by Jennifer Bateman, Independent THG Distributor
A great way to get your children involved in gardening is to allow them to have ownership of the garden space. Most children love pizza, so planting a pizza garden is a fun activity where they will learn about plants and gardening and growing their own food. They can even give the excess to those in need through the Plant A Row for the Hungry national campaign of which The Happy Gardener is a proud Bronze Sponsor.
Getting Started:
To make things more interesting then the standard row or box, try creating a circular garden that is divided into pie-shaped “pizza slices” for the plants. Since raised beds are best, you can use plastic lawn edging to make a circle or recycle that old kiddy pool that’s been lying under your deck. If using the kiddy pool, be sure to either remove the bottom or make many, many holes to allow excess water to escape. Select a location that receives 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. Lay out your circle and then remove all the grass as you don’t want grass popping up in the middle of your pizza. Kids love to dig in the dirt so let them go at it!
Once you’ve removed everything and loosened the top layer of soil, you’ll need to add more dirt to raise the bed above the level of the surrounding area. Since this is a child friendly project, you will need to mix your own chemical free dirt. Mixing equal parts of plain top soil, compost and coir fiber will give you a fantastic growing medium that won’t compact with watering and will allow good water retention and air circulation. Conditioning the soil with a child safe fertilizer like THG’s Pour n’ Feed for Vegetables & Edibles at the start of the growing season will insure that the plants have the nutrients they need.
You’ll then need to mark off the pizza slice sections. This can easily be done with heavy twine and some stakes to hold it in place. Put one stake in the center and the rest on the outside of the edging material. Run the twine from one side to the other wrapping around the center stake. This will provide structural support to keep the sides upright.
Plants:
While starting from seed is a fun activity, children often prefer the instant gratification that comes from seeing plants already growing in their garden. To make a great Italian style pizza, you’ll need at least:
Roma Tomatoes – Sweet Basil – Oregano
If you have a large enough circle or are using a kiddy pool, you’ll want to consider including:
Cherry Tomatoes – Green and Red Bell Peppers – Jalapeno Peppers – Onions – Parsley – Thyme
Make sure you select high quality plants with strong stems and healthy leaves.
Planting and Care:
Since tomatoes are tall, they will need to be staked or caged and placed on the northern most pizza slices so they don’t block the sun from the other plants. The rest of the plants can be spread out in the other slices as everyone “gets along” except onions and parsley so if you’re doing both, plant them as far apart as possible.
Water thoroughly with SeaResults Micronutrient Solution™ as soon as everything is in place to ease transplant shock. Spread a two inch layer of mulch to help suppress weeds and conserve moisture. While any type of organic mulch will work, using straw looks like pizza cheese and is fun for the kids.
Herbs can tolerate low water conditions, but tomatoes require at least one inch of water per week. If you have a problem with pests, make sure you use an organic pest control that is safe for food edibles. THG’s Outdoor Foliar Feed Plus and/or Foliar Feed Plus Garlic will do the job nicely.
Harvest:
With a bit of care, you’ll soon have enough produce to make your very own home-made pizza. The children will enjoy seeing the plants grow, the fruits and flowers form, and, most importantly, eating (sometimes right off the vine) the delicious food they’ve grown themselves. Please remember to donate some of the extra to your local Foodbank to help feed the hungry in your area.
Notes:
If you don’t have a large enough garden area, this activity can still be done in containers on your deck or patio using the largest you can find. You can use the same child safe soil mixture of plain top soil, compost, and coir fiber, but you’ll need additional moisture retention material like THG’s Store n’ Feed Mats and/or Store n’ Feed Gel. Plant one large plant in the center and the smaller ones around the edges. Make sure you don’t over crowd and remember that tomatoes will still need to be staked even if in a pot. Keep an eye on water levels as containers require more watering then gardens.
Recent Comments