Hotel grows own vegetables for top quality and freshness

Although many restaurants and hotels order specific vegetables and fruits to be grown especially for their kitchens, the Sheraton-Boston Hotel has gone a step farther, acquiring its own garden, located on three-quarters of an acre of land in Newburyport, Mass.

The project is an extension of the philosophy of the signature restaurants of the hotel chain, restaurants with high standards of quality that emphasize the use of fresh foods and locally grown fruits and vegetables.

The concept of the garden is to produce varieties of basic foods that are not available locally, but which can be grown locally - and therefore will be completely fresh when harvested at full maturity.

Charles DiSciaccia, vice-president of Unifood, a subsidiary of Sheraton, coordinated the development of the garden with Chef Jeffrey Worobel, executive chef at the Sheraton Boston.

John Calore, a produce dealer from Boston's North End, assisted in the coordination of the plan. Albert E. Elwell, a Newburyport farmer, cultivates the garden.

''The idea started in January of 198l, but we didn't have any guarantees on the weather,'' Mr. DiSciaccia said. ''This was the worst summer for many years for gardening, so we had a late harvest, but we have hopes for a better year in '83.

''We plan to grow the unusual things not easy to find, like Silver Queen, the white sweet corn; salsify, often called the oyster plant; many different kinds of lettuces, special onions and leeks, pattypan squash, tiny strawberries, melons, herbs, and many others,'' he said.