Garden Growing Strong at Snowdon Accommodation Service

Plot to Plate

In Spring 2024, during the process of cooking at Snowdon with staff and residents a seed of inspiration was planted to start a herb garden! This gardening activity,  led to our team and the people who use the service planting vegetable seedlings in large pots which decorated the patio; it was a colourful and appetising invitation to the outdoors. The most successful plant we grew was runner beans which we had in abundance, and tomatoes, both of which were used in the kitchen. Based on the strength of the small seed project, this year we decided to expand on this initiative, building an allotment on a small patch of the garden, with an increased interest and involvement from individuals who access the service.

Teamwork

The project began in April 2025 with laying the foundations and skills were contributed by many with insights into irrigation and soil preparation, painting of the bed frames with wood preserver and placing and raking the bark on formed paths. Members of the team attended a tea mixology course at RHS Wisley Gardens and that inspired people to sow seeds and cultivate those indoors on bedroom windowsills. Prior to this, the team at Snowdon used DIY knowledge and tools to make the four wooden collar pallets which was pulled together utilising skills in research, construction and implementation. Additionally residents and staff took part in activities like weeding, and clearing the land, turning the earth, cutting and pegging down the weed barrier and sheeting in between beds.

Plants and Palates

At the service we reached a consensus on produce we wanted to grow, and a variety of vegetables were subsequently purchased at a local centre and rooted into the ground in spring. Those were two types of beans – with one plant sown using a dried single bean from last year’s harvest. Additionally cabbage, spinach, potatoes, carrots, red and white onions, brussels sprouts, peppers, courgettes, tomatoes, sown lettuce and cucumbers were planted. Strawberries that were sown years ago also continue to spring up annually, and we also had chamomile that was grown from seed which also flourished.

Guardians of the Garden

Throughout the summer the garden has been attended to by staff and residents. That has included careful spacing of each plant into the ground, mixing manure with compost, various forms of pest control, feeding, watering, and harvesting. This year blessed the UK with beautiful vitamin D enhancing weather, enabling soaking up of sunrays and created relaxing earthy scents. Wildlife have been busy at the plot too. With robins and blackbirds enjoying pecking the freshly exposed earth, and bluetit fledglings playing in the tree above. Cabbage white butterflies danced around crops in perfect sync; ladybirds were loving the chamomile and bees were drawn in by the fragrant lavender.

Culinary Creativity

On the menu…

Cooking of yummy dinners, and smoothie and baking activities using produce!

Sides and Mains…

Veggie and bean chilli, skin-on mash potato, green beans – cabbage and courgettes for sides, salad, casseroles, soups, omelettes, spicy egg and potato scramble.

To Drink… Spinach, Strawberries and Smoothies – a popular mineral bursting – green smoothie recipe at Snowdon is garden spinach, coconut milk, and frozen mango. For a pink smoothie, swap out the fruit and leaf for banana and garden strawberries. Chamomile freshly picked, washed and brewed, is potent when steeped for 5-15 minutes, known for its calming benefits.

For Dessert…

Fresh baked meringues with whipped cream, mint and a large crop of sweet and juicy garden strawberries.

Eco and Economical

When we were planning the gardening we settled on using the ‘no dig’ method, and so cardboard was placed directly on the earth to prevent weeds in the beds and to improve drainage. Cardboard boxes from stock deliveries to Snowdon were cleared of any cello tape, flat packed and reused in the allotment. The panels for the bed frames were sourced from social enterprise The Useful Wood Company, who collect waste wood from local building sites and recycle this into affordable products, offering a 10% discount to charities. Costa Coffee, as part of connecting the community to their corporate social responsibility cause, offer customers free bags of used coffee grounds, specifically to aid soil fertilisation. Over the summer months this was sprinkled onto the veg beds on return from café trips.

Holistic Health

This year Together’s theme for Mental Health Awareness Week focussed on physical health. Gardening is so beneficial to this, and the mind-body connection, due to the exercise it involves which releases endorphins and builds fitness. Connection to nature is also known to calm the nervous system, reducing cortisol and lowering stress levels, and participants felt the positive effects of fresh air on the body including improvement of energy. Our project also benefitted the people that use the service by promoting nutrition through growing your own food and fostered healthy eating by adding fibrous vegetables into the diet. Snowdon’s plot and gardening and has encouraged people to purchase shop bought vegetables and fruit, since some of the allotment crops stopped producing, to use in meals and juices.

Saluting Salutogenesis

At the service I also practice holistic health, a reflection on social prescribing; which asks, ‘what matters?’. This is a growing movement gaining momentum, often involving the environment, which co-creates meaningful lifestyles, inspiring agency and empowerment to take charge of these. An asset-based outlook draws upon existing strengths, skills, passions, interests, networks and resources, bringing people together, positively transforming small corners of a garden, and wider community.

Individuals residing at Snowdon share their perspectives and experiences of the vegetable garden:

‘ I’ve enjoyed planting new vegetables, harvesting and eating. I learnt things about mixing the manure with the compost. Trying fresh vegetables, as fresh as they come. Because of the vegetable patch – I’ve started having courgette omelettes, as I wouldn’t have had them otherwise.’

‘I went to a herbal tea blending course. It was a beginner’s guide to gardening and planting seeds. The vegetables we’ve grown include potatoes, carrots, spinach, cucumbers and onions…and much more. The future will be brighter and healthier, next year I want to plant purple Echinacea, which benefits the immune system.’

‘The smoothies are tasty and they’re good for the body.’

In other news around the garden…

Flower Power

A stunning display of tulips was curated this year which lasted from spring to early summer. Rose varieties blossomed; wildflowers such as bluebells and primrose spread across the lawn and brightened corners. Blooms like cosmos flowered mid-summer and are anticipated to last through October. For a splash of colour in winter months, a crate of vibrant viola pansy has been planted as a feature. Rotating the beds for autumn, seasonal vegetables were planted in September, which are Swiss chard, curly kale, cauliflower, and purple broccoli.