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I keep it simple: I have a minimum of tools, and only one has a gasoline engine – and I fire it up only in a real pinch.

My most used tool is a diamond hoe. I have two, one with a long (72“) handle I use standing up and another with a short handle I use kneeling for working close to plants. I slide the diamond-shaped blade parallel to the ground, just a little bit below, so that the blade chops off weeds. This works fine for weeds just sprouting, separating the leaves from the root. It's not as effective for plants with a tap root, perslane or rhizomatous plants. Using the diamond hoe makes for quick work on a first pass at beheading weeds.

I use a peasant hoe (also called an eye hoe) for heavy-duty weeding. I can chop off the tops of plants as with the diamond hoe or I can chop to dig down to the roots.

My go-to tool for breaking up compacted soil is the broad fork. This page includes a video demo of using a broafork.

The tools I mention above along with a number of other heavy-duty, specialty tools I use are from Red Pig Tools. They sell top quality hand-forged garden tools made by well-known companies. Red Pig’s blacksmith also hand-forges custom garden tools using steel, fire, an anvil, and good, honest sweat. Their hand-crafted tools are stronger, sharper, and last longer than others you can buy. (The name Red Pig Garden Tools is a registered trademark of R.Z and R.K. Denman, Boring, Oregon 97009.)

A scythe for cutting tall weeds or cover crop. This is really a sleeper tool because it is so easy to use and so effective. For the right task, it's lots quicker than a power tool and more effective in laying down the blades. Remove the blade cover and start scything. It's not great in close quarters, but for the wide-open spaces that weeds and cover crops grow it's indispensable.

Occasionally I use a pitch fork available for moving around bulky stuff for composting.

And I have a couple of rakes for collecting weeds or leaves along with a couple of shovels for digging, but I don't like to get too far below the soil surface, avoiding the seed bank.