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Home » Gardening

A Visit to the White House Garden – Full Tour of Veggies, Bees and More!

By: Pamela Reed
Posted:3/22/16
Updated:7/9/24

When you get a email invite to a private event that Michelle Obama and the White House are hosting for Let’s Move, you accept it.  Well your heart skips a beat, you accept it and then you try to figure out what shoes you’re going to wear.  It goes in order like that.  That’s what happened last week.

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Last week, I made the trip to Washington DC to attend a event to have a conversation on the health of our nation’s children.   Let’s Move (started by Michelle Obama in 2010) is a group initiative to encourage healthier food in schools, better food labeling and more physical activity for children.  Gardening goes hand in hand with this initiative as it’s important to grow your own.  Growing your own vegetables promotes healthy eating, but it also informs you where your food comes from and the process of plant life.  If more families were to start their own gardens, they would eat fresh vegetables more often, along with creating family activities to build/maintain and to learn about gardening.    I’d say I was one of the few non parents at the event, but I don’t think you need to be a parent to understand why eating healthy matters and to encourage it.  Since we started the garden on the roof years ago my own eating habits have greatly improved.  I love vegetables now.  Sometimes for dinner I just have vegetables, years ago that would have never happened.  With the experience of growing the garden I learned so much about nature and the planting process.  If you haven’t planted a little itty bitty seed and watched it grow into a full on broccoli plant, you haven’t lived.   Even at 32 years old, I’m still excited and amazed when I see a few ounces worth of seeds can turn into hundreds of pounds of vegetables.  Before having the garden I didn’t even know where so many vegetables came from.  I know it was a plant, but I didn’t know what the plant looked like, how long it took to grew, growing conditions and more.  Growing your own makes you respect vegetables a whole lot more.  Can I get some respect for vegetables? Amen.    And lastly, because of these vegetables I learned how to cook.  I almost think it should be a required class in schools now to learn how to cook.   If we all cooked at home, think of the impact it would have on obesity, overall health and factory farming.   If you follow this blog then you probably already know the joy and satisfaction one gets when presenting a meal to their family that is home cooked.  I wish everyone could experience this!

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After the talk (it took place in a fancy ballroom) and a tour of the White House (more fancy rooms),  I finally got to see what I was really there for: The White House Garden!  The White House garden was started by the Obamas 7 years ago.  There it is.  A vegetable garden, not fancy at all, situated in front (to the left) of the White House on the South Lawn.  The garden supplies food to the White House Kitchen (by the way, Cristeta Comerford is the executive White House chef who’s the first female to ever hold this position) who makes dinners, both family and state affairs.

Kale from the garden!
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Because the White House is so ornate, with marble and original Presidential paintings hanging everywhere, I thought the garden was going to be just like that.  I figured it would be well manicured, with ornamental boxes and decorations, stuffy and ready for a photo op.   What I was pleasantly surprised by was how real the garden looked.  It looks like it could be in my Dad’s back yard.   It had leaves on the path, vegetables that needed to be picked because they were flowering, and duct tape and clamps holding together cold frames.   I just had to smile.   I’m in the White House Garden everyone and I feel comfortable (or as much as one can feel when Secret Service is nearby).

Welcome to the White House Garden!

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Look, I’m in it!

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And now, lots of pictures for to you look at! This was in middle of March so it looks like they recently removed their cold frames and they’re at the end of their Winter harvest.  Seeds for Spring will be planted in early April.

Also, I might have sneaked a little bite out of a vegetable while walking around.  It was the garden rebellion in me.

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(raspberries)

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Visiting The White House_42(baby cauliflowers)

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And because I had to show it…. duct tape and clamps!
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I was super surprised to see The White House has a beehive too!  These little guys help pollinate the garden, as well as provide honey.
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I hope you liked my trip to the White House!  Thanks to everyone (Let’s Move, She Knows, Blogher)  for putting this together, it was lots of fun!

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(it was green for St Patrick’s day, not because it’s dirty!)

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  1. Sarah Hoang says

    June 10, 2016 at 4:39 am

    I really really like your trip to White House. It’s a wonderful experience for you. Your photos are beautiful. I wish I could have a trip like you. Thanks for your post

    Reply
  2. Karen (Back Road Journal) says

    April 13, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    How much fun was that! I’ve been on a white house tour but yours was so much more.

    Reply
  3. Anna @ shenANNAgans says

    March 29, 2016 at 12:50 am

    Wowza lady, what an epic post! Go you good thing! 🙂 So rad I get to see the White House gardens, kinda nothing like what I thought. I’m trying to get more veggies into my diet, for some reason change of season throws a spanner in the eating works. Anyways, I freakin loved this post. You are way cool! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Jessie says

    March 27, 2016 at 5:27 pm

    Oh wow!! What a wonderful experience! I’m so glad you were invited, not least because then I can live vicariously through your experience 😉 I’m so impressed with how beautiful and normal the garden is! Thank you for the tour 🙂

    Reply
  5. handmade by amalia says

    March 26, 2016 at 7:07 am

    As I’m not likely to get an invitation, I was so happy to tag along with you on this visit. What an interesting post, Pam. And what an honor.
    Amalia
    xo

    Reply
  6. Louise says

    March 25, 2016 at 9:38 pm

    Oh Pamela, how utterly exciting for you and yes the White House too. I’m sure you were the perfect guest:)

    I totally agree, I believe each and every person should at least nurture one seed at least once in their life whether it be in a garden, a window sill, or even the bathroom, lol…at least once!!! As a matter of fact, when my daughter frantically called me about filling my grandkids Easter baskets, I suggested she buy them seeds and gardening implements. I can’t wait to hear the results, lol…

    The White House garden sounds as a garden should, a work in progress ever changing and yes, growing:) I’m thrilled that you took so many amazing pictures and let us tag-a-long. (I would have “stole” a bite too:)

    Thank you so much for sharing, Pamela…from the looks of it, you chose the perfect shoes, lol…and, you are adorable too:)

    Reply
  7. Monica says

    March 24, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    This is just awesome! What an amazing experience – thank you so much for sharing it with us!!

    Reply
  8. Juliana says

    March 24, 2016 at 2:51 pm

    What a fantastic experience Pamela…all the photos are awesome…thank you so much for sharing them.
    Hope you are having a great week 🙂

    Reply
  9. Rachel Reed says

    March 24, 2016 at 12:06 pm

    WOW…love your photos. I didn’t take as many, but still enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
  10. Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says

    March 23, 2016 at 11:14 pm

    Wow! What an amazing experience! I think if I received an email like that I would think it was a prank! How lucky for you to participate in such an event!

    Reply
  11. Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says

    March 23, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    oh my God what a fantastic opportunity!!! I love the WH garden!

    Reply
  12. Norma Chang says

    March 23, 2016 at 7:39 pm

    Thanks for taking me along for the White House garden tours, I was wondering what it looked like and what were planted, seems quite large. Did you find out who takes care of the maintenance and harvesting? Love your hairdo.

    Reply
  13. Suzanne says

    March 23, 2016 at 1:57 pm

    A real honor Pamela, how great that you not only got to tour the white house but their garden which I have read about but have never seen. Great pics, loved the post. Greagt job!!

    Reply
  14. grace says

    March 23, 2016 at 1:35 pm

    that is EXTREMELY awesome! what an opportunity, and i can’t think of anyone more appropriate than you to attend. thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  15. Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes says

    March 23, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    Sounds like a special trip and what a great cause!!

    Reply
  16. The Surprised Gourmet says

    March 23, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    Growing one’s own vegetables is an amazing thing. Glad to see the White House garden is a real working garden. Congratulations on the visit and thanks for sharing the beautiful photos.

    Reply
  17. Mason Canyon says

    March 23, 2016 at 11:58 am

    What an awesome trip and great photos. Enjoyed your tour of the White House garden. You can never go wrong eating vegetables. Congrats on being invited Pamela.

    Reply
  18. John/Kitchen Riffs says

    March 23, 2016 at 11:20 am

    Wow, what a fun post! Congrats! And thanks for all the pictures — the White House garden looks wonderful. I’m with you on eating veggies — they’re usually the star of our dinner. It’s gotten to the point where my veggie dishes taste MUCH better than my protein dishes. Anyway, loved this — thanks.

    Reply
  19. Kiley Smith says

    March 22, 2016 at 8:58 pm

    What a great post! We didn’t meet at the White House but I was there too (part of the SheKnows group). I have loved looking around your blog and learning more about you. I love artists (my husband is a professional actor–and I acted too until I had kids). I love how much you love animals-we have a miniature poodle and we use a dog voice and make up his thoughts. haha! Nice to virtually meet you–and I hope to see you at a blogging event in the near future.

    Reply
  20. Arnebya says

    March 22, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    I love to sometimes just have veggies. Or veggies with brown rice. That’ll be dinner for me: broiled Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, onions over rice. Great, now I’m hungry. (Being in that garden made me wish there was a kitchen right there so I could pull up and sautee some cabbage. It was SO green!)

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Pamela, an artist Mom who shares family recipes. My farm is a 1,000 sq ft apartment in NYC. Let's make dinner together.

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