Twenty-six elementary schoolchildren wielded shovels, rakes, pitchforks and wheelbarrows to help first lady Michelle Obama break ground on the first day of spring for a produce and herb garden on the White House grounds, according to this Associated Press article from Friday.
"Crops to be planted in the coming weeks on the 1,100-square-foot, L-shaped patch near the fountain on the South Lawn include spinach, broccoli, various lettuces, kale and collard greens, assorted herbs and blueberries, blackberries and raspberries."
Such a White House garden has ties to our own state. Noted California chef Alice Waters, founder of Berkeley's Chez Panisse and a leader in the movement to encourage consumption of locally grown and organic food, she has lobbied the White House to plant such a garden for more than a decade. Here is a link to a segment on her appeal to the Obamas March 15 on "Sixty Minutes." (The portion about a garden at the White House is in the last minute of the 12.5-minute segment.)
In this op-ed piece from Sunday's Vision section, Harry Saltzgaver, the executive editor of the Grunion Gazette in Long Beach, writes about how they really aren't all that effective if you think growing your own will save you money.
But the results sure do taste better than store-bought. And there's just something about getting out there in the soil and using your own two hands to help something grow that seems to fertilize our own spirits, especially these days.
I'll bet they don't worry about hordes of environmental lawyers suing them over water use. Gadzooks folks it's D.C.. Every species there except d-partyers and amateur crooks must be endangered. Good idea though, the garden may turnout to be the productive center of this administration.
Bart...I agree with your last statement probably because the Obamas will have nothing to do with it after the photo op.One observation and a thought..."Michelle My Belle" looked like she had no idea what a shovel is and how it works and it will probably require that the government expand by another 2 or 3 positions.
You got it Brian..it took me a nano second before I thought to myself...the first disability claim by a first lady in the White House.
Symbolism over substance...........
"...Michelle My Belle looked like she had no idea what a shovel is..." (Brian Murray) And there were other unfriendly remarks. There are lot of metropolitans who never used a shovel. Why should they? Dig up the concrete side walks? Growing up in a world metropolis, I was never near a shovel or touched one till I did gardening on our Clovis California property when I was over 25 years old. To refrain from calling people mean and petty, I shall put it on a basis a bit more clinically detached.
I have observed that a great number of beehivers are patently solipsistic. The world exists through their eyes only. Like they were a die after which to cast their fellow men. That attitude makes for very poor communality. And it makes polite social intercourse virtually impossible. And debates too often turn out to be boring and or exasperating contests of will. Solipsism is a perfectly respectable, defacto ism, but it cannot overcome poor upbringing. Put the two together and "nice" goes out the door.
If you're going to put yourself out there as an example to the country, it appears less artificial if you actually know what you're doing. With groundskeepers and gardeners and kitchen helpers about, do you really think First Lady Obama is going to dirty herself in a vegetable garden? If she's not, then why bother with the charade in the first place? And if the coming months prove me wrong, I'll eat my words.
Has it occurred to anyone that the president's wife did not do it for the country, for common_sense or Isabell Lawson, but for her two young daughters. I did it for my daughter and her friends, but the media/paparazzi was not interested in us nobodies. Americans more than most Euros are too involved with their elected officials' lives. Privacy is not something they can enjoy.
Ha! No, that hadn't occurred to me. Maybe the interview to announce the plan, the White House blog, the schoolchildren photo-ops, etc. all distracted me from the fact that it was meant to be a private, mother-daughter event that was intruded upon by the media.
...photo-op will describe every public moment for the next four years, that comes with the job. This is a country that not only forgot how to grow food but forgot how to eat, it can't hurt to offer wholesome models.
"Dizzy"... how long have you been waiting to slip in "solipsistic" into a post or did you just dig it out of your "Thesaurus".Thanks for the new word.
Common_Sense..."Good Monicker" considering your comebacks to "The Queen of the Confused" aka."Dizzy".It doesn't take a lot of fancy words to reveal hypocrisy..."Good Job".
What is the purpose in trying to find any angle possible to criticize the First Lady regarding this garden? Who cares if she knows how to use a shovel? Who cares if she personally weeds the garden? The First Lady knows that if she sneezes it will become national news. Promoting gardens and using it as a photo op will bring the positive aspect of gardens out to the public and it will have an impact. Community gardens have been a very successful community revitalization tool. The woman promoting the idea of the White House Garden wanted to impart “the symbolism of the edible landscape;” to bring forward the educational points of “stewardship of the land” and “nourishment of the nation.” Those school children involved with this project will remember it. They planted a garden with the First Lady! Other schools will use it as an educational tool. Being a farmer’s daughter and living in the Central Valley, I think it is critical that children understand the relationship of the land to their food. Our society is too far removed from that reality. Today’s children will be our future leaders and just perhaps they will get the idea that our farmers need water; the fertile land in the Valley should not become a cement jungle of tract homes. This event isn’t going to change the world but all it takes is the seed of an idea in one kid or one community for a positive outcome that can grow into something of substance. Those of you who sneer at Mrs. Obama because of this event, question her motives and find fault with her actions need to take a more critical look at yourselves. I question YOUR motives. I have grown tired of this nation of complainers and whiners. What arrogance. It is getting embarassing.
Kim... Thanks for the lecture...Not!...I'm tired too.Tired of the constant manipulation by the media and "The Obama Folks" to distract us from what is really going on.It's all staged and an insult to my intelligence... but maybe not yours.If it makes you want to go out and buy a package of radish seeds and plant them in your garden with your kids...go for it.Sounds like you've already done this on your own...without "Michelle my Belle" mishandling her "Earth Mover" aka.shovel.Seems like your still in denial over "The First Fraud" and her husband but would hope you could see these little side shows for what they are...pure theater.This was a teachable moment though...for parents to show their kids how they are being manipulated by "The Media Magicians" and their slight of hand but why discuss the death spiral of our country when you can contemplate the cultivation of "Brussel Sprouts".
This is the third time I am doing this post. For whatever reason necessitated, it is boring.
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Kim Tanksley, your intelligent and reconciliatory statements are wrong in one single aspect. Those who agree, don't need it, and those others;...... you could write till judgment day, and you would not reach the wind tunnels between their ears.
I think I shared that aphorism once before.
"Every smart woman has millions of natural enemies. Every stupid man in the world." (Baroness Maria Ebner von Eschenbach) AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH hahahaha!
Brian, with you single handedly determining everyone's thoughts, knowing their hearts and judging their motives, we hardly need a God any more. Your world of bitterness and distrust must be a very sad world indeed. In fact, I have always wondered how many moons there are in your world.
Your conspiracy theories are quite imaginative. I say focus that energy on fiction writing. You should at least make some money on your fantasies. You know, stimulate the economy. As for me, I try not to bore you with simple logic, open minded thinking and well...reality. You've totally missed the point but you did so on purpose. That's O.K. this is America you are free to listen like a rock.
Brian, if you don't like lectures then I suppose bondage is totally out of the question..??...
Tanksley's comment raised a profound subject matter: "Brian, with you single handedly determining everyone's thoughts, knowing their hearts and judging their motives, we hardly need a God any more."
To make it short; the man's ego is whistling in the dark; while being terrified that nobody might need Brian. Whether it is so or not would be irrelevant. He believes it, and that is what's driving him. All we have to know is these basic three: Self-Preservation; Need for Validation; and Fear of Abandonment. Tanksley's and this post will be reassurance long enough to empower to counter. Probably with some idiotic attack, to keep the line open. And I may add, being neurotic is not a measure of intelligence by any means.