Do you wear gloves when working in the garden?

[SKR8PN]

Because you risk cutting your foot out there, and ending up with blood poisoning and a year of sickness like a good gardening friend of mine did. I wear shoes out there, or at least sandals, and never dig without real shoes on. And Bee, it would be hard to find gloves cheaper than $5.99, the Atlas gloves are not expensive at all. The only thing cheaper I can think of are throw-aways.

That which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.
Back in my younger and dumber days, I was even known to ride wild filly's, bareback.

 

[2dream]

I am kind of like punkin. Depends on what I am doing. I always know where my gloves are - at the opposite end of the property from where I am. LOL

I do keep up with my leather work gloves and am obsessed with keeping them with my hoe and rake. I always were them for those things. (Well most always, ummmm which explains the healing blister right now). Stopped to do something else and forgot to put them back on.

I just can't harvest most things with gloves on. Squash and garlic being the exception to the rule. I have to wear gloves for them or I break out something awful.

 

[nightshade]

NO but I should my senior year in high school I got a spider bite while working in my flower bed at my parents place. Nearly lost my hand, and they could not even tell me what kind did it. I am constantly smashing fingers while building stone walls and I still don't wear gloves. Kinda dumb hugh

 

[Lovechooks]

Like so many others I don't often wear gloves...I just haven't found any comfy ones, guess I'll be looking for atlas brand.

I do wear flip flops unless I am using a pick or shovel...then full blown foot protection is in order

Flip flops we call those thongs, I am pretty sure I know what you guys call thongs though .

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Like so many others I don't often wear gloves...I just haven't found any comfy ones, guess I'll be looking for atlas brand.

I do wear flip flops unless I am using a pick or shovel...then full blown foot protection is in order

Flip flops we call those thongs, I am pretty sure I know what you guys call thongs though .

OMG *snork!* yah, over here, thongs don't go on our FEET!

I love my flip flops!! I wear them all the time in warm months, unless we're digging or going into chicken coops.

 

[FarmerChick]

Love gloves and have a few great pairs....but do I use them alot....NOPE----only when the big jobs hit!

I have snakes, spiders and who knows what else...but I brave it usually. I will swat all critters with my hand....I am bigger than them and feel I usually can win..HA HA

Barefoot absolutely except on the driveway...UGH---we have gravel and it hurts to walk for the mail.

But barefoot and no gloves (and not preggo) is the way for me--most times.


And all those bugs, they are good for the environment even though we sure don't want a run-in with any of them!!

 

[Hiedi]

Heidi, look for the Atlas gloves, they seem to be everywhere, from $5.99-$7.99, they're brightly colored, fit very nicely, are washable, and very tactile, I think you'll like them.

OK, thanks. I will look for those the next time I go to the store. At the moment, I am having a problem with contact dermatitis on my hands, which I have battled with for quite some time. So I need to protect my hands as much as possible. I think part of the problem is washing my hands so much with all the gardening, chickens, yard work, etc. Soaps are a major irritant to me. If I have my hands in water, I try to wear gloves for that as well. I have an appointment with the dermatologist next week.

I was surprised to read where you are finding them; I thought they preferred dark corners of sheds and garages!

Yeah, it is scary some of the places I have found black widows around here. In the garden beds are very concerning to me. Last year, when I saw a black widow in my garden bed, I had piled a bunch of grass clippings in one bed, the spider found a hole in some of those clippings and took up residence. My first encounter was when I lifted up the lid of our water meter box, just as NCL mentioned. There was a big one in there. According to one plumber we know, that is a very common place for black widows. Also, I picked up my dogs water bowl one time, and there was one underneath the bowl, where it had built a web.

We have so many black widows, I've learned to never stick my fingers where I can't see.

I think that is a smart rule to live by, especially living in the country like I do.

 

[user251]

my doggone hands are to big for work gloves, i wear them when we run barbed wire or hog fence but not gardening especially not when picking veges, id have them all tore up.

 

[Iceblink]

I used to work with a reptile and insect expert, he told me that Brown Recluse spiders are almost exclusively house spiders, so you are better off wearing gloves when you put your hands in the pockets of your winter coats, boots, cleaning out your closets and under the bed, ect.

Brown Recluses' are a very aggressive spider, and will bite if they get half a chance, they will even follow you in attempt to bite. Black Widows on the other hand are mostly shy and will only bite as a last resort.

If you do get bitten by a Brown Recluse, you more than likely won't feel it, but the venom will begin spread quickly to destroy your flesh rapidly. He said the best (but not easiest) method of stopping the venom is to pass an electric current through your body. When he was bitten he had someone shoot him with a Tazer Gun. If you go to a hospital, they will not do anything to stop the venom from spreading. And they definately won't taze you.

I have seen dogs bitten by Brown Recluse, they had huge chunks of flesh sloughing off, and the necrosis spread so fast. It wasn't visible under the fur until it fell off in sheets. One German Shepherd Police dog was bitten while inside. Within a day she had a fist sized hole in her neck. She never seemed to feel any pain, and the handler didn't realise the wound was there until she found a chunk fo fur and dead flesh on the car seat.

 

[hennypenny9]

I usually wear gloves if it's dry, and don't if it's damp. I hate hate hate the feeling of dry dusty dirt, especially drying out my hands! Maybe it's some kind of mild OCD or something, because I don't mind dirty hands, just DRY hands.

When I lived at home we had a wood fireplace, and would stack tons of wood for the winter. Once my parents were in Mexico and I had forgotten to bring in the firewood for the night. So in the pitch black I go out without gloves to get wood. Something on a piece of wood stung me and I couldn't find what it was. Needless to say I PANICKED and called my neighbor. We looked up brown recluse stings, because we have them here, but it turned out to be a good old fashioned hornet sting. Lesson learned. Always wear gloves when getting wood that hornets could be hibernating in!!