Written by Cameron Grannis, Horticulture and Design Intern
Pizza is undoubtedly a household favorite. Takeout is almost synonymous with pizza, but making it at home is a great alternative! In fact, you can grow many of the ingredients at home. Though the idea sounds intimidating at first, many of pizza’s essential ingredients are already home-garden staples, such as tomato and basil. Plus, we’re here to help! In this article we’ve provided some of our favorite easy-to-grow pizza ingredients along with the basics of planting and care.
Tomatoes:
Tomatoes come in many different varieties and can be found at most local nurseries. Roma tomatoes are best for cooking, so plant these to use to make the marinara sauce base for your pizza. More flavorful varieties are better for using as a topping on your pizza, so plant a variety such as a Beefsteak tomato. Tomatoes should be planted from seeds during March to April and can be harvested beginning in June to July. For the best harvest, these plants prefer lots of water and soil rich in organic material. Tomatoes need to be staked up off the ground to produce successfully. In addition to pizza, this juicy, tasty vegetable full of Vitamin C and Potassium is a great addition to your garden!
Basil:
Basil is an essential Italian herb, and can add flavor to your marinara sauce or as a topping! Basil can also be used to make pesto, an alternative sauce to traditional marinara. Basil is a perennial herb that grows from Summer to late Fall. It prefers a bright, sunny location and plenty of water.
Bell Pepper:
Bell peppers make a great pizza topping and are easy to grow in a home garden. Their sweet flavor and sharp crunch make a great addition to the top of your pizza. Bell peppers do not grow well in cold, so start seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before your last spring frost date. Once sprouted in the Spring, plant them in a sunny spot because bell peppers require full sun.
Onion:
Onions are an essential ingredient in marinara sauce and can be used as a topping as well! Onions are best grown in full sun and moist soil. Onion’s can be grown from bulbs starting in March to mid april. In late summer to early fall, the leaves of the onion will start to fall over, which signals they are ready to be harvested.
Sources:
Grow a Pizza Garden. (2015, June 9). Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/vegetables/pizza-garden/
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