To glove or not to glove

ETNRedClay 5/19/2013, 2:01 am

I know you're "supposed" to glove when you garden. Every bag of compost I've ever opened as cautioned you to use gloves while gardening. And I must own 2 dozen pairs of gloves -- cotton, latex, mechanic's gloves, leather gloves, long-sleeved leather gloves, the rubber-dipped gloves... I buy the gloves like I'm "supposed" to.

But unless I'm dealing with roses or briars, I really hate wearing gloves.

I want to feel the earth in my fingers. I want to be able to rub a leaf between thumb and finger and feel the texture. I want to know what butterflies feel like walking on the back of my hand.

So, do you glove or not glove?

drixnot 5/19/2013, 3:04 am

no gloves here unless I'm trimming my rose bush.

Frenchbean 5/19/2013, 5:30 am

I never wear gloves, I get told off all the time. Even when Im pruning roses!!! I like to feel nature through all of my senses I love you

**camprn** 5/19/2013, 8:03 am

Depends upon what I'm doing. If I am working a well established SFG or pulling small weeds I don't wear them. For heavy work, digging, cutting, pulling roots, breaking up soil, beekeeping... I usually wear them. I like my leather gloves. What a Face

boffer 5/19/2013, 10:03 am

I avoid gloves except when it's cold and raining, but I don't have a $50 manicure to worry about either! tongue

**camprn** 5/19/2013, 10:31 am

boffer wrote: $50 manicure

this would be a total waste of dough for me.

bnoles 5/19/2013, 10:50 am

I rarely use anything except a good fingernail brush lol!

**gwennifer** 5/19/2013, 12:01 pm

I pretty much always start with gloves, and remove them whenever I need to for dexterity. Whenever I think I don't need to go get them because I'm just going to quickly pull a weed I spotted or something, I almost always end up doing more and more and wish I'd taken the time to put them on. And I don't get manicures, but I do get annoyed that I end up with dirt under my nails regardless of wearing gloves.

Oh and frankly, working in MM without gloves makes me cranky because the vermiculite sticks all over my hands. And there's always little, itty bitty stickers in the mulch on my other garden beds that always remind me I should have put gloves on (and my kids learn why I don't like them running barefoot through the yard).

iiiigardener 5/19/2013, 12:06 pm

As we have problems with fire ants here in Texas, I always start with gloves and then take them off when I need to get into tight spaces. This morning, I would some crawling around the zucchini I needed to hand pollinate. I had to do it with my gloves on which was pretty weird and clumsy. Being bit by fire ants is much worse, though.

I'll have to track down their nest and take care of it but in the meantime, gloves at all times.

**llama momma** 5/19/2013, 12:53 pm

Don't know what should be done when there is a cut on my hand, a band aid isn't much protection and latex free gloves become gross with all the sweating inside. I'm up to date on tetanus and hope its enough for most of my glove-free gardening. I wear gloves when transplanting.

jjlonsdale 5/19/2013, 1:02 pm

I agree, I love the feeling of the earth and the connectedness you get from not wearing gloves.

As far as dirt under fingernails, I saw an amazing trick on Pinterest the other day: run each finger across a soft bar of soap before going out to garden. The soap sticks under your fingernails so the dirt doesn't get in, and then comes right off afterwards. I've also seen people use bits of cotton from cotton balls under their nails but haven't tried it myself.

artisticfoodie 5/19/2013, 1:21 pm

jjlonsdale wrote:
As far as dirt under fingernails, I saw an amazing trick on Pinterest the other day: run each finger across a soft bar of soap before going out to garden. The soap sticks under your fingernails so the dirt doesn't get in, and then comes right off afterwards. I've also seen people use bits of cotton from cotton balls under their nails but haven't tried it myself.

an old tooth brush works well too

artisticfoodie 5/19/2013, 1:26 pm

iiiigardener wrote:

I'll have to track down their nest and take care of it but in the meantime, gloves at all times.

with fire ants less is more........ the scarcer the "food" source the faster they take it to the queen. If there is an abundance of "food" the workers eat it first and end up dying. The queen senses there is a problem with the colony so she starts putting out more eggs and then you find another mound and another. For example most people use amdro and put out most of the bottle on one mound ignoring the label. It would be better to use less than what the label calls for.

artisticfoodie 5/19/2013, 1:30 pm

oh, and no gloves for me either. Have avoided the fire ants thus far. I believe they are under control at this point.

Goosegirl 5/19/2013, 2:33 pm

I have a Sonicare electric toothbrush and I always keep one of the old worn out heads just for cleaning my nails from gardening. Works wonders and feels like a mini-massage!

GG

Lillyz 5/19/2013, 4:46 pm

jjlonsdale wrote:I agree, I love the feeling of the earth and the connectedness you get from not wearing gloves.

As far as dirt under fingernails, I saw an amazing trick on Pinterest the other day: run each finger across a soft bar of soap before going out to garden. The soap sticks under your fingernails so the dirt doesn't get in, and then comes right off afterwards. I've also seen people use bits of cotton from cotton balls under their nails but haven't tried it myself.

I use this when I start out in the garden and it works! However, I put gloves on most of the time because you can still get dirt under your fingernails wearing gloves. I have some that are nice and pliable and then for the heavy duty stuff I have leather gloves. I do need to find something better than socks and crocs.

CapeCoddess 5/19/2013, 5:02 pm

Barefoot and bare hands.

CC

milaneyjane 5/19/2013, 5:16 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:Barefoot and bare hands.

CC

Same here! Very Happy

boffer 5/19/2013, 5:22 pm

ooooooooh barefoot in MA and MN? Brrrrrr!

chicken dance

<~~~~~~ Cold Footed Gardener!

**Turan** 5/19/2013, 5:25 pm

Bare hands and flipflops.
I dislike the feel of gloves on my fingers, even in the winter I wear mittens rather than put up with gloves. I will put on leather gloves for bucking and stacking a field of hay bales.

iiiigardener 5/19/2013, 5:35 pm

Lillyz - I wear socks and crocs, too. I used to wear flip flops but I got ten fire ant bites last summer and switched. It took about three months for the bites to go down as I'm allergic to most antibacterial creams and I just have to tough it out with alcohol to keep the infection down.

The total ensemble is a camo sun hat, long sleeve button down shirt, crop pants, socks, crocs, and pliable gloves. Maybe we can start a new fashion craze.

CapeCoddess 5/19/2013, 5:52 pm

boffer wrote:ooooooooh barefoot in MA and MN? Brrrrrr!

<~~~~~~ Cold Footed Gardener!

*ROFL* Where do you folks get those different emoticons???

Sun comes up close to 5 now and the ground is all warmed up by the time I get out there between 6 & 7. sunny

Even the dew is warm.

CC

Lillyz 5/19/2013, 5:57 pm

iiiigardener wrote:Lillyz - I wear socks and crocs, too. I used to wear flip flops but I got ten fire ant bites last summer and switched. It took about three months for the bites to go down as I'm allergic to most antibacterial creams and I just have to tough it out with alcohol to keep the infection down.

The total ensemble is a camo sun hat, long sleeve button down shirt, crop pants, socks, crocs, and pliable gloves. Maybe we can start a new fashion craze.

I am pretty sure we have fireants here. I had to go to the ER after I got bit and the bite got as big as a dinnerplate (death to fireants!!!). iiiigardener, my outfit is pretty much the same as yours, except I have a floppy hat that I wear.

greatgranny 5/19/2013, 7:24 pm

I too dislike wearing gloves. The only time I do is if I just got a manicure for someone's wedding, another special occasion or I am sifting compost. I don't like to do that task with my bare hands.

Nicola 5/19/2013, 8:30 pm

I, too, own a couple of pairs of gloves, but usually forget to grab 'em when I'm going out to garden. I probably should wear them more, especially when working in my boyfriend's non-SFG garden, with all that "real dirt" back there. I'm the one who hates even the feel of dirt on my fingers; been this way since I was a little girl. But then I get busy with some foamy soap, the nail brush, and sometimes a splash of peroxide to be sure (O.C.D.,moi?) I don't know manicures, either.
Also: never socks with crocs (or sandals, for that matter); it's easier to hose the toes, not make more of a laundry burden

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