Never underestimate the power of delicious food. If you’ve been struggling with your garden, a delicious recipe might be just the thing you need to get your motivation going again. So if you’ve been out of luck with the last set of plants you started, why not try starting a pizza garden this time around?

Here’s what to do to start your indoor garden filled with delicious pizza ingredients.

Plant a big container of herbs

Herbs serve a variety of roles in the kitchen. For your pizza garden, they are going to give your homemade sauce some flavor. But you can also use the fresh herbs as a pizza topping, or dry them to make a seasoning to shake on top of your pizza.

You only need one container for your indoor herb garden because they can all grow together. Alternately, you can grow the herbs separately in small pots. It’s up to you. Parsley, oregano, thyme, and basil are all excellent herbs for pizza. Of course, you can use whichever herbs you like the taste of (just substitute with the herbs you want in the recipe below).

A container herb garden needs good drainage, water whenever the soil feels dry, and full sunlight for most of the day. You can put it in a window or under grow lights.

Grow your own tomatoes

Tomatoes can also be grown in a container or in a hydroponic garden. Like the herbs, they’ll need a place with plenty of light. If you want to be able to make pizza with your garden any time you choose, then select a tomato plant species that is an indeterminate variety. Indeterminate just means they grow fruit all throughout the growing season rather than all at once.

You will need a lot of space for your tomatoes, so make sure you have the room and you are prepared to trim or stake them. Tomatoes also need a fairly steady supply of nutrients, so be sure to find a good fertilizer or hydroponic solution.

Top it off with peppers

Peppers make a delicious pizza topping and give you a little something extra to experiment with in your garden. Their requirements are quite similar to tomatoes, so if you figure out a strategy for one, you should do all right with the other. That makes them a natural partner in your pizza garden.

And a saucy recipe

Now that you’ve got all your ingredients ready, here’s how to make delicious pizza sauce with your fresh harvests.

Gather:

2 pounds of tomatoes, cored

1 tablespoon of olive oil

½ of a large onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

¾ teaspoon of salt (or however much you like)

½ teaspoon sugar

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps:

• Blanch the tomatoes and peel them.
• Chop the tomatoes and save the juice.
• Heat the oil and sautée the onion until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
• Add the garlic and heat for one minute.
• Add all the remaining ingredients (including juice from the tomatoes) and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour and a half, or until the sauce thickens to the consistency of pizza sauce, stirring regularly and breaking up big pieces of tomato.

If you like a smoother sauce, you can transfer it to a blender after you’re done heating it. Just be careful--it’s hot.

Enjoy! And feel free to comment with any tips or recipes you use with your indoor vegetable garden.