When I visited Washington, I met the Secretary of Agriculture who comes from the great farming state of Iowa and he knew that we were going to begin this project. In fact, the idea for this project was inspired by the First Lady’s work with Washington, D.C. students who’ve always lived in the city and have never had a chance to grow vegetables or tend to a garden. As I have the rare privilege of having some land in the center of a very crowded city, I thought some of Seoul’s city students might enjoy a similar experience.
Towards 
the end of May, I had a very welcome break in a fairly intense week when a group of fifth grade students from Duksoo Elementary School visited my residence in Seoul to begin a class study on gardening and growing vegetables.
Each group of three or four students is growing a different crop and they planted one pot using soil from the ground and the other using enriched soil. This way they can see the difference in the growth of their crops depending on the soil type and study the importance of nutrients in the soil. And in addition to what the students have planted, we have a long-standing tradition at the residence of growing our greens in the summer, and with the spring rains they’re doing pretty well. I will keep you posted on how things go with all of our gardening this summer.
Originally posted on June 12, 2009. Reposted with permission of the U.S. Embassy Seoul.