First Lady Michelle Obama, a Gardener in Chief along with students

While President Obama was busy killing a menacing housefly, elementary school children who had helped First Lady Michelle Obama plant a vegetable garden in April were invited back Tuesday to harvest vegetables.The harvest was the culmination of an ongoing project with Bancroft Elementary School.

She didn't look like much of a gardener, dressed in carnation-red jeans, a T-shirt and sweater, and fashionable sneakers, but that didn't stop Michelle Obama from getting down in the dirt of her Summer Vegetable Garden on Tuesday to begin the harvesting of lettuce and snap peas. "It's fun," she said, cheering her 36 helpers from D.C.'s Bancroft Elementary School.Mrs. Obama knelt in the dirt and supervised the children in cutting several varieties of lettuce. She also demonstrated the pleasure of eating raw sweet peas.

Together the group harvested 73-pounds of lettuce and 12-pounds of peas from the 1,100-square-foot, L-shaped plot on the South Lawn.Assistant White House chef Sam Kass said the garden has also produced beans, kale, collard greens, chard and herbs. He said the kitchen had been serving the beans from the garden every other day and herbs every night.

The school children worked in two groups. One group of about 10 students was assigned to the White House kitchen. It is all stainless steel but smaller than those in many new suburban houses. Each child was given an apron and a paper chef’s hat.A second team shelled peas. Mrs. Obama arrived and joined the team, with Chef Kass showing the children how to snap the peas. Mrs. Obama noted, “We were eating some peas in the garden. The peas are very sweet.”

Then the first lady helped set picnic tables for the meal, which she called a reward for their gardening."Today is really the culmination of a lot of hard work," she said.Mrs. Obama said she hopes the garden project educated parents and children across the country about the importance of fruits and vegetables.

"Too many kids are consuming high-calorie food with low nutritional value, and they're not getting enough exercise," she said. "My hope is that this garden, through it we can continue to make the connection between what we eat and how we feel and how healthy we are."