Washington:
US First Lady Michelle Obama teamed up with local school children and some world class chefs on Wednesday to harvest vegetables from the White House garden that would be donated to various shelters around the capital.
The First Lady along with her young helpers picked baby turnips, dug up giant sweet potatoes and snipped pumpkins off the vine as she continued her venture to improve the eating habits of Americans.
One gigantic sweet potato weighed in at four pounds (1.8 kilograms) on its own, drawing an admiring stare from the the first lady.
President Barack Obama's established a White House garden and has reaped seasonal fruit and vegetables, much of it for use in the White House.
"You guys have witnessed the first White House pumpkins," the first lady told the children as they loaded up wheelbarrows and weighed in their haul.
Mrs. Obama later posed for a group photo with the harvest team, and told the media that the harvest would be used by various food pantries around the capital.
"You guys are amazing, we are going to be able to give this food to some good food pantries," she added.
After the children finished their harvesting, they were put to work once again, washing the produce and then slicing and dicing vegetables for a fresh garden salad made just for them.
The White House kitchen team received some help from world renowned chefs Daniel Boulud, from Lyon, France, and New Yorker James Kent, representing the United States in the 2011 Bocuse d'Or cooking competition in Lyon, known informally as the Olympics of cooking.
The garden has produced 1,600 pounds (725 kilograms) of food this year, used to feed the first family and White House guests and for donations.