Photo Credit: Whitehouse.gov

Last Friday, 26 lucky fifth-graders from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington D.C, got to visit with US First Lady, Michelle Obama and help her get started on the new fruit and vegetable garden in the White House lawn.

Working in pairs, the young children who are experienced gardeners, thanks to their school's community garden, helped the First Lady dig the soil and pull out the grass, readying the 1,100 sq.ft. area on the South Lawn for next month's planting.

Once done, they hung out with the First Lady giving her some gardening tips and feasting on apples, shovel-shaped cookies, and freshly squeezed apple cider.

However, their work here is not done. They will return next month to help with the planting and then again when it's harvest time when they will not only help pick the produce but also get to hang out in the White House kitchen and watch it being transformed into something even more delicious - and of course taste it too!

The year-around garden will be planted with 55 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, which will include peas, cucumbers, pepper, four kinds of lettuce, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. There will be no beets, however since that's the one vegetable President Obama does not like! Mrs. Obama is also planning to make fresh honey, by installing two beehives nearby.

While the White House staff will maintain the garden on a day-to-day basis, Mrs. Obama expects the whole family to pitch in when it comes time to pull out the weeds - And that includes the President himself!

The first lady, who is a big advocate of proper nutrition, decided to start a garden to not only encourage her own family to eat healthy but also, to try to encourage the rest of the world to do the same.

First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt planted her 'victory' garden in 1943, with the same hope and within two years, over 40 percent of all produce in the US was being derived from home gardens. We hope this time around, even more, Americans will be inspired to do the same.

sources:takepart.com,kansascity.com,chicagotribune.com,nytimes.com, dailymail.co.uk