Baby boomer Michelle Obama planting White House organic vegetable garden

It’s exciting that Michelle Obama, a baby boomer, is organizing an organic garden at the White House.

It’s a good way to show people you can get really wonderful, organic vegetables by growing your own garden. And, it’s great way to save money during tough economic times.

Obama will also use the garden as an opportunity to talk about the American diet, according to the to the article “White House Gets Vegetable Garden” on CBS News.com. 

Obama was joined by 26 students today, as she broke ground for the White House garden, according to “White House Gets Vegetable Garden” on CBS News.com.

The group prepared the soil to plant mint, corn, squash, and beans. The students will return in June to harvest the vegetables and cook with the White House chef.

Lettuces for the garden will include red romaine, green oak leaf, butterhead, red leaf, and galactic, according to the article “Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden at White House” on The New York Times.com.

Spinach, chard, collards, and black kale also will be planted. A patch of berries will be used for desserts. Herbs will include unusual varieties such as anise hyssop and Thai basil. Two bee hives will make honey.

Sam Kass, an assistant White House chef, who prepared healthy meals for the Obama family in Chicago and is an advocate of local food, will oversee the garden, said The Times article. The total cost of seeds, mulch, and other materials is $200.

Eleanor Roosevelt planted a vegetable garden on the White House grounds that inspired a victory garden movement, which led to the creation of 20 million gardens growing about 40 percent of America’s fresh produce during World War II.

This year, about 43 million U.S. households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, berries, and herbs – up nearly 20 percent from last year, according to the National Gardening Association. Saving money on bills was the No. 2 reason they gave for the increased interest in gardening.

What do you need to do to plant a vegetable garden? Here are resources to help you get started:

“How to Really Start the Garden” – Backyard Gardener.com

“Vegetable Gardening Basics: Creating Your Own Vegetable Garden” – The Garden Helper

“A Basic Vegetable Garden – Survival Food and Simple Survival Tip – How to Plant a Vegetable Garden” – Suite 101.com

“How to Start a Vegetable Garden” – eHow

“Gardening Guide: How to Grow a Vegetable Garden” – Green Daily

Obama’s efforts are encouraging to me to get my organic vegetable gardening going this year. Last year, during my first year of blogging, I didn’t take the time to garden, except for some container gardening.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Comments

[this view from there]

Interesting blog and post, but Michelle Obama is not a Boomer. As many top experts have repeatedly said, Barack and Michelle Obama are part of Generation Jones, born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Generation X. Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term.

It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down this way:

DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965

Here is a recent op-ed about GenJones as the new generation of leadership in USA TODAY:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090127/column27_st.art.htm

[Rita]

Hi,

Thanks for writing. I'm glad you caught my post.

Yes, I've read about Generation Jones, but I don't agree that it is a viable, new, demographic category.

However, I do think that younger baby boomers do have different characteristics from older ones.

Rita

[Lisa]

This is an interesting controversy. I wonder who will end up deciding who is right? Should we ask the president how he feels?

[Rita]

President Obama said in a speech during his campaign that doesn't associate himself with boomers. He says he has had different experiences and has different values.

But, according to the U.S. Census definition, he is a boomer. Maybe he'll get the official definition changed.

Until then, I'll be writing about the Obamas as baby boomers.

Rita

[Mette - økologisk børnetøj]

I think Michelle Obama deserves credit for trying to be a role model as an organic thinking consumer. What she does will surely affect how a lot of people think.

// Mette

[Rita]

I agree that Michelle Obama is a role model. I think it's terrific that she's planted an organic garden at the White House.

Rita