Growing in the Garden ...

Gardening and pizza went together perfectly in Lansing recently when 16 youth learned the different parts of a plant, and how each part is edible depending on the fruit or vegetable. It was discussed which parts help make a pizza, while everyone designed their perfect pizza. Ideas ranged from pepperoni to gummy bears to ice cream. Youth used English muffins to make personal pizzas for lunch.

They also discussed the four needs for plants to survive: air, soil, water and sun. To highlight soil, everyone was able to plant their own pizza garden to take home (pictured above and at right), using a variety of seeds of foods used to make pizza such as tomato, pepper, basil and thyme. To highlight sun, they made UV bracelets, which turned colors in the sunshine. It was suggested to experiment with different sunscreens on their beads to see if the beads would still change colors or if the sunscreen would block the UV rays. Youth played a bubble game to demonstrate how plants exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen for humans to breathe, and they were shown how to make a rain gauge out of recycled pop bottles.

Other skills gained were knife cutting (pictured at left), correct handwashing using the Glo Germs, and measuring and making a snack. For more information about 4-H and upcoming activities contact Becky Rea, 4-H K-12 Program Coordinator, at the Allamakee County Extension and Outreach Office at 563-568-6345 or http://www.extension.iastate.edu/allamakee/. Submitted photos.