Mercy Place Rice Village planted their very own vegetable garden in 2016 to grow fresh produce to use in their daily meals. Five years on it is still thriving and yields and abundance of salad greens, silverbeet, lemongrass and fresh herbs.
The garden is maintained by two residents with keen green thumbs and Mercy Place Rice Village Food Services Manager Barbara Bath. Barbara uses it all the time to add freshness, flavour and zest to every meal.
“Our aim at Mercy Place Rice Village is to give residents tasty and nourishing home cooked meals made from as many fresh ingredients as possible,” says Barbara.
“I use the herbs in just about every meal — oregano in lasagne, basil in pasta sauces, tarragon in chicken with bearnaise sauce.
“The residents love to be served those kind of comforting meals that they know and love — roast dinners are also a particular favourite. Adding in fresh herbs from our garden gives familiar dishes a wonderful freshness and flavour.”
The garden was created with the help of a generous grant from the Maggie Beer Foundation, which was established in 2014 to improve the quality of food for older Australians and particularly those living in aged care homes. At Mercy Health, we share this mission by providing our aged care residents with wholesome, tasty meals made from good quality, fresh food. Treating people in our care with dignity and respect is at the core of our values.