Queen Elizabeth has palace veggie patch

LONDON, June 14 (UPI) -- Queen Elizabeth has put in a vegetable patch on the Buckingham Palace grounds, much as U.S. first lady Michelle Obama did at the White House.

Like the White House vegetables, the ones in the queen's garden will be grown organically, with liquid seaweed used in place of chemical fertilizers and garlic keeping aphids down, a royal spokeswoman told The Times of London. The patch is in a part of the 40-acre palace grounds previously used to grow summer flowers.

The 30-foot by 12-foot garden harks back to the days of World War II when the future queen and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, were photographed picking beans at Windsor Castle.

Vegetable varieties in the garden include Royal Red and Blue Queen beans and three varieties of royal lettuce -- Golden Queen, Queen of Hearts and White Queen.