Master Gardener: Get those garden tools clean and shiny before spring planting time

Are your garden tools ready for spring? Now is the time to get them cleaned up and sharpened before you need them in the garden.

Ideally, you should have done all of this when you cleaned up the garden last fall. But let’s face it, there is always something else that claims your attention through the end of the year.

Make good on your New Year’s resolution to become better organized and place cleaning your tools on the top of the list.

You can do this outside if it is a nice day, but in the garage or basement are better choices during the winter months. Gather hand tools and long handled ones, too.

Remove all the dirt before starting this project. Yes, you know you should have done this when you finished digging in the garden, but it was cold and wet, so you put them away intending to get back to them another day. Make today that day.

Removing rust from your tools

Don’t be surprised if some of the tools are rusty. Rust will shorten the useful life of a tool, so we’ll address rust removal first.

You will need a 3:1 ratio of white vinegar and water in a bucket. Add your rusty tool and let it sit a few hours or overnight. Wear rubber gloves to remove the tool from the vinegar mixture, rinse it off with fresh water and dry with a shop towel. Be sure to wear gloves, otherwise your hands and fingernails will turn black.

The next step is cleaning the metal. Be sure to wear protective eyeglasses because of small uncontrolled flying metal pieces.

Use a wire brush, toothbrush or steel wool to clean the metal. You can avoid all of the manual scrubbing if you have a wire brush attachment for your drill. This will make the job go faster.

Sharpening your tools

The next step is sharpening your garden tools. Obviously not all tools are shaped the same. Some have straight edges while others have curved edges. Hand tools are smaller than shovels, hoes and long-handled equipment.

Slightly different methods may be required for each. For example, knives, scissors, and pruners need to have sharper blades than shovels and hoes.

You will need a mill file or rasp file, whetstone, lubricant, clean towel and safety glasses.

Sharpen harvest knives, shears and snips with the whetstone. Soak the whetstone in water before using, noting that one side has a fine grain and the other is rough. Start with the rough side. Draw the blade side at a 20-degree angle across the whetstone always working in the same direction and moving from left to right.

Do this with both sides of the blade and then repeat the steps using the whetstone’s fine grain. You may need to add water to the surface of the whetstone during this process. Dry the blade and evaluate the sharpness.

Larger tools need to be secured or clamped with the front side facing up. Using a file or abrasive stone, only sharpen the inside edge of a shovel because it has a single bevel.

Maintaining a 45-degree angle, push the file or abrasive stone away from the edge of the blade.

A Farmers File is a useful tool to sharpen hoes because it has a rough side and a fine side. Only sharpen the underside of the blade because it has a single bevel.

Although there are two sides to the blades on pruning shears, you should only sharpen the beveled side.

Finishing the job

Once the metal surface is clean of rust and sharpened, apply a light coat of oil to the tool. This will prevent rust in the future. Any type of oil is acceptable.

You should coat the wooden handles on tools with linseed oil to prevent them from drying out and extend their life.

Store your tools in a dry location, making sure the blade tips are not touching the floor.

This year be sure to remove caked-on soil and plant debris from your tools after each use. Not only will this prevent the transfer of soil-borne diseases, but it will also reduce the risk of rust caused by moisture in the soil, plant debris or mud.

Return the tools when done so they will be easy to find for the next time you need them.

Christine Michael is a Sandusky and an Ottawa County Master Gardener volunteer.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Master Gardener: Dust off the fall dirt and ready tools for spring