School students joined the first lady on Thursday for the Obamas' final fall harvest, bringing in eggplant, okra, tomatoes, herbs and much more. See photos.
First lady Michelle Obama right, and school children harvest sweet potatoes during the harvest of the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama tastes a tomato plucked from White House Kitchen Garden during a harvesting event with students on the South Lawn of the White House October 6, 2016 in Washington, DC. Students from across the country were invited to help pull vegetables and greens from the garden which was established by the first lady in the spring of 2009. The garden is now a permanent feature on the White House grounds.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(L-R) U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama, NBC Today show host Al Roker and NBC News senior food analyst Sam Kass work with students to harvest the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn of the White House October 6, 2016 in Washington, DC. Students from across the country were invited to help pull vegetables and greens from the garden which was established by first lady MIchelle Obama in the spring of 2009. The garden is now a permanent feature on the White House grounds.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Barack Obama hugs first lady Michelle Obama, during a surprise visit at the harvest of the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
President Barack Obama, joins first lady Michelle Obama, children and participants during surprise visit at the harvest of the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. Carrying a basket, back right, is singer Ashanti.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, joined by, from top left, retired NBA basketball player Alonzo Mourning, farmer Will Allen founder and CEO of Growing Power Inc., singer Ashanti and Al Roker, with the participating children from the harvest of the White House Kitchen Garden, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. (Courtesy Shannon Finney, www.shannonfinneyphotography.com)
(Courtesy Shannon Finney)
Courtesy Shannon Finney
A new arbor adorns the entrance to the White House garden at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. Michelle Obama is going all-out to ensure the White House kitchen garden that she created in 2009 doesn’t get plowed under by the next first family. A month out from Election Day, the first lady’s office unveiled an expanded and improved garden, with the hope that it will endure regardless of who takes office come January.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
A new paver etched with markings “White House Kitchen Garden” is seen at the entrance to the White House Kitchen Garden at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. Michelle Obama is going all-out to ensure the White House kitchen garden that she created in 2009 doesn’t get plowed under by the next first family. A month out from Election Day, the first lady’s office unveiled an expanded and improved garden, with the hope that it will endure regardless of who takes office come January.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Table and benches sit in the middle of of the White House Kitchen Garden at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. Michelle Obama is going all-out to ensure the White House kitchen garden that she created in 2009 doesn’t get plowed under by the next first family. A month out from Election Day, the first lady’s office unveiled an expanded and improved garden, with the hope that it will endure regardless of who takes office come January.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
A flower bed is mixed with vegetables to attract more bees to cross pollinate plants at the White House Kitchen Garden in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. Michelle Obama is going all-out to ensure the White House kitchen garden that she created in 2009 doesn’t get plowed under by the next first family. A month out from Election Day, the first lady’s office unveiled an expanded and improved garden, with the hope that it will endure regardless of who takes office come January.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Sesame Street’s Elmo and Rosita provide commentary during an event to harvest the White House Kitchen Garden with U.S. first lady Michelle Obama on the South Lawn of the White House October 6, 2016 in Washington, DC. Students from across the country were invited to help pull vegetables and greens from the garden which was established by the first lady in the spring of 2009. The garden is now a permanent feature on the White House grounds.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
There’s no actual memo, but first lady Michelle Obama is going all-out to make sure the White House kitchen garden that she created in 2009 and expanded twice doesn’t get plowed under by the next first family.
With less than four months left in the Obama administration, the first lady on Wednesday dedicated an expanded and improved garden with the hope that it will continue regardless of who takes office come January.
“This little garden will live on as a symbol of the hopes that we all hold of growing a healthier nation for our children,” Mrs. Obama told a crowd gathered at the garden to celebrate the dedication. “I am hopeful that future first families will cherish this garden like we have, and that it will become one of our enduring White House traditions.”
The garden’s size has grown from an original 1,100 square feet to 2,800 square feet. It has a new wooden arbor for an entrance, wider bluestone walkways, wooden tables and benches.
There’s even an inscribed stone that reads: “White House Kitchen Garden, established in 2009 by First Lady Michelle Obama with the hope of growing a healthier nation for our children.”
And, to bat away any pesky questions about how to pay for the garden, the first lady announced private donations of $2.5 million to maintain and preserve it.
This collection of raised beds is much more than a garden to Mrs. Obama: It’s her legacy, at the heart of her yearslong quest to fight childhood obesity and promote healthier living.
Calling the garden “my baby,” Mrs. Obama said she’d first dreamed of it while sitting at her kitchen table in Chicago before her husband had even been elected.
School students joined the first lady on Thursday for the Obamas’ final fall harvest, bringing in eggplant, okra, tomatoes, herbs and much more. Then, in coming weeks, the beds will be covered with plastic hoop houses to allow vegetables such as broccoli, kale and collard greens to grow right through the winter — and into the next administration.
Much as the first lady wants to see the garden endure, the next first family can decide whether to keep it or go in a different direction.
Neither campaign responded to a request for comment on what a Trump or Clinton administration might do with the kitchen garden.
But it’s fair to speculate that it might be a higher priority for Clinton than Trump.
Clinton is known for eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Trump, not so much.
As first lady, Clinton directed chef Walter Scheib to bring “contemporary American cuisine and nutritionally responsible food to the White House,” Scheib later wrote. There was even a small garden on the White House roof for growing produce, according to Scheib, who died in 2015.
Trump, for his part, loves red meat and is proud to patronize McDonald’s and KFC.
What started for Mrs. Obama as a fairly simple kitchen garden in 2009 grew into her broader Let’s Move initiative to promote healthy eating and habits.
“This has truly become a movement and it certainly won’t end when I leave the White House because we’ve still got a long way to go before we solve this problem,” the first lady said, promising to keep working on the issue for the rest of her life.
Over the years, the garden has supplied fruits and vegetables for the first family, soup kitchens, guests at White House receptions and other events, even state dinners.
Students from around the country have helped with planting and harvesting, and 335,000 visitors have toured the garden over the years.
The garden updates were a joint endeavor of the National Park Service and the University of Virginia School of Architecture, whose students designed the new layout, arbor, table and benches.
The furniture speaks to the first lady’s vision of an enduring garden: It is made from reclaimed wood from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia, James and Dolley Madison’s Montpelier in Virginia and Martin Luther King Jr.’s home in Atlanta.
The Burpee Foundation and the W. Atlee Burpee Company contributed the $2.5 million to the National Park Foundation to ensure the garden is maintained.
___
Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/nbenac
