people's garden

This year, USDA has been encouraging folks to try local food production and consumption. The People’s Garden has been an excellent example in connecting people to where their food comes from. And many of you followed suit, planting gardens of your own.

Hundreds of bell peppers in shades of green, red, orange and yellow were on the chopping block today at the DC Central Kitchen. The peppers, personally delivered by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack from the USDA Farmer’s Market, were on their way into quesadillas as part of the lunch menu at the DC Central Kitchen.

The last week of August was proclaimed Community Gardening Week by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and the new People’s Garden project outside the USDA headquarters fronting on the National Mall was a perfect place to discuss community garden in the greater DC-area and take a long at its future. On September 4, I joined a local farmer and USDA staff to talk about growing tomatoes, maximizing your harvest, and community gardening.

Community gardens are unique microcosms where people can learn about the science behind growing plants and provide an environment that cultivates social responsibility.

This week is National Community Gardening Week and USDA encourages you to do you part and connect with your community through gardening.

Today in the People's Garden, USDA volunteers hosted another Healthy Garden Workshop -- and visitors were once again able to sample a dish created entirely from garden-grown foods in the Chef's Garden. The events will continue all summer here in Washington, but you can also check out some video from this afternoon:

A volunteer from the Natural Resources Conservation Service leads the Healthy Garden Workshop, on attracting wildlife to the garden -- in this segment of the presentation, he's outlining how to attract hummingbirds.

This summer, we've had the privilege to hear from all sorts of experts in the Peoples' Garden at USDA, as part of the Healthy Garden Workshops series. We've learned about gardening various delicious vegetables, controlling pests, and preparing garden-grown foods. This afternoon, visitors to the USDA tents on the National Mall were treated to a really interesting presentation on pollination.

What a beautiful, sunny, not-too-hot day in D.C.!

It was perfect for today's Peoples' Garden workshop, which focused broadly on the many ways you can make your garden work for you -- by planting different vegetables, and knowing how they're bets prepared. Volunteer staff presented tips on utilizing garden vegetables such as squash, greens, and peppers, and gave basic advice on preparation.

The Obama administration has called on Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life to work to improve their communities as part of the United We Serve project. Here at USDA, many of our more than 100,000 employees are doing their part. They are driven to serve, and proud to identify ways to use their skills to support their own communities.

Take a look at the great work two USDA employees are doing:

People’s Garden—Tom (Goodhue, MN)

This afternoon in the Peoples' Garden at USDA, the weekly Healthy Garden Workshop was supplemented by a special new activity for kids: the Garden Sprouts program.