Mick's big crop to be put to good use by care home
A care home has benefitted through donations from the labours of a local gardener.
Mick Poultney, of Colley Gate, had completed the work to get his allotment ready for the Malvern show when it was cancelled due to the coronavirus restrictions, entering them instead in a virtual vegetable show for Colley Gate Gardening Club in Halesowen.
After the competition was finished, the 69-year-old found he had more than 30 kilos of leftover vegetables, including a 46-centimetre-long leek, and said he wanted to continue helping his local care home Two Gates House, also in Halesowen.
He said: “I had all these vegetables left over, so I got back in contact with Two Gates as it’s local to me and I know quite a few people there.
“They’ve been really receptive to it as they think the veg is high quality and everyone has been really happy to take delivery of the vegetables, except perhaps the kitchen staff as I’ve just given them extra work.”
Among the vegetables donated are red cabbage, carrots, beetroots, parsnips, onions, sweet and chilli peppers and rhubarb, all of which was grown in Mr Poultney’s allotment at Abbey Road Allotments.
Mr Poultney, who has been a keen gardener for more than 35 years, said his crop of vegetables had come out as well as it had because of excellent growing conditions.
He said: “You’ve got to have a good brew under them, which is where I do well as I make my own compost and, locally, I’m known as the compost king.
“Once you get the conditions right and grow the vegetables in the right area, be it under a greenhouse, under cover or in the open, you will get a good crop.”
Mr Poultney said it was nice to be able to provide Two Gates House with the vegetables as he knew they would go to good use and said the rest would go to the Albion Street Church Soup Kitchen in Dudley.
He said: “I’m happy to give the veg to people who will enjoy it.”
