Well, they always say start with the soil and so I dug test pits around the garden to take soil samples and to establish what we are working with. The soil samples and the test kits came up a deep dark green indicating Alkaline (pH 7.5). No real surprise, you can see from the surrounding countryside and what little gardening I have yet carried out that this is a landscape of chalk. The plot seems to have had most of its top soil removed and the garden area levelled presumably when the new house was built. But there seems no signs of any cultivation on the site at all. Certainly no sign of old vegetable beds or produce production. As the previous house was an old Ministry of Defence property and therefore not privately owned perhaps this is not surprising. So, at least we know what we are up against. We have to choose the right plants that will be happy in the conditions. But it is also good to know that most fruits should be fine and vegetables too for that matter and both are new challenges to my horticultural knowledge.
