Grow A Pizza Garden

Want to help your kids learn to love healthy pizza toppings? Consider growing a garden filled with the herbs and veggies they need to make tasty pizzas!

Are you looking for a great way to get your kids excited about cooking and gardening, all while teaching them about healthy eating choices? Then consider growing a pizza garden. These gardens grow the tasty herbs, spices, and veggies you need to make pizzas. In fact, you can grow everything but the dough and cheese right in your own backyard. Imagine making your children's favorite dinner dish from food you worked together to grow!

Plants You Need
The plants you need for your garden may vary depending on your tastes. However, there are some basics you will need. Tomatoes are essential to building pizzas. Look for a variety that has a lot of meat on them, like the Italian Pompeii. You may want to grow a few cherry tomatoes or another small variety to slice and use as a topping. Roma tomatoes can also work if you cannot get your hands on the Italian Pompeii.

Almost every recipe for a vegetable pizza calls for peppers. Plant several varieties of sweet bell peppers to add both color and flavor to your dish.

Arugula, basil, rosemary, oregano, and garlic are all excellent spices to use in your tomato sauce. Some people enjoy the taste of parsley and thyme in theirs as well. Finally, add a few onion plants, and maybe a zucchini to give yourself a few more topping options.

Preparing Your Space
The great thing about a pizza garden is the fact that it does not require a lot of space. You may be able to grow everything you need on a corner of your patio in pots, or a small plot of land. You can make it larger too, if you want, but you will need to divide the garden into rows so that you can reach all of the plants. If you use containers, purchase containers that will be large enough to hold the adult plants.

Choose a spot where the plants will receive six to eight hours of sun, because this is what most pizza plants need to thrive. Prepare your soil by digging down at least a foot to loosen the soil. Then, use manure or compost to add richness to the soil. You can also use an organic fertilizer as well. Make sure you purchase slow release fertilizer so it will not be rinsed away with the frequent watering these types of plants need.

Getting Kids Involved
If you have kids, get them involved in growing your pizza garden, but this takes planning. You will need to decide what tasks the kids can handle on their own. For instance, they might be able to help you put seeds and seedlings in holes, but they likely will not be able to help with tilling the soil before you plant. They may also be able to help you spray bugs with soap and water, harvest the vegetables and herbs, and even weed the garden. If possible do the more difficult tasks when your children are otherwise occupied or being cared for by someone else.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR