Healthy eating is very much a hands-on experience for the young people at our Auton Darlington Residential Children’s Home and their efforts are being rewarded by providing them with some of the freshest produce available.
Whenever it’s time to cook a meal, there’s no need to pop to the supermarket for some of the essential ingredients – they just open the kitchen door and pick what they need straight from their brand new vegetable patch.
Many of the crops have been grown from seed – sown and tended by the young people – and homegrown garlic, lettuce, young pea pods and onions are already making their meals extra tasty. Carrots and potatoes are growing well and will be added to their larder pretty soon, too.
“Even dessert is pretty much taken care of,” said manager, Katie Doyle. “We have apple trees and rhubarb in our garden, which often find their way into the most delicious crumbles.”
Whenever time is short and our young people aren’t able to pick their own crops, our Auton staff are happy to harvest what they need for meals and the home’s Domestic, Georgina, is pictured gathering crunchy pea pods which are popular for snacking.
One young person is already planning some raised beds for next year’s planting and, because their efforts have produced a bumper crop, they’ll be donating anything extra to the local food bank.