This cute design is also extremely useful, marking out the rows where different types of fruit and vegetables have been planted. Rather than using small square markers, we have wooden designs in the shape of vegetables and fruit. After they are painted and varnished, they can be used for years to come... it's a great way to get kids involved in creating your home's vegetable garden.

Draw the shapes of the vegetables and fruit that you are going to plant in your vegetable garden. Here, we have turnips, carrots, peppers, tomatoes and strawberries. Make as many of these shapes as there will be rows planted with these vegetable or fruit types. Cut out these shapes from a thin (around 0.2 inches) sheet of wood. If you don't have a fret saw, a jigsaw will also do the job - even if the outlines aren't perfect, this is after all an outside decoration...

I used Jo Sonja's paints and have created a few new shades using these beautiful colors as a foundation, with the aim of creating a design that is not necessarily realistic, but rather in the tradition of 'naive' art.

Paintbrush in hand, you quickly get the hang of things! A vital step is to apply 2 or 3 coats of outside varnish (marine varnish, for example) leaving it to dry outdoors after each coat has been applied.

And until such times as the rows are dug and the vegetables planted, these wooden vegetable and fruit designs will also make for original fridge magnets...