How to Properly Clean Your Lawnmower After a Winter in Storage
After spending the long winter months in your garage or shed, your lawnmower likely needs a cleaning before being put back to work on your grass in the spring. Thoroughly cleaning a lawnmower is a simple, yet essential, part of keeping it in good shape season after season. Here's are the steps you should take to clean up your mower so that it's ready to go when your grass starts growing.

Wash the Mower Deck As you use your lawn mower, grass clippings can build up under the mower deck, eventually caking onto the underside of the deck and the blade and inhibiting your mower's ability to cut properly. At the outset of the mowing season, it's a good idea to give the deck a thorough cleaning. If you have an older mower, you may have to physically get a hose in underneath the deck to wash it out. Newer mowers, however, are much easier to clean in this regard. Most new mowers come with a hose attachment on the outside of the deck which will allow you to connect your garden hose. When you turn the mower on and let the blade spin, the force will distribute the water from your hose and clean off the underside of the deck.

Change the Air Filter Cleaning your mower doesn't just mean washing its exterior. You also have to be sure that it's clean inside as well. This means changing out the air filter you used last season, which will likely have picked up plenty of dust. Changing the air filter on most lawnmowers is a very simple process, but be aware that different mowers use different filters. Refer to your manual for the part number of the filter you need, then go to a local hardware store to get it. Your manual will also have the instructions for changing the filter on your particular model.

Clean the Carburetor If you have a self-propelled or push mower, as opposed to a riding lawnmower, you probably have a carburetor that isn't protected from dust and grass clippings while the mower is in operation. To make sure your mower will run well, it's a good idea to run a little carburetor cleaner through it at the very beginning of the season. This will clean out any dust or other buildup your carburetor may have acquired last season and prevent it from clogging up completely over the course of the coming season.

By doing these three simple things, you can easily have your mower ready to go. If you use your lawnmower heavily, you may also want to consider changing its oil each spring, though mowers that receive lighter use generally only need an oil change every other year. All told, these three steps should take you half an hour or less, not counting the trip to the hardware store to buy an air filter. By investing this small amount of time, you can be sure your lawnmower is in top shape for the upcoming summer mowing season.

Early Spring Vegetables
As the winter thaw begins, gardeners everywhere begin to get the itch to start planting. Prior to planting seeds in the ground, some research should be done regarding when to plant and what to plant, as certain plants are far more successful based on when in the season they are planted. Some vegetables, such as peas, fare far better than others if planted in the late winter or early spring.

While hardy, peas do have some preferences when planting for them to thrive. Peas will flourish if put in the ground while it is still cool. Place pea seeds approximately one inch apart. Plant the seeds in wide rows and provide support for the peas as they develop. They will naturally climb a support like a vine, allowing the pea plant to spread and produce more flowers. More flowers mean more peas! Peas are not alone in thriving in cooler weather. Spinach is another common early spring plant.

When planning a cold weather garden, spinach is among the number one choice of gardeners. Able to be planted over 6-8 weeks before the final frost, spinach is an extremely hardy garden addition. Place the seeds approximately one foot apart. As spinach is a leafy plant, allowing a full foot for growth will allow the plant to expand and grow big leafy plants. Once leaves appear, the spinach is ready to pick and consume. If continually picked, this will delay when the spinach "bolts," allowing it to be consumed longer through the season.

A final plant to discuss as a great addition to a cold weather garden are radishes. When choosing seeds, make certain to review the season preference of that particular radish. Radishes include both spring and winter varieties, and for a cold weather garden, select the spring varieties. Radishes should be planted approximately three inches apart and sowed regularly. Failure to sow radishes will crowd the plants and impede growth. Spring radishes will grow very quickly and are versatile in the kitchen once picked. Do not leave the radishes in the ground for too long, as if mature radishes are not picked early when ripe, the taste will change from a crisp treat to a bitter or hot surprise. Don't let that be a barrier, as radishes are easy to plant and grow quickly.

In researching an early spring or late winter garden, it is startling the number of vegetables that are hardy and actually prefer the cold ground before the spring has a chance to remove winter's chill. In addition to peas, spinach, and radishes, kohlrabi, kale, turnips, leeks, broccoli, and a multitude of other hardy vegetables can be planted in the weeks prior to the last frost. Taking a chance and planting these vegetables early will improve the flavor of the plants as well as the yield!