In the garden this week: Turnips and a home for insects

Time for turnips There's still time to sow your turnips for this winter. What do you mean you don't like turnips? Last winter's veg box forced me to try and, roasted with garlic, they were so tasty I was delighted I hadn't given in to my kneejerk reaction to lob them at the compost bin. Sow now, thinning later to about 15cm. The big sleep Yes, it's a silly time to be thinking about hibernation, but if you build beneficial insect homes now, they'll be ready in plenty of time for insects to find and use them. If aphid eaters and pollinators nest in your borders, they wake up in spring voraciously hungry and eager to see off your pest problems and pollinate your crops. Tie together lengths of bamboo cane, stuff clumps of straw into pipes, wedge sticks into gaps; just create places where bugs can crawl in and make a home.