Pizza Garden

If you are trying to think of ways to get your kids interested in gardens, and to "eat their veggies", why not plan a pizza garden. You don't have to have a large space, even containers will do to house veggies for your pizza.

You will need:

• Good garden soil, either in an existing garden, or a purchased garden soil. (not potting soil)
• Organic all purpose vegetable fertilizer, or compost
• Plants. I prefer plants instead of seeds. Children are impatient, and with plants they can see immediate resuts. Tomatoes, onions, basil, oregano, and peppers are good choices. They all require the same light requirements, full sun. Oregano, may need a little less water than the others.
• Water
• Mulch to keep weeds at a minimum and conserve water
• Tomato cage

Allow your child to accompany you to the garden store or nursery to pick out their plants. Have an employee talk to your child about varieties, planting, and care of their plants.

After planting, create a garden journal with your child, taking pictures of the plants as they grow, find recipes for pizza dough, sauce etc, and place in the journal. After the harvest, learn how to preserve some of your garden's bounty for winter use, and lastly take a picture of your child eating that delicious pizza they grew themself.

Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 bell pepper, finely chopped

3 large, very ripe tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 6oz can of tomato paste

dried crushed red pepper flakes to tast

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

chopped fresh herbs to taste (basil, oregano)

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, stir in onion, and bell pepper and cook until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes and garlic, and cook until juice begins to thicken. Stir in tomato paste, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and sugar. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, approximately 15 minutes. Stir in fresh herbs during the last few minutes of cooking.

Makes about 2 cups. Freezes well.

Gardening with Kids

I developed several products a couple of years ago under the Mackenzies Garden logo. Mackenzie is my oldest granddaughter, now 5. My goal for 2009 as far as my business goes, is to grow my business. One way to do this is to get publicity on your products. With a marketing budget that is near zero, you have to get creative. Surf the net, look at other peoples blogs, and websites to get ideas where you might get some buzz about your product. I am submitting my products to a review site for gifts for grandkids. I am in the process of updating my website front page, but went ahead and updated the Mackenzie's Garden page first. Check out my beautiful grandkids (these pictures were made 2 years ago). I love the way the pictures fade in and out. The picture of Mackenzie watering the garden is actually her garden she planted from the butterfly kit I sell. http://www.gardenchick.com/mackenzies-garden.html My youngest granddaughter is Kendall.

Holiday survival

My granddaughters, Mackenzie and Kendall are here today. Mackenzie is off from school for the Martin Luther King Holiday. We had a sleepover, so that they did not have to get up so early to come over this morning. Early?.....they were both up by 6:30 this morning! By nine o'clock, we had eaten, watched some cartoons, and dressed up as fashion girls. I needed to clean the house, so I set the timer on the stove and told them when the timer went off we would plant the little strawberry grow pots my sister had gotten them at Target for Valentines. We did an experiment. Kendalls is covered by a baggie and Mackenzie's is open. We are going to see whose sprouts first. They are little Alpine Strawberry Kits and cost $1.00

You can find them at www.buzzyseeds.com