By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Legend has it that somewhere, teenagers exist who don’t like pizza — but those mythological kids don’t live in Caribou.
Local groups interested in gardening and healthy eating have embraced that teenage love for all things pizza by organizing the creation of a Pizza Garden at Caribou’s Teague Park Elementary School.
“[Caribou] promotes healthy lifestyles, so the nice thing about the teen garden program is that not only does it get 13- to 18-year-olds out in the sun with friends to play and learn about growing foods to sustain themselves, they get to eat healthy foods, too,” said Kathy Mazzuchelli, superintendent of the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department, which is one of the program’s sponsors.
Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce Director Jenny Coon mentioned that this won’t be the first time a community garden’s taken root at Teague Park, “but we’re doing things a little different,” she said.
For starters, the free program will be utilizing raised beds, scheduled to be constructed and prepared in early summer.
Furthering the garden’s uniqueness, participants will be growing their favorite pizza toppings.
“We’re going to be growing everything that you put on a pizza,” Coon said. “Spinach, tomatoes, herbs, onions — we’re even going to make our own sauce.”
“Not only will we be teaching teens how to grow, we’ll be teaching them how to use the produce and how to eat healthy,” she added, mentioning that her ideal pizza has tomatoes, spinach and mozzarella on it.
“You can’t go wrong with that combination,” Coon said.
Mazzuchelli’s pizza garden inspired pie also contains spinach and tomatoes — but she’d add feta cheese and mushrooms.
As there’s much more to pile on a pizza than plain cheese, there’s more to the pizza garden than growing toppings.
“Many people think that you’re not getting any exercise if you don’t run, bike or walk — which isn’t true,” Mazzuchelli said, adding that gardening involved a lot of bending, reaching and moving.
“When you’re weeding, you’re using a lot of different muscle groups … gardening also helps you expend some calories” she added.
Both Mazzuchelli and Coon agree that Caribou’s future pizza garden will be a great way for teens to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and fresh food, a sentiment undoubtedly agreed with by the project’s other sponsors: the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Eat Well Program, the Caribou Farmer’s Market, MOFGA, Sunrise Farm and Farmhouse Greenhouse.
Though the raised beds for the garden await construction, the seedlings are already sprouting at Farmhouse Greenhouse and are ready to be turned into pizza come harvest.
Anyone from 13 to 18 years old who wants to learn about gardening is encouraged to sign up for the free program.
Youths can register by calling the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center at 493-4224.
