PREPARING YOUR SOIL

When preparing your garden beds for vegetables you should add organic fertilizer at the rate of about two bucketfuls per square yard (per square metre).

Once you have made your soil as nourishing for plants as possible and chosen the plants you want to grow it is time to prepare your garden beds and dig your seed or plant furrows (known as drills).

Seeds need to be sown in soil that is firm not hard. Prepare the beds during fine weather so the soil will be dry and crumbly. Fork the bed all over for about three inches in depth (76mm) and break up any solid lumps then walk over the land to firm it up. Finish off by raking the top inch or so of surface soil back and forward until the surface is even and level and every particle of soil is finely broken up.

When preparing your soil for planting or sowing the required depth of your furrows or drills will be dictated by the size of your seeds and the texture of your soil.

Small seeds need shallow drills and seeds should be sown closer to the surface in heavy soil. In average soil, a drill of about half an inch (12mm) depth will suit lettuce, parsley and carrot seeds. A depth of around one inch (25mm) will suit spinach, beetroot and turnips whilst beans and peas require three inch (76mm) deep drills.

Most packets of seeds do, however, provide instructions on how to sow the seeds they contain so follow those directions.