First Lady Michelle Obama, Gardener in Chief

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

She didn't look like much of a gardener, dressed in carnation-red jeans, a T-shirt and sweater, and fashionable sneakers, but that didn't stop Michelle Obama from getting down in the dirt of her Summer Vegetable Garden on Tuesday to begin the harvesting of lettuce and snap peas. "It's fun," she said, cheering her 36 helpers from D.C.'s Bancroft Elementary School.

Under a cloudy sky and surrounded by about 50 reporters, photographers, and TV crews, Obama first led the kids in picking lettuce. She cut the base of the plant with scissors, and the students took each head to be weighed and washed. The lettuce was eaten later during a picnic in the First Lady's Garden. Then they went to the peas. There, it seemed that the first lady and the kids ate most of what they picked.

It was all meant to draw attention to the first lady's bid to promote healthy eating and local organic farms. "If it's fresh and grown locally, it's probably going to taste better." Still, the students seemed more interested in the cupcakes made in the White House kitchen.

In the garden, she helped chefs Sam Kass and Tafari Campbell guide the students. Kass has control of the garden, which is filled with the first family's favorite veggies, many grown from seeds that came from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

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