One of the first essential steps for setting up a vegetable garden is to test your soil pH.   Your plants growth is affected by soil pH.   However this is something that you can adjust.   “You can’t change your climate, but you can change your soil”.

You can get a simple, inexpensive testing kit from any reputable nursery… I think that they even sell them at the big green shed.

Step by step guide to testing your soil…

Step 1: Place a level teaspoon of mixed soil from the proposed position for the vegetable patch on to a plate.

Step 2: Add the indicator liquid to soil sample.

Step 3: Give the sample a good mix to form a paste.

Step 4: Dust the paste with the white powder provided.

Step 5: Now would be a good time to go and make yourself a cuppa, then come back check the pH value against the card provided.

Now depending on your result you get… Neutral soils are said to have a pH of 7.  Acid soils have pH values of less than 7; alkaline soils have pH values of more than 7.    Most plants grow well in soils whose pH value are in a range of 6 to 7.

To Raise your soils pH ( if your soil is acidic ) you will want to add lime or dolomite.

To Lower your soils pH (if your soil is alkaline ) you will want to add agricultural sulphur.

The general rule of thumb is that it is easier to decrease the acidity than the other way round, and quite often soils that are extremly alkaline, are almost imposible to bring back to neutral .   In some cases it’s best to build a raised garden bed, as you can import ready to plant soil, and get started straight away.