How to make a pine cone star

Growing strawberries in a raised bed makes them easier to pick and highlights the fruits, pretty leaves and clusters of cottagey flowers. It’s also a good option if you have very heavy soil. Discover how to grow strawberries all summer. You can make your strawberry patch any size you like, but this 1.2m x 1.2m bed will accommodate nine plants – enough for several punnets of juicy fruits. The willow-hurdle edge adds a rustic touch and is practical, too – on windy sites, it stops the straw blowi

Pickling is an ancient technique that is a good way for preserving beetroot, courgettes, cucumbers, grapes, pears, peppers, plums and shallots. Got a glut? Discover ways of preserving your harvests. Vinegar or brine are used to preserve produce. Sliced or chopped vegetables are placed in a colander and sprinkled with coarse salt, which draws out the moisture. Spices are added to the vinegar, which is brought to the boil, and once hot, poured over the rinsed vegetables. Kept in sterilised conta

Bumblebees are important pollinators of early flowering plants and can ‘disengage’ their wings in cold weather, vibrating wing muscles to warm their bodies. In autumn and early winter, queen bumblebees look for a warm, dry home. This simple bumblebee pot could offer them the perfect spot. You Will Need

Liquid fertilisers are a great way to nourish your plants – they provide nutrients in a readily available form, so they’re quickly absorbed by plants’ roots. Find out how to feed your plants. You can buy chemical fertilisers at the garden centre, but by making your own using comfrey leaves, you’ll have a steady supply of organic, nutrient-rich feed for free. Comfrey has very deep roots, which means it extracts large quantities of nutrients from far below the soil’s surface, inaccessible to o