DIY Network

Pizza Gardens From "DIY Kids" episode DIK-103

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Build a pizza garden the entire family can enjoy. Figure A Figure B Figure C Figure D With a smaller pizza garden you can still enjoy fresh-from-the-garden toppings. Figure E Figure F Figure G Figure H Figure I Figure J Figure K Figure L

How would you like to grow a pizza garden filled with your favorite toppings? You can build a supreme-size pizza garden for the whole family to work on together or a personal-size pizza garden of your very own. Of course, you'll need a parent's permission, and Mom or Dad can also help you choose the best spot for planting. Hobby gardener and teacher Donna Hayes explains how to create your garden.

Creating a Supreme-Size Pizza Garden

Materials:

Garden gloves
Shovel
Rake
Spade or hoe
Six 4'-long fenceposts
Peat moss
Cow manure
Topsoil
Rocks for "crust"
Stepping stones
Tomato plants
Herb plants
Marigolds

1. With a parent's permission, begin by measuring and marking a circle 9' across. We used a 4 1/2' rope fastened to a stake to measure ours.
   
   
   
   
2. Add amendments to give the soil a healthy start. We mixed in cow manure, peat moss and topsoil.
   
   
   
   
3. Level the soil (figure A).
   
   
   
   
4. Form "slices" by placing the posts in the circle (figure B).
   
   
   
   
5. Create a "crust" by placing a border of rocks. We used flat rocks.
   
   
   
   
6. Use round terra-cotta-colored stepping stones as "pepperoni." Place a few in each wedge (figure C).
   
   
   
   
7. Plant the vegetables and herbs. We chose tomatoes, oregano, basil and chives -- with marigolds to look like cheese. Marigolds also help keep undesirable bugs away (figure D).
   
   
   
   
8. Now just water your pizza garden, and watch it grow.

Building a Personal-Size Pizza Garden

If you don't have room for a big pizza garden, try making a smaller one, following the same basic plan but on a smaller scale.

Materials:

Garden gloves
Rake
Spade
Trowel
Four 18"-long 1" x 2" pieces of pressure-treated wood
Cow manure
Peat moss
Topsoil
Tomato plants
Herb plants
Rocks
Terra-cotta clay saucers

1. To create a personal-size pizza garden, follow the same basic plan as for the supreme-size garden described above. First, with a parent's help, choose a location, and clear a circle about 3' across (figure E).
   
   
   
   
2. Dig in peat moss, cow manure and topsoil to make the soil healthy (figure F).
   
   
   
   
3. Plant a marigold in the center of the circle, then add pieces of treated wood to form pizza slices (figure G).
   
   
   
   
4. Use fist-size rocks to create a border that looks like a pizza crust (figure H).
   
   
   
   
5. Place small clay saucers inside the slices to look like pepperoni (figure I).
   
   
   
   
6. Plant tomatoes in two slices opposite each other and herbs in the other two slices (figure J).
   
   
   
   
7. To give the look of cheese, plant marigolds. They're colorful and help keep pests away (figure K).
   
   
   
   
8. Add water, and your personal-size pizza garden is ready to grow (figure L).

RESOURCES :
Nature Printing With Herbs, Fruits, and Flowers
Model: 088266929X
Author: Laura Donnelly Bethmann and Deborah Balmuth
(June, 1996)

To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.

Storey Books / Storey Communications Inc.
Website: www.storey.com