WASHINGTON – A gloved Michelle Obama wielded a pitchfork Tuesday to show some student helpers how to harvest the sweet potatoes in her White House garden.

“We’ve got to dig these babies up,” she said of the orange tubers as beads of perspiration on her forehead glistened in the afternoon sun. Students from four District of Columbia schools participated in the yearly fall harvest.

Some of the produce was tossed into a chicken vegetable salad that the group ate during an outdoor lunch on the South Lawn.

Carrots and peanuts were among the other crunchy edibles that were harvested.

Bees, including some from a nearby beehive, weren’t officially part of the program, but they swarmed participants nonetheless. The first lady fanned them out of her face and she doubled over at one point at the picnic table after a bee apparently became caught in her long hair.

Mrs. Obama started the vegetable garden in 2009, her first year at the White House, to begin a national dialogue about healthy eating. The garden led to “Let’s Move,” her national initiative to combat childhood obesity.

Google also recorded Tuesday’s harvest for a program it has that provides schools with guided virtual tours.

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