As Congress moved toward inking a deal Wednesday that would end the partial government shutdown, a blog that covers all that is food in the Obama White House shed new light on another rotten side effect of the shutdown: The famous White House Kitchen Garden has turned into a mangled mess.

The White House Kitchen Garden is arguably the most high-profile garden in the nation. First lady Michelle Obama has used it as a focal point in her campaign against childhood obesity. She's hosted dozens of events in the garden, from harvesting crops with children affected by Superstorm Sandy to inviting celebrity chefs like Rachel Ray to talk to kids about creating healthy meals. She also penned a book about it, "American Grown:  The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America."

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But as Obamafoodorama.blogspot.com reports, the shutdown took a toll on the garden since the people who typically tended to it were among the furloughed employees of the National Park Service.

"Pounds and pounds of ripe organic bounty have gone to waste," since the shutdown began, the blog says. Weeds have popped up and veggies that have fallen off their vines have gone from ripe to rotting on the ground.

Public tours of the garden had already been shutdown earlier this year "due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration," according to WhiteHouse.gov.

The blog has photos that chronicle the state of disarray throughout the shutdown. The slideshow below has a look at the White House Kitchen Garden during its past glory days throughout the Obama administration.

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