Green fingered Falkirk care home residents rewarded for gardening skills

Newcarron Court Care Home, in Ronades Road, took top prize in two categories in the Advinia in Bloom contest – winning the Ground to Fork and the Special Place/Sensory Garden titles, beating off 35 other entrants across the country.

Hazel Phillips, Activity Coordinator, said "We didn't expect to win the two categories but when we found out it made all the hard work worthwhile. We have had a lot of assistance from the residents and also family and friends of the care home.

"A special thanks also to Police Scotland, whose youth volunteers have been amazing over the last few months and really helped to transform the gardens into a beautiful area for the residents to enjoy.

“This year we grew leeks, carrots, beetroot, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, onions, cabbages, potatoes, apples, rhubarb and a variety of herbs and our head chef has been using these to create some wonderful dishes for the residents.

"We even made jars of jam and jars of beetroot which we sold to staff members to raise some cash for our house funds."

Care Home resident and keen gardener Susan Elliot, 89, must have had a good feeling about the competition entry as she said “these are the winners" when she was harvesting the bountiful beetroot crop.

Robert Penman, 78, was just another gardening volunteer and his family kindly donated benches and other items to enhance the area.