopter trip to Camp David.
This was not supposed to be a ceremonial occasion, as in ribbon-cutting or christening a new ship, but one where she actually began the work on the garden with these young people. She needs someone to guide her choices re appropriateness. For starters a not terribly expensive pair of dark straight-legged or boot cut jeans in (L) for Long would get her through a lot of occasions like this and even the Camp David trips. And things like her construction photo op of a week or so ago (the one with the turquoise fur trimmed boots).
That is so very delightful! My children were awestruck by the knowledge that even the first children have to work in a garden!