Pizza Gardens a Hit With Local Children

Pizzas loaded with onions, basil, peppers and tomatoes may be coming your way this summer. Local children had the opportunity to plant their own pizza garden over the weekend at a Smart Farm event at Citizen's Park in Barrington.  Some children showed up expecting to plant seeds that grew pizzas, while others were excited to just play with dirt.

Smart Farm held the "Plant Your Own Pizza Garden" event in which children were given a large container, dirt and basil, tomatoes, onions and peppers so they could start their own garden filled with common pizza ingredients.  It proved to be a hit with the children who learned about the basics of gardening, while looking forward to the end results topping their pizza.

When asked what he liked best about gardening, seven year old Alex Grelle replied "You get to get dirty!"  His five year old brother, Walker, agreed.  

JoAnna McAdams, a mother who attended the event with her six year old and nine year old sons, said she wanted to get her children involoved with Smart Farm and thought this was a good place to start.   "I volunteer with Smart Farm and I am trying to get my kids involved in volunteering so they can be more appreciative with what they get.  It's a great concept!"

Smart Farm is a Barrington area educational garden for adults and children where you learn about agricultural heritage, organic gardening, the slow food movement, and best practices for living "green," sustainable lives.  It is dependent on volunteers to tend to the gardening, holding events and driving the produce to local food pantries to feed those in need.

Six year old Carter Kupczyk got hooked on gardening last summer when his school planted basil and the students were in charge of tending to the plants, his mom, Lynn, stated.  Carter's dad makes homemade pizza as well, so Lynn thought this was a good way to get her son involved in cooking with him.

Sarah Marcotte, a mom of two young girls, said her family has grown vegetable gardens in the past and have already started their own this year.  "Our girls get excited about gardening!"

By the looks on the children's faces at this event, it looked like the perfect way to get them excited about gardening.