Community Garden
I am absolutely pea green (which I believe is the exact right shade of green for the covetous emotion).
As I read this New York Times article about the Obama family's cultivation plan for an 1100-square-foot plot on the White House grounds, envy penetrated me with each plant listed. A berry patch, a beekeeper, five kinds of lettuce, tomatilloes, cilantro (good luck with that one), each a little stab, only intensified by my spring fever. Plus 23 fifth graders to till the land and staff volunteers to help with upkeep; it's a gardener's dream.
But despite my jealous heart, I was thrilled for the Obama family and for the nation to see the example. In the article Michelle Obama said the idea for the garden came when as a working mom she was struggling to teach her girls about healthful food choice. But time constraints had not allowed her to start a garden.
Now as a work-at-home mom (Yes, we all claim her working moms, stay-at-home moms and work-at-home moms!), gardening can fit into her still extremely busy schedule. Proximity just makes a huge difference. OK, in her case, a staff helps too.
I started a garden three years ago with the same hope of teaching picky eaters to appreciate and eat good, home-grown vegetables. And it has worked out fabulously--with the exception of the vegetable-eating thing. I couldn't believe how my pickiest child took to the garden. But she still doesn't care for many vegetables.
Yet now she knows more about many aspects of gardening than I do. Our small plot is in a city park community garden, something Michelle Obama suggested for city-dwellers. And my daughter chats with all the other gardeners and learns the tricks of the trade.
Her unflagging interest in the garden and enthusiasm for hard work shocked me. But that goes to show something that every gardener (and parent) knows: When you plant a seed, sometimes you're surprised by what grows.
A few words about your children’s hesitation at vegetables. It’s probably hard-wired. Even Michael Pollan admits that humanoids are opportunistic omnivores. We choose according to taste, smell and nutritional cravings. Taste buds develop slowly with age, and only the ones near the tip of your tongue, sensing sweet and salt are fully developed by childhood. Besides that, children are growing fast; they need protein and calories. Contrary to popular belief, most vegetables are not nutrient dense; they are watery, with nondescript flavors. Being “picky” is also an evolutionary survival adaptation. Being too adventurous about eating mushrooms or off-smells of any kind runs counter to the survival instinct. The above reasons are why kids gravitate to meats and sweets.
Also, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions about Michelle’s “unflagging interest.” She’s in her forties and doesn’t have a farm background. Everybody feels enthusiastic about gardens the second day of spring. Six weeks into a Washington summer and suffering lower back pain after long hours with a hoe, she might feel different.
No, it’s my daughter’s interest whose is unflagging, even after three years. Michelle’s may definitely “flag.”
In our community garden every year we seem extremely enthusiastic gardeners with ambitious plans come in and then give up by July 4. Gardening is hard work and it’s not something everyone enjoys.
I think a garden at the White House is a great inspiration. I grew up gardening, we used to get all our fresh food from our backyard! Now, living as an expat in Guatemala, I really don`t have space for planting, but once construction is done, I plan to put in herb window boxes and some container gardens.
The WH Kitchen Garden will do just fine without Mr. & Mrs. Obama having to do much weeding – unless they want to. Kids & vegetables: My two granddaughters loved eating out of my garden last year and the year before. I thought about things they’d like to eat – lemon cucumbers, striped tomatoes, spinach for one and red leaf lettuce for the other one. You get the idea. If it was different from the usual, they were interested. Or, if it was something they loved already, they were happy i’d thought of them. I have 3 raised beds, totaling 80 sq ft, which are just the right height to save my back. With berries planted around the patio and tomatoes hanging from the grape arbor, the work is minimal after everything is planted.