From hotel beds to plant beds for The Granary

The Granary Hotel and Restaurant in Shenstone, near Kidderminster, is beginning a unique experiment to bring truly local food to its dining tables. The award winning restaurant is creating its own kitchen gardens to grow fresh fruit and vegetables right on its doorstep.
The top dining destination already prides itself on using locally sourced produce wherever possible for its dishes, and now it has recruited top local gardening expert Richard Maw to transform a field adjacent to the restaurant to a functional and ornamental market garden. Mr Maw is head of Spinney Garden Services and has many years' experience of teaching and lecturing in horticulture at schools and colleges across the region. He is hoping to involve local residents in the scheme, to teach people simple planting techniques.
The Granary will be growing a variety of crops, including lettuces, radishes, peas, beans, carrots, herbs and fruit for use in its dishes. The restaurant's menu, which currently includes a roasted autumn vegetable gateaux and slow roasted shoulder of lamb with root vegetables, will be given a new authentic Worcestershire dimension thanks to its fresh produce.
Particular emphasis will be placed on growing unusual and interesting varieties for the menu too such artichokes, asparagus peas, salsify, pumpkins and squashes including  butternut squashes, which can be used in The Granary's home-made Roast Butternut Squash soup.  A poly tunnel alongside the garden will be used to cultivate some more exotic crops, such as aubergines, peppers and a range of different types of tomatoes.
Gardener Richard Maw said: 'I'm really looking forward to the challenge of producing some unusual fruit and vegetables, which are of a sufficiently high quality to make it on to The Granary's menus.
'We'll be able to grow lot of different varieties and colours, as well as some of the harder to find fruits and vegetables.'
Owner Richard Fletcher said: 'This initiative will bring a new definition to fresh food – we're hoping to get a crop of delicious ingredients which can be transferred from the field to the cooking pot within a matter of minutes. We'll also be able to reduce our impact on the local environment by reducing the amount of transport needed for deliveries.'
The Granary is also hoping to work on the project with Beacon, a Kidderminster based charity that provides training opportunities for disadvantaged young people and those with learning disabilities. The project could provide a unique and valuable link between private and public sector bodies and a charitable organisation.
The field is currently in the process of being ploughed, after which a rotavator will be used to break up the clay soil to get it into good condition for planting. The first crops will be sown in the spring, with plans to get the first harvest ready for the summer. There are also plans to grow apple, pear and plum trees which will provide fruit in the years to come.
Richard Fletcher continued: 'The Granary has always prided itself on using good quality locally sourced produce, and you can't get more local than your own doorstep.'