WE hoped the end of January would bring some decent dry weather but it doesn’t look that way with heavy rain forecast this weekend, so perhaps we should be flicking through the offers from garden centres and considering what we will grow this year in the fruit and vegetable garden and what needs to be done to prepare our garden areas.

We also need to give consideration to the soil to replace all the nutrients washed out by the excessive winter rain we have experienced in the last few months.

Whether you have small space in your porch or vast areas in your garden there are plenty of good options available to enjoy the fruits of your work.

You might have areas in the garden where soil is not particularly good then this is an area you might consider for a raised bed made of spare wood, bricks, stone, slate or any nice suitable material that will contain new soil or compost from being washed out.

This type of area will allow you to build up soil for better rooting in the plants you choose to grow in this area.

Make sure to look at the location of your area that it is not shaded too much.

Most plants prefer full sun however some fruit and vegetables will require protection from the wind to allow them to grow well.

You don’t want your area to be too large if you don’t have the time to look after it and you don’t want it too far from a watering point in the garden once we reach the drier months of 2016.

It is worth adding in some general soil fertiliser at this time if your soil is not too wet.

If it is wet wait until we have drier conditions, any farmyard compost should have been added in the autumn and well dug in however, if you are adding at this time make sure it has been composting for five to six months and is not too fresh, make sure it is well incorporated into your soil before you introduce any plants as the ammonia can be highly toxic to new roots and scorch young plants.

You may want to consider what type of plants you intend to grow, perhaps you wish to look at a variety of root vegetable crops such as potatoes or carrots, potatoes like a soil pH to be around 5/6 which is slightly acidic whereas carrots prefer a more alkaline soil of around 6.5-7 on the pH scale.

It might be of interest to you to check your soil pH and match up with the fruit or vegetables you are planning to grow, this also gives an idea of what soil conditioner requires to be added to your soil to make slight adjustments so that your soil is in the best condition for the crop you intend to grow.

Most soft fruits such as blueberries and raspberries grow best in low acid soils between 4-5.5 which we will cover individually in the coming weeks and months.

A pH meter can be bought from garden centres to check those soils.

Happy testing.