If you're planning your vegetable garden this year and planting New Jersey's favorite crop then you need to get your soil ready to avoid potential problems.

Have your tomatoes ever gotten those black spots on them? It's an ugly rough looking spot that spreads and eventually makes the fruit inedible.

This doesn't just happen on tomatoes but also on other vegetables such as peppers and some of the vining vegetables like squash and cucumbers.

This is not caused by a fungus or disease but rather by growing conditions which could easily be remedied. There are two things that cause blossom and rot. First is lack of calcium in the soil and the other is irregular watering.

Sometimes nature has a big hand in this. If you have a wet spring that leads into a dry summer it can cause the problem.

As far as calcium deficiency, it may not be that your soil doesn't have a proper amount of calcium but rather the plant is unable to absorb it. Make sure that the pH of your soil is correct. It should be around 6.5.

If you have too much nitrogen in your soil it can also impair the absorption of calcium, so don't over fertilize.
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Check your soil now and you should be prepared for the growing season.