PENSE, Sask. — Schoolchildren and community residents scrambled around a large circle in a field at the edge of town earlier this month in what appeared to be mass confusion but was actually organized chaos.
Tomato plants went in one slice of the circle and peppers in another. A Hereford heifer calf stood patiently in another slice, while a tiny pig appeared unfazed by the attention.
Planting of the Pense pizza farm was underway.
This month, students in several Saskatchewan communities planted pizza or burger-and-fries farms as part of agricultural awareness projects.
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It’s a chance for children to learn where their food comes from and enjoy the produce at harvest time.
“This combines my three passions of agriculture, education and kids,” said organizer Tamara Wolfe, a Pense resident who also works for the agriculture ministry.
She used social media to involve the community and will be relying on it again for help with weeding and watering over summer.
The students will be out once school resumes in fall to pick tomatoes, peppers and herbs for their pizza. Some of the other ingredients are a little harder to produce in the time frame. The pig, representing ham, and the calf, representing milk for cheese, will come back for a return visit so the students can see how much they’ve grown, Wolfe said.
“The wheat and canola won’t be ready, but we may swath it so they can see how it is harvested,” she said.
Extra herbs will be dried and used by home ec classes. Extra tomatoes and peppers will become salsa.
It’s a chance for children to experience how much work is involved with growing their own food.
“A lot of these kids haven’t been involved in agriculture,” Wolfe added.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
