From the Plant to Pizza Pan

City life doesn’t provide the opportunity of abundant acreage, but that doesn’t stop the Rural Health Initiative Program Manager, Shaya, from reeping the benefits of home grown nutrition.

Following this past weekend’s hot and humid weather, she harvested a handful of garden goodies, including banana peppers, Rutgers heirloom tomatos, and green peppers. Shaya plans on using the vegetables for toppings of a homemade pizza tonight.

“Fresh ingredients provide for a more vibrant taste,” she said, “and it’s rewarding knowing the vegetables came from my garden.”

Shaya hasn’t always been a gardener, but it wasn’t due to a lack of interest. Prior to moving [back] to Wisconsin in 2013, she lived in St. Paul, Minnesota for more than a decade.

“When I first told Yogi [husband] I wanted a garden, he didn’t believe me,” she said. “He agreed he would build it but said the rest of the responsibility was mine.”

In the summer of 2015, Yogi built her a raised garden in the back corner of their yard in Neenah, WI.

“I was absolutely thrilled,” she said, “and I look forward to tending to it every day. There’s simply something therapeutic about it, and I look forward to using the vegetables in our family dinners.”

Now it’s your turn. How do you use your garden goodies? Leave us a comment below.