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doubt, as wrongly identified plants can be poisonous.150g fresh or 60g dried comfrey leaves500g petroleum jelly or soft paraffin waxSmall saucepanChina bowl to fit on top of the saucepanWooden spoonMuslin or jelly bagContainer with a lidA pair of rubber

Watering canMay-September20 minutes to prepare the feedHarvest comfrey leaves from the base of established plants. The hairy leaves can irritate the skin, so wear gloves if necessary.Remove flowers and tough stems, then chop up the leaves and pack them tightly

soothes sore throats.Take one teaspoonful four to five times a day until symptoms improve. If symptoms persist after a week, consult your doctor.Large, fresh onionJar of clear honeyBowlFunnelSterilised bottleCling filmall year round20 minutesPeel, top

flowers (the bees just can't get to the goods).Here's a list of some of my favourite plants for bees:1. Allium2. Aquilegia3. Birds-foot trefoil4. Borage5. Campanula6. Cardoon7. Catmint8. Chives9. Clover10. Comfrey11. Cornflower12. Cranesbill geranium13

and disease resistance. Potassium is naturally found in wood ash and deep-rooted plants like comfrey. I grow comfrey in the garden and use it to make a liquid feed for my fruiting crops.It's also important not to let leafy crops, like lettuce, or root crops

; the temperatures have reached 23ºC in the day and fall to 13ºC at night. Sudden high temperatures after a long period of cold have caused many plants to grow very fast, which leads to wilting. The wonderful Angelica archangelica was the first to succumb

, as with comfrey, is as a plant food. If you soak the crushed nettles in water for about a month, you'll end up with a liquid feed that should be diluted by one part in ten before application. If sprayed on plants it can also prevent fungal disease. Nettles also

, nitrogen-rich ingredients sandwiched between brown, carbon-based ingredients with a very light sprinkling of water now and then). I also mentioned some optional extras that will help turbo-charge a pile like shop-bought compost accelerator, nettles, comfrey

a short flight to the raspberries, comfrey and clover he grows.If you want wildlife nesting in your garden, then build log and leaf piles, start a compost heap, leave a messy area, plant nectar-rich flowers and dig a pond. You could also use an old

at the back of my south-facing border, close to the wall where they'll be kept warm at night. As an experiment, one is planted in a bucket of semi-rotted compost, like a portable bean trench. All are staked with tall, strong bamboo canes. (They're only about 2