Sustainable potatoes on the Christmas menu
The gardener at Bupa Sunset Retirement Village in Auckland has created a sustainable way of making sure potatoes are on the Christmas menu for his residents.
Albert Trutsch began collecting leftover potato skins and planting them in the rich Blockhouse Bay soil last year. He nurtured and watered the soil as the months went by until the potato plants grew and he had a good crop of baby potatoes. The keen gardener has done the same again for 2020, collecting more potato skins a few months ago and harvesting them with an even bigger potato haul this time round.
Village Manager Donna Prince then approached her village craft group and asked them to come up with a way to gift the potatoes to residents.
“The craft group make little hessian and cotton potato sacks with ribbons that fit average sized potatoes. They then make gift tags and deliver some to each apartment door on Christmas Eve.”
Donna says the fresh potatoes are a hit with residents, with some using them for their Christmas Day lunch.
“The residents love to get little vegetable gifts and the sustainable story behind the potatoes grown from their potato scraps and dug from their very own village garden. You certainly can’t get fresher than that.”
