GREEN-FINGERED children at a farm-based day nursery are getting hands on experience in the garden.

High Bank Day Nursery in Stapleton, near Darlington, has launched a weekly gardening club for its pre-school children, who are aged three and four.

The club is being run by the aptly named Adrian Rose, who runs the Down to Earth Garden Care company in Darlington.

Mr Rose is working with the children every Wednesday and they have already planted lots of flowers, fruit and vegetables.

The children will be responsible for looking after their ‘crop’ and when the fruit and vegetables are ready they will be able to eat what they have grown.

High Bank manager Hayley Grainger said: “Being in the garden and getting their hands dirty is lots of fun for the children but there is also an important educational element to it too.

“The work they are doing complements the early years foundation stage framework we follow in the nursery and it is about introducing them to new things and learning new skills, which will stand them in good stead in the future.”