Never used it before but have been building up the beds with huge amounts of manure over the last ten years.
Most things seem to grow well. I know nothing about ph what so ever (and some one told me the ph testing kits can give wrong readings something to do with calibration). I think it sounds more complicated than texting on a mobile, which I have never mastered either.
I keep getting a nagging gremlin telling me to put lime on the soil.
What advice can you give me?
I only spread a little lime in the few beds my brassicas are going in. I use granulated limestone rather than slaked lime. Wether that makes any difference I don't know.
I'll try and give you some of the stuff I've been learning on my RHS course recently!
You really should do a soil test. The pH soil testers with metal spikes that you stick in the ground are not always very reliable, but the ones that involve mixing soil with water and adding it to a tester with a special capsule usually are. They are simple to use. A soil pH of 6.5, neutral to slightly acid, is fine for most plants.
Brassicas prefer a more limey soil, with a pH between 6.5 and 7. Lime is usually added during the winter to soil intended for brassicas. I've done it each year so far and like to think it has helped.
Lime is excellent on clay soils for helping to create a good crumb structure. Lime is good for brassicas as a safeguard against club root, but you need to be careful not to grow potatoes in soil that has recently been limed or they may get scab. You should not add lime and manure at the same time or you will get a chemical reaction, with ammonia being released. And you obviously shouldn't use it on soils where you are growing lime-hating plants such as camellias, rhodedendrons, azaleas, heathers and pieris.
This link plus related links might give you a better understanding of lime.
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Soil-Liming/Soil-Liming.htm (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Soil-Liming/Soil-Liming.htm)
I bought a soil tester kit in B&Q last week for under £2.00. I usually lime ground where I intend to grow brassicas
I lime the hole for brassicas and lime around the plants similar to TG's but on a smaller scale and not as neat. ;D ;D ;D