 I'm Shane Harris with the Albany Cooperative Extension System. Today is the first day of spring. A lot of folks are eager to get outside and do a little yard work. Maybe even get those spring gardeners ready to go. It's been a long winter. It's been a wet winter. But there's lots of things to be done. One thing is to get rid of the weeds. Get the garden ready. Get it ready to be planted. Maybe take a soil test. Things like that. Let's talk about a few things that you can do this time of year. The traditional method of getting the spring garden ready each year is to get the tractor out and disk and plow the garden. I always call this the pop-all method because pop-all was always ready to get out and use this tractor for the first time each spring. Disking and plowing turns the weeds over, prepares the seabed and gets the garden and feel ready to plant in the springtime. Be sure to check the moisture content. You don't want to disk when it's too wet as it will cause heavy clods. Although laborsome, hand removal is another method of removing the weeds from the spring garden. This can take a lot of time and effort, but the chore must be done. One common method of controlling weeds in the garden is use of herbicides. Herbicides containing glyphosate, which is a non-selective herbicide, is commonly used to prepare the garden as well as control weeds. If such herbicides are used, it may take two weeks for symptoms to show as well as control to take place. Also, do not plant immediately. Allow a few weeks after the kill to plant the seeds or incorporate transplants. In addition to controlling the weeds, it's a good idea to take a soil test if you've not done one in the last three years. Using a soil test on a file is very valuable because it's going to tell you where your pH soil is, where your fertility level is, and what nutrients you may need to add. A soil test will check the pH level of your soil and tell you if you need to add lime or not to raise the pH up to six to six and a half, which is ideal for vegetable gardening. Many summer's problems, including blossom enrot, are related to low pH or high pH, so that's one way to correct those. But also check to tell you what your fertility level is and what nutrients you need to add or in case you may not need any at all for that particular year. Soil test kits and boxes are available at your local county extension office and located also at many of your local garden centers. For $7, you can test your soil to see exactly what you'll need this spring. Good luck in your spring garden this year. I hope you have a wonderful harvest. For more information, contact the local county extension office or visit us online at aces.edu. Go gardening.