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["Lynda" <lurine AT com-pair.net>]

I commented quite some time ago.  But, I was a meany and picking on Teflon 
for doing so.  Closed minds and all that.

The garden is NOT organic.  The garden cost THOUSANDS of dollars.  The 
garden wouldn't be able to be considered organic for a minimum of five years 
and perhaps longer depending on the chemicals that were used to kill of the 
moths and keep it bright and green.  DH (landscaper) says that some of the 
stuff you use to keep the moths out is one of the listed items that you have 
to wait 10 years on before you can become organic certified and then the 
soil has to be tested to a depth of whatever the deepest your plants have a 
root system of.  It's nasty stuff!

Plus, one does wonder how much of the "1000 pounds of vegetables" actually 
came out of the roof top gardens.

Lynda

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "EarthNSky" <erthnsky AT gmail.com>


I heard on the news that Michelle Obama has planted her second annual
White House garden. Diane Sawyer announced that her first garden yielded
a bounty of 1000 pounds of vegetables. The WHG has 'exseeded'
expectations, so they report. I see a pattern of misleading statements,
and it's bothering me because it is such a small thing, no reason to not
be honest and forthright..

My issue is that this whole thing is misleading. For MO to state, “And
do you know how much it costs to plant all this?’’ she asked. “A
hundred-and-twenty-something dollars to get the soil ready, and about
fifty-five dollars for all of these seeds. So for less than two hundred
dollars we have planted enough food to feed not just the folks at the
White House, but we’ve also given a lot of food to some of our
neighbors, and we’re going to do that today.’’(interview made last
Fall-end of October) If you look at the original plan, it was mostly
leafy greens, herbs, lettuces and the like, Spring stuff. If they did
buy all of those seeds, yeah, $55 was probably about right at $2 a pack
or so. However, they grew summer crops, too, tomatoes, tomatillos, green
beans, squash, sweet potatoes,etc. etc. Where is the cost for all of
that? In October she seems to only be counting her startup Spring seed
costs. Probably the Obamas did get 1000 pounds of produce out of their
garden, but they certainly did not get 1000 pounds of produce from the
$55 of seeds they planted.

The garden is called an organic garden, even though they know it is not
certified organic, and I don't believe the following statement for a second:
>  The garden... is not certified organic; that process takes three
>  years. The White House did have the soil on the lawn tested, and
>  found that there were no chemical residues.
The White House has the finest 'lawn' in the world. Are they saying that
no chemicals were used? Oh, wait, let me read that again...
The WH had the soil *_ON_* the lawn tested, I guess that would be the
soil that was brought in for the raised beds by the mule-load(Kawasaki
mule, that is)
Can you get certification on raised beds that are over and not separated
from pesticide and herbicide laden lawn soils?
Does anyone here think that they might have tested the topsoil that was
brought in, and not the actual soil from the lawn?
Why aren't they teaching about what it means to grow things organically?
How products like Miracle Grow and Roundup aren't eco-friendly or
sustainable?

And then there is this...

>  Under a brilliant blue sky, Obama, Vilsack, the students and a team
>  of White House chefs planted 25 varieties of heirloom seeds and
>  seedlings including kale, rhubarb, arugula and 10 kinds of herbs. One
>  bed contains plants favored by Thomas Jefferson, including Brown
>  Dutch and Tennis Ball lettuce, Prickly Seed spinach and Savoy
>  cabbage.
Has anyone besides me noted that when you see them planting and working
in the garden, you see transplants everywhere? Where is the greenhouse
that raised the Thomas Jefferson collection of seeds donated by Monticello?

Watch this video from this guy's blogspot..pictures are worth more than
a 1000 words.
http://tomnelson.blogspot.com/2009/10/white-house-garden-typical-bs-with-real.html

Remember, $200...according to Michelle.. There is this image of all the
poor schoolchildren tending the garden and learning about healthy eats
but when the truth is revealed, you realize that there is a whole TEAM
of people who are working here. You and I knew this, but most folks don't.
Check out the sod cutter, the Kawasaki Mule, spreaders(they are amending
the soil to build a good base), tractors, tillers(note that depth of
till), etc...
They are adding topsoil amended with crab meal and potash.....$120 or
something, to get the soil ready...the topsoil they brought in...the
topsoil not figured into the cost, contained by the lumber or whatever
that also wasn't figured into the cost...manufactured by the labor team,
etc. etc. etc. Oh, and I haven't even added in the bees and all that
honey they produced from foraging on the vegetable garden. Jim Adams is
the White House chief horticulturalist...chief..over how many others?
And then there is the very likable Sam Kass, an assistant White House
chef and food initiative coordinator who is often seen out in the garden
'working'. Perhaps he is the chief of the 'team of White House chefs".
There seems to be an awful lot of people working in this 1100 sf2 garden.

The thing is, I think the garden is a great idea. I actually applauded
MO on her decision to plant one, as a symbol of the issues she
personally cares about. But, I think they have been so worried about
spin that they have lost sight of the real lessons, the lessons they say
that are the reasons for the garden to begin with. They could have
talked about how pollutants get into our soils, how we have depleted
nutrients and need to modify traditional gardening. They could have
talked about how the grass on the south lawn is unproductive, but a
vegetable garden has value. They should have been honest about costs,
and output and especially the labor involved. If they could have shown
the world that yes, this is extremely labor intensive, but here are all
the benefits, then it would be more realistic. They could compare,
honestly, their raised bed veggies with store bought veggies for
nutrient content and vitamins. They could have started the compost pile
much, much earlier. There are a hundred things that they should be
doing, (lasagna gardening, no till, etc.) but instead, the message is
lost. All we see now is the spin, the pr, and her gardening wardrobe,
which is getting as much attention as the food.

Lastly, I guess I am surprised by the lack of list commentary on this
issue....this is, after all, a group of people with an interest in
gardening and politics, right?

Bev

--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are
willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson


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