THE crocuses are carpeting the council's green spaces, the first of the cherries are clothed in delicate pale pink petals, the sunshine yellow trumpets are beginning to herald the arrival of the daffodils and the fresh green spears of the wild garlic are weaving their way out from beneath the leafy woodland carpet.

The golden plumes of pollen are floating down from puffed out pussy willow tassels and the wild ducks are pairing off in search of secluded breeding sites. The early signs that spring is fast approaching are well under way.

They certainly fill the gardener's heart with hope and aspirations, but this is also tempered with the panic that the winter's horticultural task list has not yet been completely ticked off.

For me, this year it is the market garden at work that is causing me to want to shorten the step of winter's march. This is a large patch of land, about the size of a football pitch. Several years ago it used to be used as a training site for NVQ candidates and had a dedicated instructor and assistant, along with a team of up to 20 students who worked on it all day, every single day. It was set out in the traditional manner, quartered and rotated annually, leaving one section fallow. The vegetables were grown in neat rows, and the harvest was naturally quite spectacular.

Three years ago the training company pulled out of Nature's World and we were left to manage the site. For the first year we continued the ongoing practices, but found that we didn't have enough labour to maintain it in such a pristine condition. We had to think of an alternative way of dealing with such a large plot.

Last year we did away with the long rows and planted in small blocks. This worked fairly well, in that we could control the small patches of vegetables much more easily. However, we were constantly fighting an invasion of weeds that crept into each bed from the grassy pathways that separated them.

The crops did all right, but some became strangled or starved of nutrients by clover, dock and couch grass. In bad weather it was almost impossible to get onto the land, and in the long dry summer, the clay soil dried up and cracked badly.

This year we have cracked it. One of the new visiting working groups to Nature's World, the community service people, have busily been creating rows of beds for us over the winter. The beds have been created by digging out a metre's width pathway in between each one, and putting the soil taken out onto the bed area. The six inch deep paths have then been edged with long lengths of logs and filled up with a good packing of chipped wood bark.

This has, in effect, left us with a series of raised beds, surrounded by all-weather pathways. The raising of the beds will make it easier to tend. Being only two metres wide allows access to the soil from both sides without having to trample all over the beds. The weeds will not be able to creep along the surface of the ground onto them, and it will retain moisture much better. They also look more attractive.

I still have one row of beds to dig over, but have already started planting up the completed ones. I am racing against time to finish making my beds before I have laid all the others out to vegetables.

READER'S QUESTION Margaret from Bishop Auckland would like to plant up a strawberry patch this year but wants to know what conditions they favour before buying the plants.

STRAWBERRIES prefer a welldrained soil that holds moisture, so raised beds are usually successful.

They like a good dose of sunshine, so avoid shaded areas. Acid conditions produce better crops, somewhere in the region of pH 5-6.5. Alkaline soils can be corrected by adding well-rotted compost or leaf mould.

As far as feed goes, try to avoid high doses of nitrogen but opt for plenty of potash, as this will help with the formation of the fruit.

Rather than splash out on shop-bought plants, try to find a friend who has an established strawberry patch and take off any newly rooted runners that have formed over the winter. This not only helps thin out their patch but will give you an instant collection of ready made plants.

JOBS THIS WEEK Begin clearing away any stems and dried material that you may have left in the border for the insects and wildlife.

Clean and repair any cold frames and poly tunnels. The brighter the glass/ plastic, the more sunlight will penetrate and encourage plant growth.

If the compost has stopped decomposing, it may be time to add an activator. Chemical ones can be bought in garden centres, or if you are more organic try adding urine, seaweed or coffee grounds. Water them well in and cover with a carpet or polythene.

POSTSCRIPT

Brigid presents 'Ask about Gardening' every Sunday from 12-2pm on BBC Radio Cleveland 95FM.

Send your questions to be answered by her in The Northern Echo to Brigid at brigidpress@hotmail. com or write to her care of Nature's World, Ladgate Lane, Acklam, Middlesbrough.

Published: 21/02/2004