Earlier this spring we started tidying up our garden and raised beds here at our care home in Swindon and planning the work for the rest of the season in our regular residents meeting.
To support us with our garden project, we took a few trips to the local garden centres and residents picked out seeds and plants, and we also purchased a greenhouse.
Work commenced by planting tomatoes and beans in one of our raised beds, and when we saw the first signs of sprouting, we built a little frame for our runner beans to climb on. The structure looked amazing and all residents shared their stories and tips on how they used to do it in their gardens and what is the most practical and efficient way of doing it.
The second raised bed was used for potatoes. The residents decided that they would love to make their own potato salad with vegetables grown on their patch and it has been wonderful to see these grow and use the produce in our meals for residents. From garden to table - the experience has been fantastic!
All summer, the residents have enjoyed participating in gardening activities, taking turns watering, weeding, and caring for our garden. The time has now finally come to harvest our crops and it couldn’t be more fun.
It has been delightful to see the excitement on our residents' faces when they reach into the ground to retrieve the fruits of their hard work.
Gardening activities have such wonderful benefits for care home residents, and having access to outdoor space is also crucially important for their mental and physical wellbeing. We have worked incredibly hard to make outdoor space inclusive for all of our residents to enjoy.
We believe gardening is an activity for everyone, and we have ensured that our residents can actively participate in planning, planting, and looking after our garden, Our raised beds especially enable access for those in wheelchairs and with limited mobility.
Many of our residents also benefit from the sensory side of the activities such as touching the soil, smelling veg, handling different textures, and seeing the variety of colours. This project has really supported our residents to feel needed and valued and gave them a purpose.
