This week I'm cutting down the last of the tomatoes and prepping a few areas for planting bulbs. It's the busiest stretch of my gardening season, and the stretch where I'm most grateful for a few tools that take the slow, sore-hands, all-afternoon jobs and make them shorter.

​Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days runs today and tomorrow (October 6 and 7), and several of my favorite less-fuss tools are part of it.

I know, a sale email isn't why you open these—so I kept the list to things I use myself every season, each one picked because it gives you back time or saves your hands, back, and patience for the parts of gardening and home-keeping you enjoy.

Heads up: These picks link to Amazon, and I earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Big Deal Days pricing is for Prime members only, so if you don't have a membership, you can start a free 30-day trial just to take advantage of the deals this week.

(You can also get discounted Prime memberships if you're a student or on government assistance.)

Garden life

• ​Worx electric leaf mulcher - Whole leaves mat into a soggy layer that smothers beds. Shredded leaves break down faster, stay fluffy, and turn into the best free soil amendment you'll get all year. (41% off)
• ​Worx Landroid robot lawn mower - Mowing is the chore that always falls to the bottom of my list, and now it doesn't need a spot on it. We call our mower "Mo" 😄 and it trims the lawn a little every few days. The short clippings drop back into the grass as free fertilizer so there's no bagging, raking, or Saturday morning lost. (23% off)
• ​Worx cordless pruning shears - A cordless bypass pruner does the squeezing for you. If you've ever finished a pruning session with a cramped-up hand (or skipped pruning because of it), this is the one to look at first. (36% off)
• ​Fiskars nonstick pruning snips - I like the spring-action blades for trimming herbs and vines fast. These are also resin-resistant so they're less likely to get gummy. (10% off)
• ​Gorilla Carts dump cart - One of our most-used garden carts for hauling soil, mulch, plants, big garden harvests, firewood, and even small children across the yard. (20% off)
• ​Tall plant support stakes - Just stick 'em in the ground and go. These lightweight half-circle stakes support top-heavy flowers and herbs with ease. (50% off)
• ​Vego Garden raised garden bed - I've owned this modular raised bed for a couple years and love the color and height. Stop bending down to garden, bring your plants closer to you! (15% off)

Home life

• ​Ball electric water bath canner - No giant stockpot hogging the stove, no babysitting a burner to keep the water at a rolling boil. It holds the temperature on its own, which is why I can can a batch of tomato sauce and still get dinner made on the same night. (32% off)
• ​FoodSaver compact vacuum sealer - My fastest fix for a harvest glut. I seal blanched green beans, zucchini, and fruit in flat bags that stack in the freezer like files, and pulling the air out keeps freezer burn away far longer than a zip-top bag can. The compact model fits in a drawer instead of claiming counter space. (34% off)
• ​Shark cordless stick vacuum - For the potting soil on the kitchen floor, the dried mud off the garden shoes, and the seed-starting mess I'll be making again in February. (50% off)
• ​Ego Power+ cordless snow blower - This snow blower handles our 300-foot driveway like a champ (and it's sooo quiet compared to our neighbor's gas-powered blower). (21% off)
• ​iRobot Roomba vacuum and mop combo - For dust, dirt, and leaves that follow you in from the garden every day. It vacuums and mops hard floors and even cleans itself! I just start it in the morning and come home to a clean kitchen. Using this—along with the robot mower above—really makes me feel like I'm living in the future! And it's hard to go back. 😬 (53% off)
• ​Toto Washlet bidet - True story: everyone who comes to our house asks about our toilet once they use it. If you've never tried a bidet with a heated seat and instant warm water, it's life-changing! (19% off)

P.S. Prime Big Deal Days ends Wednesday night. See all my picks here.​

P.P.S. Not shopping this week? Your leaves are still free mulch. Did you know your lawn mower or string trimmer can shred them almost as well as a mulcher? Or that a few inches of shredded leaves can protect perennials all winter? Here's how I use every last one of them.​