As promised, first lady Michelle Obama appears on "Sesame Street" today to talk about vegetables and to help the show celebrate its 40th birthday. "Sesame Street" aired for the very first time on this date in 1969.

She and Elmo and several children plant tomato, cucumber, carrot and lettuce seeds in a makeshift garden box.

They are digging the soil when Big Bird arrives and asks if she and he are related, after all he likes seeds, too.

"You're tall like me," the yellow one says. "Maybe we're from the same family."

Before the show is over, the vegetables themselves come to life and cheer for the first lady - as can only happen on "Sesame Street."

The first lady's vegetable garden and her chef, Sam Kass, had starring roles in last week's episode of "The Biggest Loser."

And Mrs. Obama will appear on an "Iron Chef America" episode to be aired this winter in which Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse and White House head chef Cristeta Comerford have to come up against a recipe around the vegetables from her garden.

(Needlesstosay, that episode has already been taped)

The White House vegetable garden has taken on a life of its own, garnering more attention for the first lady's message of healthy eating than anyone could have imagined.

"We're trying to reach as many people as possible,"  Mrs. Obama's spokesperson, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, told the Associated Press. 

"And by working with platforms with simliar goals like Irong Chef, The Biggest Loser and Sesame Street, we're able to do just that."

And speaking of good press, assistant chef and vegetable garden overseer Kass is getting his share. He was the subject of a couple of stories in the New York Times and another in People magazine.

He's already made People's 100 Beautiful people. Can "The Sexiest Man Alive" be far behind?

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

Sean Hannity of Fox News is complaining about the timing of an episode of The Biggest Loser in which the weight-loss contestants visit the White House vegetable garden -- on election night.

The contestants harvested some vegetables from the garden, alongside White House chef and vegetable garden overlord Sam Kass, and made a healthy dish on the episode.

Meanwhile, the Democrats and the Obama administration were losing a couple of governorships.

"You know, I think there could have been a more fitting night to air this episode, but I guess not," he writes.

Since the episode aired after the polls were closed, it isn't clear what has Hannity's shorts in a bunch.

What is clear is that not all the cabbage heads are in the garden.

Here are some pictures of The Biggest Losers at the White House.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

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

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

Photo credit: AFP/Getty

First lady Michelle Obama and her elementary school team returned to the White House vegetable garden Thursday for the final harvest of the season, and they sent a whole lot of produce to a nearby soup kitchen.

It took the 30 school children from Bancroft Elementary, who have been working with the first lady since the garden was planted in the spring, about a half hour to fill baskets and bowls and at least one wheelbarrow with huge sweet potatoes, carrots, fennel, lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, turnips, eggplant, peppers, tomatillos and greens -- a total of 223 pounds.

Most of the produce is going to Miriam's Kitchen, where Mrs. Obama helped serve lunch earlier this year.

The garden had already produced 740 pounds of food, some of which has been served at White House events. The garden cost about $180 for seeds and seedlings and soil amendments, the White House says.

But more than the pounds of produce, the White House vegetable garden has produced a renewed awareness - in the country and, indeed, the world -- of healthy eating and the pleasures of growing your own food.

I mean, even the Queen of England planted a vegetable garden after America's first lady set the example.

For lots more detail on the afternoon in the White House vegetable garden, and more pictures, go to Obama Foodorama.

Photo credit: Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

The school kids are back! The school kids are back!

The students from Washington's Bancroft Elementary School, plus students from Kimball Elementary, will be back at the White House vegetable garden today with first lady Michelle Obama.

The occassion is the fall harvest of the garden. Staff and volunteers from Miriam's Kitchen, the local DC food shelter that has received multiple donations from the White House of produce and honey, will also attend.

Check back here on Garden Variety for an update and photos!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

The White House is buzzing with activity, and it isn't all in the West Wing.

Dale Haney, the White House horticulturist and grounds superintendent, told NBC's "Today" show Monday that at least 100 gallons of honey have been collected from the bee hive that was built as a companion to Michelle Obama's vegetable garden.

Mrs. Obama was able to present pretty jars of the honey to the spouses at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh earlier this fall, and a guest chef used some to prepare food for a recent Latin celebration.

Those who follow gardening news know that a mysterious something is wiping out bee colonies and the pollination of the fruits and vegetables we eat in this country is in trouble.

It is often the case that fruit tree orchards and other farmers "rent" bees during the spring in order to facilitate pollination and, because of the bee shortage, those rental fees have skyrocketed and there is great competition for the portable bees.

Does anybody else see a deficit reduction tool here?

Posted by Susan Reimer at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

While the school children and the first lady were busy growing vegetables on the South Lawn of the White House this summer, the bees were busy, too.

Michelle Obama had a large bee hive installed near the garden, and it produced plenty of honey.

Enough, in fact, that she was able to give each of the wives of the heads of state attending the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh a very attractive jar of "White House Honey."

And this week, at a Fiesta Latina concert at the White House, guest chef Maricel Presilla was asked to help tell the pan-Latin story through finger food.

Presilla, chef and co-owner of Zafra and Cucharamama, two restaurants in Hoboken, N.J., said every item on Tuesday evening's menu was chosen to showcase some aspect of Latin culture.

Presilla said she was happily surprised to find tomatillos growing in the White House kitchen garden, and the chef used them in a hot pepper sauce she added to the menu.

Presilla also harvested fennel and parsley from the first lady's garden and used honey from the White House beehives.

 “I felt like a farmer — a farmer at the White House,” Presilla said. “I don't feel like I'm at the seat of power. I feel like I'm in a great kitchen.”

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

Photo credit: White House Photo Blog/Brooks Kraft

Garden Variety readers have been asking how the first vegetable gardening season at the White House concluded, and the answer is, it isn't over yet.

Eddie Gehman Kohan, the tireless reporter behind the Obamafoodorama blog, reports that fall crops have been planted, including pumpkins. And a high-tech composter has been added as well. And so have bird houses, to go allow with the bee hive.

The White House is offering tours of its gardens later this month, but the vegetable garden is not on it. Only the formal gardens. And only to a few visitors.

This fall's tours are scheduled from 10 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, Oct. 17, and from 10 AM to 3 PM on Sunday, Oct. 18th.

Tours will be cancelled in the event of inclement weather, so call the 24-hour information line at 202-456-7041 to check on the status.

Tickets are free, but are only handed out in person by the National Park Service, on the days of the event.

These will be distributed at the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion, located at 15th and E Streets, beginning at 8:00 AM each day, on a first-come, first-served basis. The tickets are timed, and are one ticket per person, including children.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

 Photo credit: Associated Press

First lady Michelle Obama bought cheese and chocolate milk at the launch of a new farmers' market blocks from the White House Thursday afternoon.

"I've never seen so many people so excited about fruits and vegetables!" she said to a crowd of about 300 shoppers.

Before shopping, Mrs. Obama spoke about the importance of healthy eating, which she said gives people the energy to get through the day, according to the Associated Press.

Mrs. Obama encouraged Americans to get to know the people who grow their food. And she said that farmers markets are especially important in neighborhoods where access to healthy options are limited.

"A farmers market is not just about vegetables, it's about community," Mrs. Obama said.

It was a perfect forum for the first lady, who has been speaking out for healthy eating since planting the White House vegetable garden in the spring.

Behind her in the picture above is long-time Obama chef and White House assistant executive chef Sam Kass, who made a presentation to a couple of neighborhood groups to get their support for the market. Kass has been Mrs. Obama's right-hand man in her healthy eating initiative.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

It's a go for a farmers' market near the White House.

The Washington Post is reporting that the appropriate permits have been signed and issued and that White House assistant chef Sam Kass got a couple of community groups on his side with a presentation.

The market will be open Thursday afternoons, beginning Sept. 17, on a section of Vermont Avenue NW just a block from the White House and draw from 17 farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

No word on whether Michelle Obama's garden will be one of them.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

We here at Garden Variety floated this idea a few weeks back, and it looks like somebody has picked up on it.

There is movement afoot to open a farmer's market very near the White House, where First Lady Michelle Obama is growing plenty of her own vegetables.

The Washington Post is reporting that a permit request has been filed, and it has the support of the White House chefs. No one is saying for sure that Mrs. Obama is involved, but they are hinting that the idea has her support.

The market would be located on a little-used part of Vermont Avenue NW, about a block from the White House, the Post reports.

During an interview with the Huffington Post in August, the President hinted at the possibility of such a farmer's market while talking about the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables in school lunches.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

In this video produced by the White House and posted on AOL, First Lady Michelle Obama and assistant White House chef Sam Kass discuss the origins and the goals of the first White House vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt planted hers during World War II. Mrs. Obama said the idea for the garden began as a way to change the eating habits and the food decisions of her family. It has since exploded both in terms if impact and imitation. The video also shows time-lapse photos of the garden over several months - giving lie to all those rumors that the garden was "faked."

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

I can see it now.

The Obama family outside the White House, working out of the back of a pick-up truck, selling vegetables from Michelle's garden and the kids making change out of a tin cash box.

That's the vision that comes to mind when the President discusses healthy eating, getting more fresh vegetables into school lunches and the possibility of a White House farmer's market.

Read his comments on the Huffington Post.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

Meanwhile...

Obama Foodorama, a well-researched and well-written blog about Obama administration's food policies, reports that a retired White House groundkeeper confirms that reconditioned sludge was only applied once to the White House south lawn, in 1985.

Though President Clinton issued a broad directive to institute more environmentally friendly landscaping techniques, he was not in the White House when the sludge was applied, according to White House groundskeeper Irvin Williams, who retired last year after 59 years of service. That would have been during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

As bogger Eddie Gehman Kohan points out, the Clintons, too, have been "slandered" as having "poisoned" the White House grounds during this crazy campaign to discredit Michelle Obama's healthy eating initiative.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

I wrote earlier this week about the persistent rumors that the White House vegetable garden had "toxic" levels of lead caused by an application of fertilizer during the Clinton administration that was manufacturered from sewage sludge.

It seems that every day, some new blog, Web site or goofy publication reprints the rumor that the lead levels are so high that the First Lady will not allow her family to eat the produce from the garden and blah, blah, blah.

This, despite the repeated reassurance from Michelle Obama's press office that the lead level - 93 parts per million - was far below the 400 ppm that might cause some concern.

Well, as the New York Times reports, the White House has again tested the soil and found the lead levels to be about 14 ppm. Sam Kass, assistant White House chef and head gardener, was even trotted out for a photo op to help make the point.

The White House attributed the astonishingly low level to all the organic matter that was worked into the garden before it was planted. 

The lead level is as low as it might be in an area where there are no cars, which pollute the soil as well as the air. 

Not that any of the cabbage heads out there are going to believe it.

Photo of Sam Kass/ Associated Press

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

The New York Times is reporting on its political blog that lead has been found in the White House kitchen garden.

Garden Variety reported that fact previously, noting that the lead level found in the ground was 93 parts per million, far below the level of 400 parts per million, which requires remediation.

Lead is not unusual in urban soil. And the lead found in the White House dirt is far below the lead levels that can reach several thousand parts per million in cities.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden
        

GOOD Magazine has an amazing illustration of the White House vegetable garden.

It not only shows the layout of the First Garden, but also compares the number of home gardens in 2008 and 2009. According to GOOD, gardens are up 7 million this year. Not sure what their data source is, but it's still good news!

The illustration also has space for the White House's smallest First Family member:

Continue reading "White House garden guide" »

Posted by Maryann James at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: White House Vegetable Garden