What If The Kitchen Garden Had Failed?

Never waste a crisis: Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan says that a South Lawn crop disaster might have been a good thing...

Washington Whispers reports that during a Monday event about sustainable farming held at the U.S. Archives, the Deputy Agriculture Secretary (l) discussed the possibility of First Lady Michelle Obama's Kitchen Garden failing:

"Merrigan, who manages the Agriculture Department's "Know your farmer, know your food" program, joked at an event last night that when Sam Kass, the assistant White House chef who tends the garden, expressed concern about the visibility of the first lady's garden and the chance that it might fail during the first year, she told him, "That would be great. ...Then people would understand the kinds of challenges that farmers face."

The Kitchen Garden is visible to the thousands of tourists who walk along the fence line of the South Lawn each month, and is kept in meticulous shape by the US Park Service, which manages the White House grounds. There's been no crop failure: The garden produced about 2,600 pounds of vegetables this year, according to the White House.

Merrigan, Washington Whispers pointed out, "has since applauded the First Lady's gardening success for setting an example for families on basic planting."

*Photo by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama