Include me in the felco fan club. I just love felco pruners. The best. I have an OXO trowel with a serrated edge (you can see it on Amazon, where I got it)that is marvelous for digging and cutting thru roots at the same time. I give it to my gardening friends as a little present, and everyone raves. I live in rocky terrain (CT foothills), so I do love my pry bar for exhuming rocks. And for winter, I love my USA made ice chipper. I have to say, I never buy tools made in China -- if you buy the best, they will serve you the best (just my opinion) lucia

Ohiomom, my grandma's apple masher is, I think, an early kind of food mill. It's got a metal cone with holes in it, a stand for the cone, and a wooden pestle designed to fit in the cone. You quarter the apples, cutting out the cores but not bothering to skin them; cook the apples till soft, put a bowl under the cone, dump the apples in the cone, and use the pestle to force the cooked apples through the holes. The apple sauce slides down the cone and into the bowl. The skins are left in the cone, and you scrape those out and do another batch. Then you taste test the applesauce and sweeten/add cinnamon as you prefer, and either can or freeze. It also works with tomatoes for making tomato sauce, but you have to cook the sauce down afterwards to reduce the liquid. If you google "apple masher" or "apple saucer" you can find them on antique sites. The one linked below is very similar to mine except mine doesn't have the ring around the base, and mine is a bit larger. Here is a link that might be useful: This is very similar to mine

Here's a list of tools I could not live without: Digging Pole: (Same as above), mine has a "spear" end, and a chisel end, great for breaking through dried clay and prying out unruly plants, stones, etc. It will rust as the tips are worn, and it can also be sharpened. Heavy also, so beware. Hand Mattock: This is a tool that is so versatile, you may never use an individual fork or spade again. Mine is from Yard Butler, and has a great handle, and good heft and the weld seems to be strong so far. One end is the cultivating fork, the other is the traditional "mattock" end, a blend between a spade and a pick. Great for lifting, cultivating, dividing, just about anything. D-Handle Shovel: I have one of the Husky Brand shovels of this type, and the great thing about it is the "super socket" option, which means you can put a lot of leverage onto the shovel, and the risk of breaking the handle, or spade off, is very unlikely, they are also not as pricey as some of those brands mentioned above, which are of professional strength and durability. Literally a third of the cost of those. You can get the socket design for the digging spade, and transfer shovel ( I have both) these are both indispensable for gardening and planting, and mulching and cleanup. Thatching rake: Great way to clean up trouble spots in the lawn, or refresh thick thatch areas. Also, it is a great way to overseed thin, or reseed bare areas, because you can cut some nice grooves with the rake, better than a tine, or garden rake. Also, thatching this way is great exercise, so long as your yard is well under an acre. Mulching Rake: Not just great for mulch, but also works well for raking things out of grass delicately, without overly harming grass, a tined rake, or garden rake cannot boast this. In the prime season, if things have blown into the yard, I use it to remove the items without ripping up grass, since it has a small, plastic rake head. Also, the long handle is great for evening out mulch in big beds, or under big shrubs, when they are otherwise difficult to get to. Lastly, a great Wheelbarrow: I bought the Ames True Temper Poly Wheelbarrow, and have not been disappointed. There are many bad reviews on Home depot's site, and I cannot see why. My father in law and I built our 16x32 deck together, and we used this to move a broken up concrete pad, earth, rocks, timber scraps, not to mention, mixing over 70 bags of concrete in the tub. Also, I have used it to mix seed and earth for overseeding, and for transferring and dumping mulch. Only problem I have had is needing to fill the tires a couple of times, which makes sense, since I have put a lot of weight on it. I also love the ergronomic handles. Good Luck.

Shovels- *A smaller lighter shovel called a floral shovel as it is easier on the arms and back and slides easily into the dirt. *A long narrow straight-sided trenching shovel for when I have to dig out a plant and need to get under it to lift it out. Weeding- *An Asian trowel that had a deeper bowl with serrated edges coming to a point in front, good for digging holes and getting plants out. *A type of winged weeder with a small blade only on one side that a friend owns, I haven't seen one in a store. I bought a regular winged weeder and the blade came off the handle the first time I used it. *A hula hoe- great for scuffing small weeds coming up in sheets, not so good for larger weeds with deep roots *A serrated knife for slicing off weeds and cutting blackberry vines into 3' lengths for the chipper *A double-headed hammer-like weeder with a blade on one side and teeth on the other side for grabbing onto the roots of plants. That side tends to jam up and get rocks in the teeth. *A mattock for serious plant removal, heavy and hard work but does a good job *A good chipper to turn blackberry vines and cedar branches into free mulch. Mine is a Craftsman. Most regretted purchase- a lightweight rototiller, I don't remember the brand but it is red and can be carried around. It can tear up the ground well but gets clogged with roots.