Growing a Pizza Garden
Kent Phillips
kent.a.phillips@gmail.com
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Why do we want to grow
a Pizza Garden
Flavor, freshness, pesticide-free
Health benefits
exercise, nutrition, phytochemicals
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Connection with the food you eat
Introduce you to gardening
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.
Simple Steps
• Planning
• Soil
• Planting and growing
• Sustaining
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
Miller Pizza Garden
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.
T
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Peppers & Basil
Onions & Galic
Oregano
3 ft.
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+
Pizza Garden Soil Test
Amendments added to soil
• Rock Phosphate for phosporus
• Sulfur to acidify the soil
• Soybean meal for nitrogen
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
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
Alternative soil preparation
Slicing off sod
Loosening subsoil
Turning soil
Sheet compost your way to a
vegetable garden
Raised beds
some advantages…
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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.
What do you like on your pizza
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Tomatoes
Peppers
Broccoli
Spinach
Garlic
Onions
Oregano
Basil
Pizza Garden planting schedules
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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
Weed management
• Weeds are any plant growing where you
don’t want it.
• Best control methods:
– hand-pull
– sharp hoe
– mulch
Organic mulches
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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
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.)
Enjoy the harvest
• Home grown summer tomatoes
• Ripe peppers are delicious
• Basil, onions, spinach, and oregano
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
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
This program was brought to you by
Maryland Master Gardener Program
Howard County
University of Maryland Extension