As you sow

I am sure you have all heard the news that the Obamas have turned the sod for what they say will be a new vegetable garden at The White House. Yes! We even saw pictures of Mrs O with shovel in hand! This news was so momentous that even the BBC carried it:

The Obamas to eat what they grow

The Obama family plan to eat what they grow in the White House in the future

US First Lady Michelle Obama is set to break the ground for an organic garden on a patch of the south lawn to grow produce for the White House kitchen.

Local primary school pupils will help her with the planting and harvesting of the vegetables, herbs and salad crops.

Promoting healthy eating for American families has become a part of the first lady's agenda.

She has promised her whole family will be getting involved, and even President Barack Obama will help with weeding.

Mrs Obama hopes that inspiring children will help spread the healthy eating message to others.

"My hope is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities," she said in an interview in her East Wing office.

The plot of land given over to the new kitchen garden, which will measure about 1,100 sq ft (102.2 sq m), will be visible from the street....( more here at the Beeb)

I got to thinking about the times when Bratchild was little and we would spend hours nurturing our vegetable garden. The cats and the dog all got in on the act. I was reminded of a song we used to sing. So, in the interest of cross border friendliness, I thought it would be a nice gesture for me to share that song with the Obama girls, so they, too, could sing as they plant and tend to the garden:

Isn't that just precious?

Apparently this is the first garden in those grounds since Eleonor Roosevelt's Victory Garden. America was at war then, and since America is again at war, what a great idea to name THIS garden Victory, too, or Victory2! We do have Victory in Iraq after all. Just a suggestion from an ally.

Meanwhile, as the Obama family begin this latest venture, I am remembering all the life lessons the Bratchild and I both learned from the gardening we did together. Any gardener knows that a garden - from conception to dinner table - needs careful attention to detail. Kinda like life. Far too many to go into here. Maybe we'll do gardening hints from time to time.

For now: "As you sow, so shall you reap." Taken from the King James Version of the Bible: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

That sounds to me like a gardening and life lesson we would ALL do well to remember, especially in these challenging times.