YOUNG gardeners have helped Hartlebury CE Primary School earn Green Flag status and supplied a bumper crop of vegetables to villagers.

Cucumbers, radishes and tomatoes have also been added to school lunches, giving the children the chance to taste their own produce.

As well as creating their own garden, Eco club members spearheaded recycling projects, litter picking, tree planting, a walk to school promotion and global citizenship topics.

They put up bird boxes and the school launched second-hand uniform and book swap shops.

Most of the vegetables, including runner beans, marrows, potatoes and tomatoes, were ready during the summer holidays, so eight-year-old pupil Jasmine Holmes, and grandparents Andrew and Gilder Holmes, harvested the crop and displayed it at their gateway for villagers to take.

Toni Branagh-Wall, year 6 teacher and Eco lead, said: “The children are so enthusiastic about the gardening, recycling and looking after the environment and we were thrilled their hard work was recognised with our first Eco-Schools Green Flag.”

Some vegetables were saved and took pride of place in the school’s Harvest Festival at the village church of St James, with all donations going to the Worcestershire Homeless Appeal.