pizza Plant a garden

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY RITA CALVERT

This spring let’s try a new garden concept—planting a circular garden plot to grow pizza toppings! We’ll all love it. Adults and kids have great fun being part of the process together. In the spring it’s time to plan, make lists, and collect materials. And then it’s on to making it happen! Prepping the soil, planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, and maybe even building the pizza for the party at the end of the season!

The theme for this garden can lend itself to many incarnations—maybe a salsa garden with varieties of spicy chilis and assorted bell peppers, or possibly a tea garden with lavender and other herbs, perhaps even chamomile.

Some educational farms may have a pizza garden. I was inspired by the charming pizza garden I saw at Clagett Farm in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and organized by the Capital Area Food Bank. Here’s another example of the pizza garden making basics.