Mark, Rachael and three-year-old Chloe have just acquired their first allotment. They have been fortunate that it has been well tended over the years. There are four large plots which will only need a little weeding and the soil turning over. They want to know if they should just plant their vegetables straight away or take some time to re-arrange the beds.

They’d also like to know which vegetables are the easiest to grow for beginners.

YOU have indeed been lucky to get an allotment that is ready to use without too much hard work. I am guessing that the soil will be well fed too, so you won’t have to spend too much time applying manure and compost. I wouldn’t bother too much with crop rotations either in your first year.

Just get used to how things grow.

You could jump straight in and use the beds that are already in situ, but I would be tempted to take a week out or so and either divide the four beds with pathways or turn them into a series of raised beds.

This depends on your budget and your patience. Either way, you want areas of soil that you don’t have to walk on but you can reach from the paths with a trowel, spade, rake or hoe.

As for what to grow, my advice is simple. Grow things that you like eating. For most people that means peas, beans, strawberries, courgettes, leeks, onions, carrots and potatoes. If you get your potatoes in quickly, you might just get a crop by September. All the rest can be done within the next month or so. A simple reference book will help a great deal with varieties, spacings and timings, and don’t forget the internet is also full of useful information too.

Try quick-growing things like radish, lettuce and peas. Mangetout is always a winner. A sunflower makes a happy addition, and runner beans always amaze children with how they climb upwards.

Jobs this week

■ If they need it, forsythia and flowering currant can be cut back, now that they have finished flowering. Leave it much later and you run the risk of cutting off next spring’s flower buds.

■ The first leaves of potato plants should be proudly showing through the ground now. To stop the tubers forming near the surface and then turning green, draw up the soil from around the plant so it more or less covers the leaves.

■ Border perennials such as the geums, iris sibirica, potentillas and various geraniums will have been flowering for a week or two now. In order to make the most of their blooms, dead-head the spent flower as soon as they go over and the plant will continue to throw out more flowers.

Brigid presents the BBC Tees gardening show on Sundays from 1pm to 2pm. Questions can be answered on the day by emailing brigidpress@bbc.co.uk anytime during the week, or texting 07786-200995 and phoning 01642-225511 during the show.