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Growing a Pizza Garden

Growing a Pizza Garden. Kent Phillips kent.a.phillips@gmail.com. Why do we want to grow a Pizza Garden. Flavor, freshness, pesticide-free Health benefits exercise, nutrition, phytochemicals Connection with the food you eat Introduce you to gardening v.

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Growing a Pizza Garden

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  1. Growing a Pizza Garden Kent Phillips kent.a.phillips@gmail.com

  2. Why do we want to growa Pizza Garden • Flavor, freshness, pesticide-free • Health benefits exercise, nutrition, phytochemicals • Connection with the food you eat • Introduce you to gardening v

  3. We teach a common-sense, ecological approach • Rely on locally available materials and resources- (rocks, leaves, animal manure). • Feed the soil (with organic matter) to increase garden productivity. • Maximize biological and genetic diversity to strengthen your garden eco-system. • Example: Plant an assortment of annual flowers and herbs to attract and feed beneficial insects.

  4. Simple Steps • Planning • Soil • Planting and growing • Sustaining

  5. Planning • A good plan saves time, work, and $ • Location • Full sun is best, minimum is 8 hours/day • Miller Library Pizza Garden • Garden is 8 feet in diameter • It has six sections • It is a raised bed

  6. Miller Pizza Garden

  7. Your Pizza Garden • It doesn’t have to be round • It can be square or rectangular • Tall plants on north or west side 8 ft. Tomatoes Peppers & Basil 3 ft. Onions & Galic Oregano

  8. Soil test • Test you soil before adding fertilizer or amendments. • https://extension.umd.edu/growit click on “Information Library”, “Publications” and “Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Gardening” for HGIC Pub 110 on soil tests • Tests for pH+, heavy metals, macro and micro nutrients • N, P, K Ca, Mg, etc. • Follow the testing labs recommendations for nutrients and pH+

  9. Pizza Garden Soil Test

  10. Amendments added to soil • Rock Phosphate for phosporus • Sulfur to acidify the soil • Soybean meal for nitrogen

  11. SOIL • Soil is a living organism – feed it • Improving soil’s fertility is critical if you want a successful pizza garden • Improve your soil quality by adding six inches of organic matter • We have done this by adding Leafgro to the pizza garden

  12. Soil preparation for your Pizza Garden • Kill sod and control weeds • Cover area with newspaper or cardboard, and cover with leaves, and compost OR • Dig up the area by hand or with a tiller

  13. Alternative soil preparation Slicing off sod Loosening subsoil Turning soil

  14. Sheet compost your way to a vegetable garden

  15. Raised beds some advantages… • Warm up quickly in spring. • Drain well; less compaction and erosion. • Increase available rooting area. • Greater food production per square foot. and some disadvantages… • Up-front labor and expense. • Dry out quickly if weather is hot and dry. • Don’t work on slopes, unless terraced.

  16. What do you like on your pizza • Tomatoes • Peppers • Broccoli • Spinach • Garlic • Onions • Oregano • Basil

  17. Pizza Garden planting schedules • Garlic (late October thru early November) • Onions (Mid March for sets, late March for plants) • Oregano (Mid March) • Tomatoes, peppers and basil (Mid May) • Check last frost date for your area. • On May 12, you will be planting tomatoes, peppers and basil

  18. Weed management • Weeds are any plant growing where you don’t want it. • Best control methods: • hand-pull • sharp hoe • mulch

  19. Organic mulches • Prevent weed growth. • Moderate soil temperatures. • Conserve soil moisture. • Add to soil organic matter. • Should be spread after soil warms up. • We will use compost from our compost pile Examples: LeafGro, compost, dry grass clippings, newspaper covered with straw, shredded leaves

  20. Caging our tomatoes • Increase yields per sq. ft. • Fewer fruit problems; easier to pick & water • Adds complex texture to garden; enhances ecosystem (shading, micro-climates.)

  21. Enjoy the harvest • Home grown summer tomatoes • Ripe peppers are delicious • Basil, onions, spinach, and oregano

  22. Join the Grow it Eat it Network! • What is the Grow It Eat It network. • Goals: • teach people how to grow food • increase the number of Howard County food gardeners • create a network of food gardeners who will keep learning and sharing through classes, workshops, events, web site, blog

  23. Resources • Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC) • 800-342-2507 • www.extension.umd.edu/hgic • Grow-It-Eat-It website • www.extension.umd.edu/growit • Master Gardener state website • www.extension.umd.edu/mg

  24. This program was brought to you by Maryland Master Gardener Program Howard County University of Maryland Extension

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