91Èȱ¬

91Èȱ¬ Radio 1's Sara Cox is rolling up her sleeves, picking up a trowel and getting her fingernails dirty for 91Èȱ¬ Dig In – the new 91Èȱ¬ Learning campaign which encourages people to get digging and grow their own vegetables.

This week Sara started her vegetable adventure with some top advice from Gardeners' World's Toby Buckland.

Viewers can see Sara and Toby in action with their spades and seeds on Gardeners' World at 8.00pm on 91Èȱ¬ Two on Friday 24 April.

Sara will then be keeping everyone up to date with her veggie progress with regular blogs on the 91Èȱ¬ Dig In website at bbc.co.uk/digin.

Whether they have a garden, an allotment, a window box or simply a yoghurt pot, the Dig In campaign is urging people to get digging wherever they can, offering a free seed starter pack of five vegetables through the national Dig In tour and providing a wheelbarrow full of advice and information through a dedicated website and support on 91Èȱ¬ Two's Gardeners' World, CBeebies and The Green Balloon Club.

"Coxy" and her family are having a go at growing the five varieties of vegetables themselves and recording the results of their green-fingered endeavours in a regular blog on the Dig In Website.

"This year I'm digging in and growing my own grub for the first time ever," says farmer's daughter Sara.

"I'm on a mission to get the nation growing too, so I'm writing all about my growing pains in my blog. There's no excuse not to grow, so, what are you waiting for, Dig In!"

The starter packs of seeds contain five varieties of plants suitable for a range of growing locations, soils and climates including Gardener's Delight tomatoes, Lolla Rossa or Red Salad Bowl lettuce, Boltardy beetroot, Harrier or Hunter butternut squash and Early Nantes carrots.

Throughout the growing season, the Dig In website and the Dig In Tour are helping growers to nurture their plants successfully.

The Dig In website hosts a series of dedicated pages to each of the five vegetables with advice about sowing, growing and harvesting, with regular updates to ensure support throughout the summer.

Gardeners' World is featuring weekly updates from its Dig In garden with Toby Buckland offering advice and tips to growers. The Gardeners' World team are also encouraging everyone to take part in the Dig In Grow Bag Challenge – using the seed starter packs and a grow bag to cultivate their own crops no matter how small the space.

The CBeebies team and The Green Balloon Club are encouraging their younger viewers to get out and get digging and have recorded a special gardening action song – about the joys of planting, growing and eating – which will be played at Dig In events.

Later in the year, at harvest time, the campaign will switch from plot to cooking pot with tasty recipes for the produce available on the Dig In website and inspiration from top chefs including Nigel Slater.

The Dig In campaign is a 91Èȱ¬ Learning initiative.

Locations for the Dig In regional tour are available on the website, bbc.co.uk/digin.

Notes to Editors

91Èȱ¬ Learning delivers campaigns that aim to inspire and empower individuals to take action – action that changes their lives, benefits communities and helps to transform society.

FW/BW2