The Doctor has landed at Kirkside’s Gardening Project

The Doctor has landed in the grounds of Kirkside House and Kirkside Lodge, our community residential services in Leeds for adults with learning disabilities and associated complex needs.

Residents and the creative gardening team of the Gardening Project have together built a tardis to be the entrance to a seating area for residents to relax in. It is just the latest imaginative feature that the Gardening Project team have added to the grounds.

The Gardening Project is one of four projects that are run for the benefit of residents across our residential services in West Yorkshire. The other three projects are Bakery, Education and Textiles. The aim of the Gardening Project is to encourage and promote the importance of working as a team. At the same time it aims to bring out the best in any individual, to nurture growth, both personally and in what they plant.

The Gardening Project at Kirkside is set in a quiet, peaceful and private area, surrounded by trees, birds, and lots of fresh air. Working together with the residents, the gardening team, led by Colin the head gardener, have created an interesting environment with flower beds, vegetable patches, a polytunnel and individual gardening plots.

A variety of fruit and vegetables are grown, including; apples. blackberries, carrots, courgettes, grapes, onions, plums, potatoes, strawberries, sweetcorn and tomatoes. Everything that is grown is used by the residents themselves for their own cooking needs.

In addition to fruit and vegetables the Gardening Project also keeps chickens. These are housed in the custom built Eggy Stowbart and Eggs Tractor. The eggs that are laid are distributed to the local residential homes and are also used for cooking by the Bakery Project which is also located at Kirkside.

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