The First Garden
Michelle Obama is apparently breaking ground on a White House organic vegetable garden today. The Obamas will grow about 55 kinds of vegetables. Yes, there will be arugula.
All I can say is, what took so long?
Food guru Alice Waters nagged Bill Clinton about making a garden. I don’t know if she petitioned George Bush, too, but I hope she did. I have gardens on my mind. I sowed my first rows of lettuce, spinach, arugula and peas this week. I’ve some radish seeds I want to get in the ground, too. I love growing my own vegetables, but particularly lettuce. It’s so much more delicious, but really, it’s also a matter of thriftiness and convenience. What’s easier than going out to your own backyard to harvest a salad?
Politics aside, I think there are fewer things as rewarding as growing your own food. Perhaps there are security concerns? Will the First Garden need its own Secret Service agent?
And if you don’t have a garden, you have spring produce in local farmers’ markets to look forward to - they’re beginning to wake up. The one at the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds is open year-round, and a revival of a market at Krankies will open May 5 and will run on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
