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Of course, creating habitats often costs nothing: use spent plant material to make an open compost heap, avoid clearing the whole of your plot in autumn so invertebrates have somewhere to hibernate. If you don’t harvest all of your carrots, parsnips and brassicas they will overwinter and flower in spring for pollinators.

Plenty of crops can be grown in pots on a windowsill or doorstep. If space is really tight why not grow herbs? We all know that Mediterranean species like rosemary, sage, mint, chives, oregano and thyme add flavour and depth to dishes, but did you know they produce some of the best bee-friendly flowers? Leave some to bloom and see who turns up.

No-dig gardening involves placing cardboard and a 10cm layer of compost over a patch of earth and planting directly into it, rather than digging and ‘preparing’ the soil. It’s a great way to kill annual weeds and is thought to improve soil structure. However, if you have persistent perennial weeds like nettles, brambles, dock and bindweed then you will need to remove these first, which involves digging. Remember also that nettles, brambles, dock and bindweed are all habitats for wildlife, so it’s good to let them grow around the margins of your growing space.

There’s a lot of crossover between wildlife-friendly, organic vegetable growing and Permaculture, which involves mimicking natural habitats for a more sustainable approach to growing food. Digging is kept to a minimum, natural mulches are used to feed the soil, and many of the crops grown are perennial so remain in the soil for several years.

The word ‘pest’ has long been used to describe insects, birds and other wildlife that damage or destroy a crop, much to the frustration of the person growing it! It’s important to remember thatt “pests” are wildlife, too, and most only become a problem if they’re present in big numbers (which they shouldn’t be if you have lots of wildlife on hand to eat them!).

Rather than trying to stop pests eating your plants, try to encourage natural predators to control them for you – some of the best are ladybirds and lacewings, wasps and birds. Let weeds and long grass grow around the margins and you’ll have an army of wild pest controllers in no time.

Biocontrols are simply natural predators, such as ladybirds and wasps, that you buy to control pests. If you garden with wildlife in mind you shouldn’t need to buy them as the predators will already be on hand to keep pest numbers down.

Companion plants are plants grown alongside others specifically to help another crop grow. Examples include growing strong-smelling onions alongside carrots to deter carrot fly, which finds carrots by scent. Borage is thought to improve the flavour of strawberries fennel or other umbellifers  attract hoverflies, whose larvae eat aphids.

There’s not really such thing as a native vegetable, as they have all been bred and cross-bred to make the most of the part we eat. For example you never find huge cauliflowers and carrots in the wild. In the margins of your veg patch you might want to grow other plants for butterfly and moth caterpillars, or provide nectar for pollinators. Some non-natives, such as Cotoneaster horizontalis and Spanish bluebells are invasive, but most aren’t. However, bear in mind that native plants have evolved alongside native wildlife for the last 12,000 years, so usually attract more species as a result.

The more habitats you create, the more wildlife you will have, so it’s up to you. Having a standard vegetable patch while letting weeds and pollinator plants grow in the margins would be a good balance, but you may want to add a pond, habitat piles and areas of long grass as well – the more wildlife the better!

Start with easy crops like courgettes, potatoes, strawberries and beans, including climbing, French and broad beans. Radishes are also easy to grow but grow them only if you like radishes, there’s no point in growing a crop you won’t eat! Once you’ve got the hang of vegetable growing, move on to crops like tomatoes, which need regular care, and fruit like apples and plums, which need annual pruning. The most important thing is to grow what you love to eat! That’s where the real satisfaction comes from.

Across the UK, we have a growing movement of citizen gardeners and grass roots groups, who understand and love their community, that are identifying patches of unloved ground that would be perfect for community growing. We celebrate the passion of these individuals and groups who want to lead this type of change in their community. They often find it is better to work collaboratively with institutions and organisations and ask the landowner for permission first, especially if they want to grow food and ensure their precious crop will come to harvest.

Many towns and cities have fantastic community vegetable growing schemes, sometimes on vacant land with permission from the Council, but also on allotments or private land. Many of these groups employ organic, wildlife-friendly and Permaculture techniques. These groups will help you gain confidence to grow your own food as part of a friendly and welcoming team, developing the skills you need to grow your own food for life.