GREEN-fingered children at a Darwen primary school have been signed up to produce food for an award-winning restaurant.

Vegetables and herbs grown at Asheligh Primary School in Ross Street are being used in dishes served only metres away at MJ’s Restaurant at the Whitehall Hotel.

The link between business and education came six months ago when hotel gardener Stuart Standing - who is also a parent at Ashleigh Primary - put the idea forward.

There is currently one greenhouse and 10 vegetable beds, which are tended by every child in the school.

Neil Bullows, hotel owner, said: “Everyone’s a winner with this.

"It costs us a lot less, there’s no carbon footprint, and it’s very educational for the children.

“The quality of the food they produce far exceeds what you could get from a supplier.

"There’s no warehousing or transportation - it’s straight out of the ground and onto the plate.”

Every child at the school has gardening classes scheduled into their week to plant, weed and pick, and now groups of pupils are being shown how the produce is used in the kitchen.

Last week Whitehall head chef James Berry made herby bread with a group of pupils containing their marjoram, Welsh onions, hyssop and chives.

Other produce used by MJs includes red onions, English mint lettuce, dill cabbage, oregano, sorrel and Greek sage.

Chefs have put in an order for next month for potatoes, tomatoes and strawberries.

Susan Tongue, deputy head, said: “The children absolutely love it. There isn’t one child who doesn’t look forward to doing the gardening duties.

“We got a community grant to set up the garden and decided we would use the food for school meals and sell the surplus to the restaurant, who also sponsor the soil.

“It combines a lot of different aspects of education.

"Some children had no idea that potatoes grow under ground or sprouts grow on stalks.

"It also includes business education, as we want to make this sustainable financially.”