Upcycling in the garden

I've been busy upcycling in the garden.

1. Upcycled branch cuttings into broad bean supports (with built-in pigeon protection)

2. Upcycled plastic bottles into slug collars

Just to be clear, the slug collars aren't collars for slugs, they're collars for plants to protect them from slugs and snails. You make them by cutting a section of a plastic bottle about 12 cm (5 inches) long, making downward cuts around one end to create little flaps of about 1-2 cm (1/2 inch) all round the top and bending these over outwards so they stick out. When you're done, just push the slug collar into the soil around your plant. Slugs and snails now have to crawl over the slug collars to get to your plant. OK, it won't stop a determined slug or snail, but it makes their journey a bit harder and makes me feel like I'm doing something to protect my plants. I find Sainsbury's extra-strength squash bottles ideal because they're nice and thick, which makes them easier to push into the ground; they're quite wide in diameter, which gives your plant more room; they're the perfect height to make two collars; and, perhaps most importantly, they're the plastic bottle we get through most of in this house.

3. Upcycled diddy plastic bottles into cane-toppers to make a butterfly cage

I used Actimel bottles, but any bottle around that size will do – which as far as I can tell means the probiotic drink bottle of your choice. We actually bought the drinks specifically so I could use the bottles. They make the perfect top for a bamboo cane. Not only does this protect you from any danger of poking your eyes out with the cane, it also means you can put netting over the top of them. This is good for protecting your plants against either birds or butterflies (or both). Technically the netting I bought is supposed to have holes too big to stop butterflies getting though, but in practice it worked last year (I watched plenty of cabbage whites trying and failing to get through to my delicious brassicas). I've rigged it up over my cabbages. I'll probably also need to protect my kale, but I think my turnips can manage on their own, as I don't eat the same part as the caterpillars. I'll keep an eye on the cauliflowers and see what happens.

4. Upcycled shredded paper into compost (subject to Mother Nature doing the composting part)

This should nicely balance out the grass clippings that otherwise make up the majority of my compost and will hopefully compost down more easily than if I hadn't shredded it first. See this post for an explanation of how to balance the ingredients in your compost heap.