Summer Campers Create A “Pizza Garden”

Just about every kid loves pizza, but not every kid gets to taste one with ingredients that they grew themselves. The campers at the Dalton Parks and Recreation Department's annual summer camp are going to get that chance, though, once the plants in their pizza garden are ready for harvesting. Not only did the kids plant the various seedlings, they also built the raised plant beds, shoveled them full of soil, and now they're working to keep them watered, too. 

"The goal for this project is, one, to have the kids be responsible for growing something, and, also to understand how much effort it takes to get that tomato that you buy in the supermarket," said Allison Mitchell, the DPRD's community garden specialist. "If you just go to Walmart and you pick up one for, you know, $1.97, then that's it. That's all the thought there is about it. So, this is a really great way for them to understand how much work and time that it takes to grow food."

The annual summer camp at the Mack Gaston Community Center always features activities that foster learning to go along with all of the fun, games and sports activities that fill out the schedule. This summer is the first time that the program has included the creation of a community garden for the kids. The idea grew from a collaboration between DPRD staff, the University of Georgia's Whitfield County extension service and a local non-profit called Floating Tree. 

That organization works to fight food insecurity through education and outreach to teach people how to grow, harvest and prepare their own food. When plans for the camp program developed, organizers settled on the idea of having a pizza party at the end of camp using ingredients grown in the garden. 

"We were just thinking about activities that we could do with the community. We met with the UGA extension service, and they were talking about how everyone is doing raised beds now for gardening. So we thought, 'let's let the kids do that!'" Camp Coordinator Audrey Simmons said. "Then Allison came along (as the new community garden coordinator) and the UGA extension knew about Floating Tree, and they wanted to be a part of what we're doing here, so it became a collaboration." 

Bridget Walsh and Spencer Barker from Floating Tree provided the materials to create the raised garden beds. The boards used to build the beds were pre-drilled with holes for screws, which made them easier and safe for the kids to assemble. 

"The kids could actually use the power drills," Ms. Mitchell said. "They got the screws, power drilled it all together and actually built the raised beds, which is a lot different than how some other people, nonprofits and other companies would do. And the kids really liked it. There were a lot of adults, so they were very supervised."

The day after building the beds, the kids got to shovel them full of a mushroom compost and topsoil mix. From there, it was time to plant the seedlings for their garden. Because it's a pizza garden, there will be different varieties of tomatoes such as cherry tomatoes and Roma tomatoes. There are also bell peppers and herbs like rosemary and cilantro. And there will also be some options for some spicier pies. 

"The kids specifically asked for jalapeños and banana peppers," Ms. Mitchell said. "So we will have those. And they were asking, 'when are we going to grow our cheese?' So, that was cute. I think they were just joking." 

The campers are responsible for watering and weeding the planters for the next several weeks as the camp continues. And Ms. Mitchell will be coming back to teach more gardening lessons, like showing how using hay can help the soil stay wet for longer periods of time to nurture the plants. 

"Everyone had great teamwork the whole time," Ms. Mitchell said. "They just were really incredible. Bridget and Spencer said that they were one of the best groups that they've worked with. The enthusiasm that they had; I thought there would be a bit more, 'I don't want to work,' but they were thrilled."

"They were using the drill, they were moving the wood. They put the dirt in the ground. I mean, from moving from one place to the next, planted the plants," Ms. Simmons said. "They did it all, and I was just like, 'this is amazing.'"

And soon, the kids will get to taste the fruits of their labor. 

"That's going to be a really fun, a very rewarding experience for them at the end of it," Ms. Mitchell said.