There are a couple of stories in the New York Times this morning that are worth reading if you are a fan of the White House kitchen garden.

In the first, Rachel Swarns profiles Sam Kass, who was a personal chef for the Obamas during their busy campaign days and moved with them to the White House. He has been Michelle Obama's devoted partner in the White House kitchen garden and the White House farmers' market and in all her healthy eating initiatives.

Kass has been attending briefings in the West Wing and sitting in on policy discussions, and past White House chefs find this astonishing. He recently sent an email asking if the White House had a point person on "colony collapse," the mysterious disappearance of the bees that pollinate our food.

In a second story, long-time Times food writer Marian Burros describes a White House kitchen overrun by celebrity chefs - from Alton Brown to Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse. And all of them are cooking out of the White House garden. The garden will star in a episode of Iron Chef in January.

I continue to be amazed at the power of that garden. It is just this side of extraordinary for a 1,1,00 square-foot patch of vegetables to have the impact that it has, from the new national attention on childhood obesity to the blogging Obama haters who are convinced the garden is either faked or contaminated.

Photo credit: Associated Press