Garden Advice from the Woods Boys to Sasha and Malia Obama
Sharon March 26th, 2009
Ok, this is almost too cutesy to post here, but I did think it might inspire some other kids to do the same thing. And the kids really, really did want to let Sasha and Malia know about their garden after we talked about the new White House Vegetable Garden. A lot of the emphasis has been on the Obama adults – but the White House garden may be one of the best tools for bringing kids into the garden.
Originally the proposed plan was to enclose some home preserved food from the garden that the kids wanted to send, but Mom persuaded them that seeds would be much less likely to be thrown out by the Secret Service. Mom helped with the grammar, neatness and some editing, but the content is theirs.
Dear Sasha and Malia,
Hi! We’re four brothers from New York. Eli is 9, Simon is 7, Isaiah is 5 and Asher is 3. We heard your family has a new garden. Our family has a garden too. We live on a farm with goats, chickens and angora rabbits, and sometimes turkeys, sheep and a donkey named Xote.
We like to eat out of our garden. Eli, Simon and Isaiah all like the tomatoes best, especially the cherry tomatoes. Asher likes the melons.
We help plant seeds, pull weeds, make compost and harvest the food. We like to make rainbow salads with lots of greens like chard, sorrel, kale and mint, and with edible flowers like johnny-jump ups and daylilies.
This year we’re turning our whole front yard into a big garden. Some special kid things we’re doing include a bean tent for us to hide in and a flower maze. Isaiah wants a water garden to attract toads and frogs, and for carnivorous plants that eat bugs. Our yard also has fairy houses that we buit, but we haven’t seen any fairies yet. Does your garden have kid stuff in it?
We think you are lucky to have a garden in the White House. We bet you’ll get lots of yummy things to eat like we do. Just look out for the bugs - don’t eat them!
We are sending you some seeds we saved from our garden. We are sending you pumpkins and peas, two of our favorites. Do you like pumpkin pie? We all do, and sometimes we have pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon. Yum!
We hope you have fun in the White House and in your garden. You’ll be the most famous garden kids in the world. We wish we could visit, but at least our seeds can come to your house.
Your friends,
Eli, Simon, Isaiah and Asher
- America , agriculture
- Comments(13)
CUUUTE!! Let us know if they receive a reply!
Great idea Eli, Simon, Isaiah, Asher and Sharon,
I bet Malia and Sasha would be pleased to get your advice, seeds and that you took the time to write to them.
It was SO EXCITING to see the pics and the stories about the White House garden last Fri.
It really made my year and I know it will be a great example and model for everyone to get started about trying to grow some of their own food.
Keep up the good work this spring and summer!
Lynn, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
that is too damn adorable
Calling someone you never even met a friend? This is one of the reasons that Americans are considered shallow and fickle compared to Europeans. Friendship is something earned and won, to granted aimlessly.
When times get tough you will see who your friends are. They may or may not be who you think. It might be wise to teach this to your kids.
“When times get tough you will see who your friends are. They may or may not be who you think. It might be wise to teach this to your kids.”
It’s also wise to teach children that an extended hand of friendship is always a good thing, even if the person it’s extended to doesnt respond….And to teach them that when times are tough, when the wind howls and the snow falls, opening the door of a warm house to a stranger is the decent thing to do and that from that small act of compassion for a stranger can come great friendships.
Deb
ET, this was mostly composed by a 7 and 5 year old for cripes
sake. Maybe cut them a little slack – sheesh.
Sharon
OK–maybe I’m a total sap, but this brought a tear to my eye.
Who cares if it’s cutesy–it’s symbolic on so many levels. Maybe the seed from a pumpkin grown on your farm will find its way into the White House garden and eventually to the plate of the man who influences so many. Your kids believe that they have the power to forge a connection between themselves and their government, and, cynicism aside, maybe they do!
–Loretta
ET, actually, the more I think about this, the more it ticks me off.
You do realize that there are cultures all over the world that refer
to every older person as “Auntie” or “Grandfather,” right? Or that
“your friend” is a formal closing salutation in letters? I have to say
this really doesn’t rank up there on the list of “things destroying
our culture.” And considering it more, I’m glad my children chose
“your friends” rather than “sincerely” (which isn’t always sincere – basp!”
Sharon
I teared up too!
The South Lawn Garden is probably the most exciting thing to happen at the White House in a long time.
Most cheering thing I’ve read on the web in weeks. This garden at the White House is the best thing to happen in washington, DC in years.
ET,
I kinda think you had it backwards.
A friend is anyone that I care to call a friend. People that I haven’t met have a chance to offer a greeting, meet my eyes, share a smile – and I will likely consider them friend, until they show me different.
I consider offering a greeting to a friend-prospect as a gift, something I am able to give, like a smile, and I need never run out of that resource.
Calling someone a friend, even though not well known, is an invitation to a cordial and peaceful exchange.
I understand your hesitation – when a used car salesman calls me friend, I know enough, now, to be wary. Don’t ask. But someone making a friendly social overture – deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Enjoy!
I also was realy happy to see the Obama’s putting in a garden at their new residence. The message to the country that hard times are here and they will probably get harder, but you can do something to help yourself and your country by taking some action is I think really needed now. My two children, 11 and 8, are very curious about the Obama girls lives and I’m sure they would have used the same “Freinds” ending to a letter as well, which I think is a perfect way to end a freindly letter.
Jim
Sadly, there is one thing the Obama girls will not get to experience, and that’s growing good quality vegetables organically. The reason? Their father is too tied to Monsanto, and the legislation making its way though both houses of the congress right now to forbid Americans from eating any vegetables that have been grown without the Monsanto chemicals applied to them. It’s not enough that Monsanto has actually patented, (can you believe that) patented about 90% of the seeds in this country. The whole plan is (and this is NOT conspiracy theory) to control all food resources because they know that whomever controls the food controls the people. Check the legislation out for yourself. It’s scary!
Yes, its the same bunch of wealthy elite who control the banking cartel, privately owned Fed. Reserve, the government and the military.
FYI, we’re trying to put in an all-voluntary community garden with 53 families in it, and you wouldn’t believe the hoops the city gov’t is making us jump through. Owning your own land means very little anymore. You’ve got to get approval from some gov’t department to do ANYTHING with it, except walk on it.