The White House Kitchen Garden was on display this past weekend as part of the annual Fall Garden Tour, which showcases the expertly manicured grounds and gardens. In a 2009 profile, assistant White House chef Sam Kass said the total cost of the garden, including mulch and seeds, was a mere $200. Kass works closely with White House horticulturist Dale Haney to ensure it remains healthy.
So far, the garden has yielded 1,600 pounds of food. After feeding the First Family and providing produce for state dinners, there's still much left over; about a third of the garden's harvest goes to Miriam's Kitchen, a local soup kitchen.
Though the Kitchen Garden may be a relatively new addition to the White House grounds, it can claim some serious history. The garden's bird's eye chili, okra, tomatoes, and scarlet runner beans were sprouted from seeds taken from Thomas Jefferson's garden.
A modern addition is the beehive, the first ever on White House grounds. The hive came about when White House carpenter Charlie Brandt told Kass about his latest hobby, beekeeping. Not long after, Brandt was asked to construct and maintain a beehive a few feet from the Kitchen Garden. The hive's approximately 70,000 bees aid pollination and produce honey—lots of it. This year, it yielded 170 pounds of honey, up from last year's 134.
Vegetable gardens have been planted before at the White House to stock its kitchen (John Adams ordered the first, and it was planted in 1801), but the current Kitchen Garden has loftier goals. It's a cause championed by Mrs. Obama as part of her effort to encourage healthy eating for American families.
Last year, she told reporters that the idea for a vegetable garden stemmed from issues in her own family. An unhealthy diet had led to weight gain in the first daughters. The First Lady took some flack for describing her daughters as "chubby," but reception to the Kitchen Garden was positive across the board. [The Feast Washington]
