In American Grown (Crown Publishers), Michelle Obama describes how she planted a kitchen garden at the White House in 2009, following in the tradition of such former Pennsylvania Avenue green thumbs as Thomas Jefferson and Eleanor Roosevelt. The First Ladys goalraising awareness about childrens nutritionis lofty. But like any gardener, she isnt averse to getting her hands dirty as she brings her horticultural efforts on the South Lawn to life. Among the lessons she learned that first spring:
Avoid mounded beds. Its hard not to step on them when planting, weeding, or harvesting. The White House eventually traded them for boxes made of untreated wood, which help the soil retain more nutrient-rich compost.
The First Lady and her team initially planted flowers along the edges of the garden to help minimize soil erosion and to beautify the beds. We discovered that the flowers took up space needed for spreading vegetables, she writes.
Dont underestimate the destructive power of rain, she notes. In the gardens first season, thunderstorms washed away mulch and topsoil, which had to be replaced. Now she spreads a thin layer of straw on beds in spring and summerthis not only protects from rain but also helps control weeds and keep soil moist in a dry spell.
After an invasion of cutworms (caterpillars that munch on young plants), the White House gardeners devised a clever solution: They enclosed new plants in bottomless paper cups to keep out bugs.