Solving the problem of soggy soil

That wonderfully good feeling of warm sun on your skin is just one of the rewards of being a gardener.

This week, I've rolled up my sleeves and soaked up a bit of it, and I hope you've had the chance to do so, too.

Our garlic and autumn-sown broad beans are looking ready to roll up their sleeves as well. They're already growing through the protective netting that I draped over sticks pushed into the soil at the onset of winter.

A cold start to the year really illustrates the value of sowing what you can in autumn because it can take advantage of any good growing conditions, usually long before you can get out on to your soil.

This February, although it's no longer deep-frozen, the soil is still far too wet to consider working. Spring-sown broad beans won't be getting into the soil anytime soon, and yet the autumn ones have already got a very good head start and are big enough to cope with the soggy conditions.

One way round the problem of soggy soil is to cover it up, either with a mulch or a less permeable layer like plastic. Covering areas of soil that will soon be ready for planting is a very good way to protect your soil from all sorts of inclemency, but plastic covering is particularly useful in allowing soil to dry out and warm up a little bit, giving seeds and small plants a kinder beginning once they do go in.

Although it's not practical to cover large areas of an allotment, just covering a bed with black plastic is a very practical way to get an earlier start on the season, making sure that it's firmly fixed down around the edges so that it doesn't blow away in a strong wind.

If there are no planks or bricks to hand, then simply digging the edges in so that they are well covered with soil will also do the trick.

Other useful jobs to be getting on with in February include pruning outdoor grape vines, and cutting back last year's fruited stems to a more controllable structure.

While the pruners are out, it's also a good idea to cast an eye over fruit trees and shrubs for snow-damaged branches that need to be cut back.

If you have a few rhubarb crowns, then one or two can be covered up with buckets or similar to bring on speedier growth, giving you some tender early stems ahead of the rest.

But really, it's indoors where the main gardening preparations need to be taking place. Lettuce and parsnip seed can be started off indoors to good advantage, as well as a few tomatoes, and of course the early potatoes will do well, too. "Chitting" potatoes – the practice of sprouting them before they are planted – gets them going faster, and it's important that this happens in the light so that the sprouts stay short. More on this next week.