GREEN-fingered children at Okehampton and Chagford primary schools have been busy preparing ahead of National Home Composting Week next month (May 2 to 8) with a share of 25 tonnes of free locally produced compost.

The competition, 'Dig It, Grow It, Cook It, Eat It', was organised by Devon County Council in partnership with waste and recycling management company Viridor, to encourage schools to establish their own vegetable gardens.

The first 25 lucky schools to register for the challenge received one tonne of Revive soil conditioner and six packs of seasonal vegetable seeds to help them get started.

County councillor Roger Croad, cabinet member for environmental and regulatory services, has praised the project: 'I am delighted that so many schools have registered to take part in this scheme — 175 schools across the county are involved in the project, showing a real committment to food waste and gardening schemes in Devon.

'It is so important that young people understand and appreciate the full food cycle. They should recognize that healthy food is not just something pre- packed on a supermarket shelf, and that leftovers from the garden and kitchen are not just rubbish, but could be the beginnings of good, rich compost.

'In this scheme they will see the fruits of their labours grow and be able to cook and eat them too — it is a wonderful learning experience.'

Kevin Bishop, regional recycling manager from Viridor explained why they were keen to support local schools: 'Compost encourages new growth and we've taken this idea further with our Revive product by helping some incredible gardening projects in the local community and encouraging school children to become inspired gardeners.'

Schools are asked to keep a scrapbook of the project to include photos and children's work from each stage of their garden's development — digging, growing, cooking and eating. These will then be entered into a competition during the autumn, with the images incorporated into a calendar sponsored by Viridor and given to every school in Devon.

The winning school will recieve gardening vouchers so they can further improve their garden for the next growing season.

For more information on recycling and waste in Devon, visit http://www.recycledevon.org">www.recycledevon.org