I eschew gloves when gardening. Oh, I'll wear them if I'm dealing with something prickly or dangerous, but beyond that I can't stand them. Yeah, I get the occasional scratch or cut, and gardening can dry out my hands if I don't use lotion, but for me that's a small price to pay.
For me the need to garden bare-handed when possible is two fold. First, I feel very clumsy wearing gloves, like there is a disconnect between myself and what I'm doing. And I have to keep taking them off to pick up small things, so they are a bother. And if I see a plant that needs light dead-heading or pinching back, I have to stop and reach for the clippers or take the gloves off so I can give the plant a quick pinch. Gardening with gloves in this respect is like trying to cook in them, or play the piano in them.
Second, I love the feeling of the soil and the plants. There is a sensuousness I enjoy in feeling the tender roots of something I'm planting. I like to feel the cool soil as I'm packing it around the rootball. I like the satisfying pop and crunch of crushing clods of dirt or clay. I like to feel each leaf and stem as I check for pests or disease. I like feeling how damp or dry the soil is or how warm the mulch is. I like knowing that bleeding-heart and impatiens feel like they are held up by the sheer force of the water in their stems while zinnias and marigolds feel like they suck their moisture from the ground through paper straws. I like knowing that rose petals feel like velvet and English ivy feels like leather.
Gardening gloveless, for me, makes it a personal experience. I look at the garden and I feel like I know each plant I've touched. I enjoy a veritable playground of pleasure in a garden that I'd miss completely if I wore gloves.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Does it have to be cut-and-dried? I wear gloves when handling prickly things, but do not wear them for more "intimate" gardening tasks.
Also, this was not what I expected when I opened the thread. Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
*giggle* ((KarlEd))
I like you.
And if I wasn't going to some wedding this weekend, I'd be out cleaning out my flower beds...
Posted by fiazko (Member # 5812) on :
I'm usually naked the one time a week I remember that my plant needs watering. Oh wait, you said semi-nude. Nevermind...
Posted by Jane_Lane (Member # 7665) on :
I don't like dampening any of my senses unless I have to. I use my hands to guide me through so many things - Painting, sculpting, playing musical instruments, sport, dance, cooking, gardening, cleaning, etc. Even when I'm washing up, I prefer to do so without gloves. (Even if it means my hands are about 10 times older than the rest of me).
The same goes with shoes - I'm much more comfortable without, and find shoes tend to get in the way, (although I do see the necessity for them). In a similar way, I don't like listening to my discman or ipod when I'm painting, reading or out for a run. I like to be aware of my surroundings and not try to drown them all out.
[ March 31, 2005, 08:50 AM: Message edited by: Jane_Lane ]
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Where I live, I could garden nude and no one would even notice.
...although I think my family would not be pleased if I tried it...
..and I know I sunburn way too easily to even give it consideration. Hurts just thinking about it..
Farmgirl
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
If I don't wear gloves when gardening, I have to touch dirt. I dislike dirt.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
How bad is it that I looked at the title of this thread and read, "Semi-Nude Gathering," and thought, "Whoa. Not sure that's a con I want to go to..."
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I lov the feeling of plunging into the soil bare-fingered as well. However, I put on this weird lotion my husband used to sell called, um, I forget. It is basically like Body Glove, and the dirt washes right off afterwards.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Ah, Karl! I write this with fingers horribly scratched, nails caked with dirt. How beautifully you express the need to be naked in the soil! I rejoice with each slippery worm I touch, each delicate seedling. I had a lovely day yesterday, grubbing in the dirt.
Cheers!
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
quote: How bad is it that I looked at the title of this thread and read, "Semi-Nude Gathering," and thought, "Whoa. Not sure that's a con I want to go to..."
Aw, Come'on Megan! Where's your sense of adventure???
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
I'll find my sense of adventure for semi-nude gatherings when I've achieved a shape that might actually be worth seeing semi-nude.
Of course, if I could go to a semi-nude gathering and just take off, say, my shoes, maybe. But...then, I suppose that would make WenchCon a semi-nude gathering.
Come to think of it...all those people in the hot tub...hmm.
Alright, I take it back. I'd go to a semi-nude gathering. Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Of course, I'm the type that WOULD consider gardening naked. Except for my knees. I insist on wearing kneepads. I garden on my hands and knees, all bent over and nearly prone in the dirt. But when I get hot and sweaty and dirty, I curse being female and therefore unable to take off my shirt without causing the neighbors to talk. I don't have penis envy; I just have ability to go shirtless envy.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
quote:I rejoice with each slippery worm I touch, each delicate seedling. I had a lovely day yesterday, grubbing in the dirt.
I love how you phrase things like this. Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
So you’re saying you need some comfort fit gloves that allow feeling to flow through…. Interesting.
Posted by HesterGray (Member # 7384) on :
quote: Except for my knees. I insist on wearing kneepads.
I can see the headline now:
Gardener Shocks Neighbors Wearing Only Kneepads
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
Slow news day apparently.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Not if it's Jenny. Jenny's a fox. Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
I thought naked gardening could be semi-fun. But, when Jenny goes describing it like that, I can't help but think how nasty it would be.
*imagines himself naked, hairy, dirty, sweaty, with a gardening belt on*
:nausea:
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Don't forget the mosquito bites.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
Hi Jenny! In case you didn't guess, I was doing a little gardening yesterday too. I planted my fern garden in the early evening when I got home from work. The weather was wonderful here. I was out almost until 7 pm before it got chilly.
I garden on my hands and knees too, but don't usually think to break out the knee pads. I have a couple of interesting scars because of that.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
I, too, initially read "Semi-Nude Gathering".
I tend to garden without gloves either, but I hate all the dirt getting under my fingernails.
I guess I have gardened semi-nude. I used to mow the lawn in my underwear. I don't have a lawn at the new house yet - I've just started working on the backyard.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Gardening IS hot and sweaty and dirty and uncomfortable. But...you get to be an intimate part of Nature; Life and Death are in your hands. You don't want to wield that power irresponsibly. It feels sacred to have your hands bare when you are touching Mother Earth.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
If you don't like dirt under your fingernails, scrape your nails over a bar of soap before gardening. You'll still get a bit of dirt under there, but those deep-under crevices where dirt seems impossible to get out without hurting yourself will be pre-filled with soap which washes out much more easily.
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
<----- Is going to have bad mental images all day.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Of nude people gardening?
or nude people gathering?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
"It feels sacred to have your hands bare when you are touching Mother Earth."
*shudder* No. It feels icky. Not the same thing. Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
KarlEd and Jenny Gardener - Keepers of the Sacred Ick! Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
Man, I don't even lie down in the grass on a warm summer day. Stuff crawls on you when you start touching the earth.
[ March 31, 2005, 11:25 AM: Message edited by: Verily the Younger ]
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I appreciate Nature a great deal, but only at a distance or when I am triumphing over it. Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
I love the feel of soil. Texture more than anything else tells me whether the soil is too sandy, or has too much clay, or if it's just right. Putting my hands in nice dark loamy soil is like the tactile equivalent of eating an especially delicious piece of chocolate cake.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Wow - not what I expected when I opened the thread either! Though I was expecting Karl to talk about gardening with your shirt off, something I can't relate to.
I don't have much of a green thumb, but I try. Less than half of my day lilies seem to be coming back. However, I also enjoy gardening without gloves. As long as I can protect myself from sunburn, I love being outside and in the dirt. Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
All those things that crawl over you are Mother Nature's way of checking you out.
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
The only person I need "checking" me out is my wife.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
I don't know how to say what I mean. Nature's way of seeing what sort of thing you are, what you intend, how you fit in to the world. Like getting to know you.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
KarlEd, I'd be honored to keep the Sacred Ick with you any time! :highfive:
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
Nevertheless, I'll be doing my gardening in a Biohazard Suit from now on. Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Some people just don't know what's good. Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
Better yet, I'll just stay inside and "will" the plants to grow.
*sends vibes*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
Far out, Jenny.
Hippies Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
Gardening with gloves on is like painting with your eyes shut or running a chainsaw while you listen to a tragic symphony. You just can't get the feel of it like that! I was a groundskeeper a couple years ago for a summer and everyone called me crazy because I only wore gloves to weed the thistles. I think they're the crazy ones for not liking to touch plants and dirt. Don't all you glove-wearers and grass-avoiders feel totally disconnected from the earth, never enjoying being in contact with it? It's like never letting yourself touch another human being! I'd feel so isolated! It's like Jenny said, it's Nature's way of getting to know you, and vice versa.
In conclusion: Tom, scottneb, etcetera, you're crazy. And I would like to join the Sacred Ick crowd.
Posted by Mrs.M (Member # 2943) on :
quote:If you don't like dirt under your fingernails, scrape your nails over a bar of soap before gardening. You'll still get a bit of dirt under there, but those deep-under crevices where dirt seems impossible to get out without hurting yourself will be pre-filled with soap which washes out much more easily.
This does not work with acrylics, which is why I wear gardening gloves (well, I used to - Hollins won't let us do any landscaping). Also, I can match the gloves with my clogs and hat, which is always good.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
You garden with acrylics? What do you do, paint the flowers?
Posted by Mrs.M (Member # 2943) on :
Acrylic fingernails.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
KarlEd, I'm totally with you. I hate to wear gloves gardening for all the same reasons.
The only issue I take with it is when I can't fully get the dirt out of my skin afterwards. For days I have tiny dirt crevices in my skin that I just can't seem to get rid of. If I had better, smoother skin on my hands, I don't think it would be such a problem.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
quote: Acrylic fingernails.
Oh.
Ha!! I'm not as gay as you all think! Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
I dunno Karl - you seem quite cheerful to me.
As for getting back in touch with Mother Nature - I take the presence of bugs as a message that she's tired of being groped.
-Trevor
Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
You're turning me on, KarlEd.
I garden gloveless too...I love the feel of dirt and plants and especially a pile of well-done compost rich with worms. I could wax poetic about the the feel and smell of vermiculture, if I was at all poetic.
Plus it gives me a good excuse to buy the expensive Burt's Bees Gardener's Gift Set, for myself.
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
So, hon, how did you get the tulips in the ground then on Monday if you didn't touch the "ick"? *giggle* And tree sap doesn't count as ick, or did you just persevere?
I have all kinds of hopes for gardens in our yard. Sounds like I need to bribe Karl and Jenny over to help! Spring always gives me such good intentions for beauty and bounty.
I've always gardened gloveless. There is something very refreshing about packing the earth around new roots.
[ March 31, 2005, 02:31 PM: Message edited by: Christy ]
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
"So, hon, how did you get the tulips in the ground then on Monday if you didn't touch the 'ick?' *giggle* And tree sap doesn't count as ick, or did you just persevere?"
There are many things I consider icky and actively unpleasant which, in order to achieve a pleasant result, I find myself forced to do. Posted by Mrs.M (Member # 2943) on :
quote:Ha!! I'm not as gay as you all think!
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
quote: Texture more than anything else tells me whether the soil is too sandy, or has too much clay, or if it's just right.
I'm going to make you an honorary geotechnical engineer. I've won interoffice contests estimating how much silt and/or clay was in a soil sample.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
I'm so bad about wearing gloves that I even forget to put them on when pulling weeds. My hands were not happy with me a couple weeks ago after pulling out tons of small tumbleweeds - man, do those hurt!
I will definitely try that soap trick out this weekend. I already bought the two new plants to put in on Saturday - a Texas Mountain Laurel and a Chinese Pistach tree (last week was an Arizona Cypress and a volunteer palm tree we dug up from our old house). Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
"Don't all you glove-wearers and grass-avoiders feel totally disconnected from the earth, never enjoying being in contact with it?"
Well, yes. But frankly, I don't consider being connected to the Earth to be a virtue in itself. It's a means to an end.
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
I was a gardener for about 7 years. I found it deeply satisfying. There was something about shaping the earth or pruning trees or planting that filled a very deep need. I only wore gloves when trimming roses or when trimming trees (and not always then- and I have a number of scars on my hands and arms to prove it), and loved the tactile sensations.
Soil that didn't have too much clay but that was cool and loose was great to just stick your hands in. And I love the smells (I don't have any allergies, so they don't bother me)- the freshly mown grass, the soil, the flowers. With a cool breeze in the trees, the sun on your back and neck, the birds singing. The look of a yard where the trees are beautifully pruned and healthy, the roses shapely and blooming, the grass cut with a nice pattern and the edges all nicely cut. A bed with freshly planted shrubs, shallow burms around them, and the soil lightly raked and clean and damp.
It was great and wonderful work and I never minded getting dirty (except for the smell of gasoline and exhaust from some of the equipment.) I truly loved it. Didn't pay well so I eventually had to do something else to support my family. Now I sit at a desk. But it was nice and when I get a yard of my own, I think I will enjoy working in it.
The only thing was, though I have a *very* good memory for near anything I learn or hear, including many useless or fictional 'facts', I could never, for the life of me, remember any plant names. I was at one point working on getting certified to spray herbicide, but for the life of me, could never remember the different types of weeds and what was effective on them. Go figure.
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
I wish to apologize to KarlEd and everyone else. Sometimes I post before I think and this mornings post on this thread was an example. What I thought was funny at the time proved, upon further deliberation, to be not only crass but demeaning as well. I've deleted the post and I'll spend more time contemplating my contributions in the future. Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
I never saw anything demeaning. Just playful jokes all around. Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
I love mowing. Does anyone else love to mow?
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.
Posted by HollowEarth (Member # 2586) on :
Is it flat where you live dpr? I can see it being an okay activity when its flat.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
The weather finally tuned into proper autumn weather last weekend so we had major gardening spree.
All the roses are out of their pots and in the ground. The ashes of our first dog are under a beautiful yellow rose - while sad, a definite improvement on their temporary resting place in my study. The chilli plant and day lillies also got homes in the ground.
I started off with gloves but abandoned them when it came to planting the herbs. I felt too clumsy with the littler root bundles.
And now I have lemongrass, chives, thai basil, normal basil, parsley, arugala, oregano, lemon thyme, tarragon, sage, coriander and dill.
All are flourishing - I like to think because of my naked planting.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
I took no offense, punwit. If anything, I opened the door with the thread title. No worries. Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
I wear my dirty nails and green thumbs with pride. No better way to proclaim to the world, "I am a Gardener!" I've been tickled recently to find that many people of my acquaintance now seek me out for gardening advice. I really truly know next to nothing, but I always try to encourage people.
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
I'm thankful that you weren't offended, KarlEd. Rereading it yesterday afternoon I got the feeling it could have been interpreted as laughing at you instead of with you and I felt like I should delete it.
[ April 01, 2005, 09:19 AM: Message edited by: punwit ]
Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
My yard is very flat, although large.
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
You are a Gardener. Posted by HesterGray (Member # 7384) on :
quote: ... like painting with your eyes shut...
Astaril, you've never done this? I enjoy fingerpainting with my eyes shut.
Mowing can be pretty satisfying, although I detested the activity in high school when my parents made me mow every week. If I was doing it of my own free will, or mowing my own yard, I think I would like it.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
I dunno...naked gardening would seem a little chili to me.
Maybe you should just cumin from the cold.
-Trevor
Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
quote: Astaril, you've never done this?
Well, you *can* paint with your eyes shut, sure. It's like my still wearing gloves to weed thistles. I meant that generally the visual sense is highly involved in fine art, even non-realistic types, and it's pretty hard to get the feel for its aesthetics when you can't see it. But yes, in fact, I have done it. Quite fun, really. But the end product never satisfies me nearly as much as one where I watch what I'm doing...
quote: But frankly, I don't consider being connected to the Earth to be a virtue in itself.
Tom, you know, it never occurred to me that a connection with the earth wouldn't be a virtue to someone. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it, but... it's so foreign to me! Well, if I lived anywhere near you, I'd offer to do all your gardening for you. Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
Well, Tom, I discovered this weekend that Chris is on your side in the sacred/icky debate. I asked him to spread some mulch around the base of a new bush and when the rake he was using was clearly not going to work without banging around and damaging the bush I said, "Just use your hands". From the look he gave me you'd have thought I'd just asked him to clean the litter box Fear Factor style. Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I just want to state, for the record, that I personally pulled live, wriggling worms from our pond pump motor yesterday. By hand. Without gloves.
I did not enjoy it, but I did it anyway. Yay me. *shudder*
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
BURN IT ALL GHWAHAHAHA!
just kidding. We have a fruit/vegetable garden where I live. Because its cold here in Quebec we plant Siberian tomatos. They're stubburn tomatos its in their slavic nature.
Also where I live is Ant Citah, ant hills EVERYWHERE. However its of he itty bitty brown ant kind so trying to nab their queen isn't worth it. I want to nabb me a black ant queen and a few workers and BAAM! I have my very own Black Ant colony. And then soon I'll have an army f black ants at me beck and call.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
Meanwhile, I'm still pulling splinters out of my knuckles because of a particularly nasty weed that was hiding in a pile of debris I was cleaning up (without gloves). So I'll freely admit they do have their place.
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I don't have a lawn at the new house yet - I've just started working on the backyard.
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However, I also enjoy gardening without gloves. As long as I can protect myself from sunburn, I love being outside and in the dirt. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
I don't know how to say what I mean. Nature's way of seeing what sort of thing you are, what you intend, how you fit in to the world. Like getting to know you.
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