A new way to grow vegetables - straw bale raised beds - has turned out successful and, what's best, with a minimum of effort.

THIS week I have been doing what I like doing best. I have had the luxury of having plenty of time to potter around in the kitchen garden and polytunnel. I have been creating and nurturing new life.

The prototype straw bale raised beds in the kitchen garden fared well last year. They kept the soil insulated (and hence warm); they repelled most pests and made for a perfect working height. The best part of all is that come the new season, I didn't have to get the spade out, remove a bed full of weeds and turn the soil over. I may have had to pull one or two docks out of the captive soil, but on the whole, all I needed was a garden rake to level the soil out.

Some of the beds were still occupied. The red Brussels sprouts (Falstaff) had been allowed to continue to grow after the Christmas harvest. To my great excitement, each button put forth new growth, and supplied me with four months' worth of sprouting tops. I have to admit that the taste of the accidentally discovered crop far exceeded that of the sprouts, so I shall actually plant the Brussels sprouts this year with the intention of harvesting them as 'broccoli'.

Some of the raised beds are filled with beetroot, spinach and land cress that are going to seed. This is not because I have been too lazy or haven't had the time to pull them up, but because the varieties were so good that I want to be able to harvest and sow the seed from them. They were all organic, non-F1 varieties so should come true to their parent plant. As a bonus, I will get to enjoy the most delicious scent given off by the flowers that appear on the beetroot.

A few of the raised beds have started to disintegrate. This all depends on the age and density of the bales, but is easy to rectify. The shrunken bale is simply removed, integrated into the soil within the bed, and a new bale is put in its place.

Last year, I only had a dozen or so beds, so filled each one with a mix of vegetables. This year, I have nearer 30, so I can afford to fill each bed with just one type of vegetable. This should look quite stunning when everything is in full flush. The potatoes and onions are already putting on plenty of leaf, as they were plunged into the soil earlier in the year. Since then I have sown broad beans, runner beans, peas, carrots, parsnips and spinach straight into the beds. This week I started planting out some of the seedlings that have been growing on in the polytunnel, so lettuce, French beans, broccoli and cabbage have joined the other crops outside.

The polytunnel tables are starting to groan with seedlings and pricked-out plants. There are the usual characters, such as tomatoes, chillies, courgettes and pumpkins. I have limited the amount of varieties of each type of vegetable this year, as last year, I simply had too many and didn't have enough room for them all. This is especially applicable to the tomatoes. I am growing Marmande, Super Roma, Tigrella, Sungella and Sungold, so I should have a good range of small, large, juicy and pulpy tomatoes.

I have tried some experimental vegetables though. okra, or ladies' fingers (bhindi, if you are ordering an Indian meal) is useful as a stew thickener, and has germinated well so far. The water melons are looking good so far too. A group of school children sowed a few trays of peanuts for me, and they are doing really well. I shall have to make sure that each one gets transplanted into a tower of tyres, as the nuts, are not really nuts which appear after the flowers, but are nodules which grow on the roots.

It's going to be an interesting and hopefully productive season in the polytunnel and kitchen garden. I can't wait to see the fruits of my labour - literally, but for the next few months though I shall have to concentrate on potting on, planting out, tying in, watering, and training.

THIS WEEK'S JOBS

Keep hoeing the soil in borders on a regular basis so that any weeds are kept at bay and donft become too big a problem to face.

Stand house plants outdoors in a sheltered spot so that they can bathe in some proper daylight. A good warm spring rain will give them a real boost.

Keep pond and any other water features topped up with collected rain water. If you have to use mains water, store it in a barrel or bucket for a day before putting it into the pond, so that some of the additives and chemicals have time to evaporate or neutralise.

READER'SQUESTION

Q - MARK from Durham wants to know what is happening to his three-year-old rhododendron. Despite flowering well last month, the leaves are now covered in a black, sticky substance. What is the black stuff? Is this the beginning of the end for his plant? Is there anything that he can do to save it?

A -It sounds as though your rhododendron is suffering from sooty mould, Mark. This is a fungal affliction of the leaves, but the good news is that it isnft actually directly harming the leaves. It grows on the sticky residue (honeydew) that is excreted by aphids which may be feeding on your rhododendronfs young shoots and new growth. It can be wiped off with cotton wool soaked in warm water and a drop of washing up liquid on it. The washing up liquid can also be used to make a spray that will get rid of the aphids (a small squirt into a bottle of water).

Brigid presents Ask About Gardening every Sunday on BBC Radio Cleveland 95FM from 1-2pm. Questions will be answered on the day by emailing brigidpress@bbc.co.uk anytime during the week, and texting 07786-200-995 or phoning 01642-225- 511 during the show.