Wind, snow and rain this week has not made working in the garden very appealing and best left alone until drier weather. However hopefully at some point in January brings some decent dry weather.

Perhaps we should turn our attention to 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 consider the soil to replace all the nutrients washed out by the 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 2017. 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 an 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 in to 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 five to six which is slightly acidic whereas carrots prefer a more alkaline soil of around six and a half to seven on the pH scale.

It might be of interest to you to check your soil pH and match up with the fruit or vegetables your 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 four to five and a half 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 Soil testing!