It’s now officialy spring and one person taking advantage of this prime planting time is Michelle Obama, who broke ground on her organic “White House Kitchen Garden” on March 20, with help from 26 fifth graders from a local Washington, D.C. school.  The 1,100-square-foot lot on the South Lawn of the White House will provide fresh produce for the First Family, as well as White House staff and visitors. Foodies across the nation have been lobbying for a vegetable garden on White House grounds since Obama was appointed and even famed chef Alice Waters spoke out, telling 60 Minutes she thought such a step would have important symbolism.

The vegetable garden (which will also be home to berries and herbs) has been missing from the White House scenery since the Roosevelt administration, when Eleanor Roosevelt put in a “Victory Garden’, and we think that makes this a victory garden in its own way. Sure, the garden’s  main purpose will be to raise awareness about eating locally and growing your food than it will be about the difference one family garden can make on our national food situation, but we’re all for anything that gets people interested in growing their own goods–especially if they opt for organic or start a compost bin for kitchen leftovers.

If the Obamas start to feel they need a little extra help keeping the Kitchen Garden thriving, they can always enlist the services of one–or more–of the top three nominees from the White House Farmer website, where more than 50,000 Americans voted their choices for a “First Farmer” who could run an organic garden on the several acres of the White House grounds. Of course, with White House Chef Sam Kass overseeing all growing things and their use, the Obamas will certainly be in good hands.

So how about your lawn? Could you spare a few square feet for the purpose of putting more on your plate? If you start planting now, a summer of the freshest produce is right around the corner. Or, if you’re not ready to commit fully just yet, you could pick up a copy of the buzzworthy Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn by Fritz Haeg and start sowing some seeds of inspiration.

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