As researchers suggest people increase their intake of fruits and vegetables to seven portions a day, the children and staff at Capel Manor Primary School are going one step further.

The school's Big Dig project saw a number of parents, pupils and staff preparing their allotment to grow their own ground provisions on Friday.

Inspired by the Garden Enfield project, launched last month by Enfield Borough Council, the school is encouraging the children's understanding of how food is grown.

Led by science co-ordinator Tammy Moodley, all year groups got the chance to get their hands dirty, with site manager Paul Palfrey taking on the heavy-duty work.

Ms Moodley said: "Grow Your Own is the educational section of the overall project for schools in the borough. Last year, some of the classes had Spurs and one of their chefs come in. This year, we had the recyclable greenhouse project with a grant from the Enfield Charitable Trust."

She also commented on the positive feedback from parents, many of whom turned up on Friday to assist with the digging. They arrived in the early morning to start gardening and were there for the best part of the morning.

Parent Kelly McKeown said: "My daughter is in Reception year and it's important to help the school. It helps with ownership too."

With the science curriculum becoming more bespoke from this year, allowing the school to have more variety with the way it teaches the subject, the project preempts new ways of teaching aspects of the plant kingdom.

Adding weight to the thought that you should practice what you teach, headteacher Tracey Kilkenny revealed that she has a kitchen garden at home and typically grows potatoes, carrots, spinach, strawberries and tomatoes.