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two are used to build piles. When the 'brown' storage area becomes empty, we turn one of the piles into it, which exposes the pile to oxygen and helps to accelerate the cooking. Should I feel the need to accelerate matters further, a bucket in the shed

yourself an allotment.Aaah...the space to indulge your quiet fantasies of cascades of cauliflowers, orgies of onions, buckets of beetroot and pantechnicons of potatoes. Maybe even a peaceful shed with primus stove and a battered armchair.However, in order

Over the next few weeks, you may find a large wasp on the plot, which will turn out to be a queen. Having overwintered, queen wasps look for a place to start a brood, and may well decide that your shed (or in my case, compost heap), would make a

); friends whose indoor plants 'got bugs so I threw them in the bin' (I give up) and my poor friend Eli, whose plants flowered and fruited but the tomatoes kept splitting as they ripened (no amount of arguing convinced me she'd been watering them enough

, such as clover. Many pesticides just kill them.Our gardens are fast becoming refuges for bees - especially some species of bumblebee, which are happy to nest in wild corners, bird boxes and under sheds. Many also come into our gardens to feed. Sadly some species

and a pond. Every year a colony of buff-tailed bumblebees nests beneath the neighbours' shed and feeds on my mum's flowers, I'm sure the butterflies do the same. My dad has a nest of common carder bumblebees in his ramshackle allotment compost heap, just

can't bring your wormery indoors (a shed or greenhouse will do), wrap it up with bubble wrap or other suitable material. I'll be doing my best to insulate my compost bin this weekend - at the very least I'll put the lid back on properly. But I fear

. The smaller branches I composted (I was amazed how quickly they disappeared).The tree trunk remained propped up against the shed for six months, until I had a brainwave: I'd use it to make a solitary bee hotel. I got an old wine box, chopped the trunk

, but inevitable. In London alone we are losing the equivalent of 2.5 Hyde Parks of green space each year, as landlords and homeowners pave over their gardens to build sheds, park their cars and reduce 'maintenance'. Butterflies are precious in their own right

- spiders are a thuggish bunch and there is always the danger of cannibalism. Although, in this case I don’t think he had too much to worry about. I think she’d probably already eaten too many wasps.