The handiest garden tool I have is inexpensive kitchen shears (a la grocery store). I have several and usually grab one as I go out the door; it's not only handy for cutting flowers but is tough enough to trim woody stems or large handfuls of stems when cutting back. Tough enough to pry into dirt too without damage.
My composting tip is: throw your kitchen veg scraps into a used plastic bag in the bottom of your freezer. That way nothing gets 'yucky' while you find time to take a trip out back, no fruit flies visit, AND the scraps are already a little broken down from the freezing! I have used the fancy green vented compost scrap bin but didn't like how gross it got inside. Now I just dump frozen block onto compost pile directly from bag.
Happy raking all!

Yes, I have a large jar in the refrigerator for keeping scraps in until I go out to the compost pile, but once I froze some lettuce that was going bad. The next day I gave it a quick whack, and you're right, it was in small pieces and already on its way to composting. A good idea!

What a great idea! Wish I had thought of it. That bag of greens, etc. gets pretty raunchy. Freezing it will do the trick. Thanks, Shady

My husband has an aversion to those little vinegar flies so thanks for your tip. You may have made him a happy man.

If I may add to your composting tip: I toss my veggie scraps in a used plastic bag, toss them in the refrig and once a week i put them in the blender and break them down a bit more. Take them out, put 1/2 in the compost can and (while the ground is still workable - I'm in zone 6), dig some directly into the soil. It's a good meal for the earthworms over the winter and it all breaks down by the early spring.
In the spring and summer and early fall, well they just get blended and tossed into my compost bin.
Happy Gardening.

I have always found that the best composting tool
is a husband who is willing to take the days
accumulation of greens and peelings either to the
chickens or the compost bins!