Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity has received lots of attention. In an effort to encourage healthy eating, the first lady has shared with the public her experience with the White House kitchen garden.
If you are wondering, a kitchen garden is simply a garden of vegetables, herbs and fruit grown specifically for domestic use. Many of the fruit and vegetables purchased in local grocery stores are full of harmful pesticides. Growing your own herbs and vegetables leads to fresh and pesticide free foods. Growing your own produce can also save you a great deal of money.
Michelle Obama shares her personal experiences starting the White House Kitchen garden in her book American Grown. She shares her thought process behind starting the garden, her planning and the actual execution of her planning. Of all of the information shared in the book, one of the most valuable is the trial and error. The book shares the details of what worked when growing the garden as well as the things that were harmful.
Tips and Mishaps to Consider When Starting a Kitchen Garden
1. Avoid Mounted Beds: These beds are too wide and often result in disruption of the soil when planting,weeding and harvesting .
2. Avoid the Pretty Flowers. First Lady Obama added flowers around her garden initially to make the garden more pleasing to the eye and assist with soil erosion. She found over time that the flowers only restricted the growing garden over time.
3. The Harmful Thunderstorms. Mrs. Obama witnessed first hand the damages of a “hard” rain on her garden. She found much of her hard work was often washed away during thunderstorms.
Check out American Grown for the full story and experience of the White House kitchen garden. Healthier eating and a beautiful garden is only a couple of pages away.
