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season: early-spring
section: the work this season asks for
---

- sharpen your tools now, before you need them. a dull hoe is punishment.
- clean and oil the pruners. cut back dead wood from last year's perennials.
- turn the compost pile. it has been sitting all winter and needs air.
- test your soil if you have not in two years. lime takes months to work.
- repair raised beds, trellises, and anything the frost heaved or the wind took.
- start hardening off seedlings. a few hours outside each day, a little more each time.
- pull early weeds while they are small. they are easier to kill than to forgive later.

early spring work is preparation. the season is not asking you to rush. it is asking you to be ready.