RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—First Lady Michelle Obama put shovel to soil on the south lawn of the White House Friday, breaking ground for an organic garden, the first White House vegetable garden since 1943. Back then, Eleanor Roosevelt planted a victory garden during World War II, a time when the country was also facing economic woes and uncertainty. “It made sense before, and it makes sense again as we try to live within our own means and those of the planet,” says Roger Doiron, founder of the nonprofit Kitchen Gardeners International, and the leader of “Eat the View,” a petition campaign that pushed for a White House garden.
THE DETAILS: The First Lady told The New York Times that the 1,100-square-foot White House Kitchen Garden will not only provide fruits and veggies for her family and White House guests, but will be used as an educational tool to show children the importance of local, organic food production. And yes, President Barack Obama will have to help weed.
WHAT IT MEANS: To organic gardeners and sustainable-agriculture advocates, what happened on the White House lawn Friday was as satisfying as the juiciest homegrown tomato—and more ripe with hope than a mouthwatering garden watermelon. Finally, a First Family that gets the connection between healthy living and a healthy planet! But you don’t have to be living in DC to get in on the fun. Start your own presidential garden this spring.
Here are 5 tips from Organic Gardening magazine for the White House gardeners, and those who would like to join them:
• Heirloom options: Mrs. Obama mentions her interest in heirloom tomatoes in the New York Times article. We’re tempted to recommend a well-regarded variety named for the last president to come from Illinois, but our field trials and taste tests have consistently demonstrated that ‘Cherokee Purple’ is the best tasting and most reliable heirloom. And the President may enjoy pleasant childhood memories when eating the fruity-tasting ‘Hawaiian Pineapple’ tomato.
• Fruit pick: Blueberries are a great choice for the White House garden or any other. They are a native American fruit, supernutritious, and safe for Malia and Sasha to pick and eat themselves because they are thornless. The ‘Patriot’ variety seems like an appropriate choice.
• Bug lure: The plan for the White House garden includes borders of nasturtiums. A smart choice because, as the April 2009 issue of Organic Gardening explains, it attracts lots of beneficial insects —the good bugs that eat pests before they can destroy your food crops.
• Water smart: The state of California is in the midst of a 3-year drought, and many other regions have water shortages, too. The White House gardeners can use the “Two-Knuckle Test” recommended in the “Complete Beginner’s Guide to Organic Gardening” (also in OG’s April issue) to determine whether the garden needs to be watered or not. The test: Push your index finger two knuckles deep into the soil. If it feels damp, irrigating the crops wastes water, even if they appear to be wilting in the high heat of a Washington summer.
• Gold standard: Every garden needs a compost pile, where yard waste and kitchen scraps are alchemized into “black gold,” or the most valuable fertilizer possible. The President will find no simpler way to turn government waste into a priceless asset.
Join the fun! Want more tips? New gardeners who want to follow the Obamas’ lead will find all the information they need from planting to harvest at OrganicGardening.com, starting with the Complete Beginner's Guide. If you want to model your garden after the White House Kitchen Garden, check out the layout here.