On a field trip (still on the bus after leaving school at 6:30)with 140 4th graders, so no pic just now, but I usually wear old running shoes until I completely wear them out. Gloves are either heavy leather or very thin depending on task. Would love to find some that I don't wear out in one season!

No gloves for me. I like to feel the soil I'm working with. I'd rather scrub out my nails that not feel the soil.

Feet.... generally something like Crocs.... though I do the knock offs. I love that you can throw them in the dishwasher.

I have four or five pairs of aging running shoes that I wear in the garden. When they get dirty, I can just toss them in the washer. I have enough of them that they don't get worn out completely too fast, so I should be good for about 3 years, and by that time a couple of new pairs will be garden shoes, and so on. No thongs or sandals in the garden, I need my toes (and pedicure) to be protected.

Gloves? Yesterday it was chilly and my hands were cold so I wore my nitrile gloves to pull henbit and chickweed. But I have small hands and it's hard to get gloves that really fit, so usually I don't wear any. Besides, I love the feeling of the earth in my bare hands. I have gotten used to wearing surgical gloves while potting at the nursery, and sometimes I wear them at home, but not often. By summer I have forgotten all about cold hands, and I forget about gloves altogether unless I am messing with thorny things and need my leather ones. I don't mind dirt under my nails but I sure hate thorns in my fingers!

Sandy

muck boots.. the green ones..

and callouses

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I usually wear a very old pair of duck boots - waterproof and with decent tread. They need replacing, so I'm watching this post with interest. If I'm just going out for a minute I can step slippers and all into my husbands much larger duck boots - rather like sasquatch!!!
In hot weather I usually wear crocs.

My favourite gloves are 'Atlas' brand nitrile dipped - quite snug and thin (but hot in summer).
Jan

Well,since I garden on the side of a hill,I would never wear Crocs,as they could slide sideways and twist my anlke. Presently,I wear and old pair of sneakers. As for my hands,I never wear gloves;I,too like to feel the soil in my hands. How can you be a gardener without getting your hands dirty? Phil

I slip on old running shoes and always wear gloves - but they don't keep out all of the dirt.

I have attached a link (just the first one that I found) that discusses the risks of handling soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/safer-and-healthier-gardening

I frequently go back and forth between digging in the dirt and tending to my kiddos, so gloves make it easier. I just have tons of those cheap rubberized work gloves with stretchy backs that you get in packs of 5 from Lowes. I use gloves maybe 75% of the time.

As for shoes, I love sketchers Go Walks. The sole is like Crocs, but the top is stretchy, so they stay on better and don't let dirt in. I have a pair that stays by the back door for outside use, and another pair to wear in the house. I love 'em!

I have an old pair of Nike hightops I use for gardening. I like the hightops for ankle support as my backyard is a level lower than my frontyard, so I'm running up and down hill through my sideyard all the time. Don't want to twist an ankle. I always have a newer pair of hightops so when they get too ratty, I graduate them to garden shoes, and retire the older pair. When I use gloves, I like thin, tight-fitting canvas type with some kind of rubbery grip on the palms. I often don't use 'em though. :)

Regards,
Don B.

I usually wear a pair of $15 sneakers with Velcro easy opening and closing. But for heavy yardwork I wear black and tall leather boots with steel toe protection, also against lawn mower blades. On hands I wear leather gloves, skin on my fingers cracks easy.
Protect your skin against cuts and infections!
Bernd

I have a short pair and a long pair of Foxgloves which are rather stretchy. They give support to my stiff fingers, and they are really tough. The long pair reminds me of the formal gloves we used to wear to dances back in the 50s. With these gloves, I get a sense of the texture of the soil, even if it is dry they work nicely. I must protect my skin from chemicals though, and use the surgical rubber gloves when handling straight out chemicals. If I am hauling pots around, I like the sailing gloves with a velcro wrist strap to keep dirt out, and they have panels of leather in spots too. They are more flexible than all-leather gloves since they are designed for handling sheets of various diameters on a sail boat. I got in the habit of using them when I worked at Boat US (after I retired from the sea). Perfect for moving rocks too, but I wore out a few fingertips--still keep the old gloves around for special projects.

One thing here I watch out for, is to keep gloves (and shoes) in a secure container so things like brown recluse spiders don't get inside.

Here is a link that might be useful: Foxgloves web site

I have a pile of gardening socks, all with permanent ground in dirt. Shoes depend on the day; tall rubber boots if it's really wet, low rubber clogs if it's just damp, and too-ratty-to-wear-in public Rockport walking shoes on normal days. I go through so many pair of gloves. Love Rugged Wear women's small leather with velcro, but the right index fingers always get holes. They also have tiny ventilation holes that let dirt in. I had one pair of landscapers gloves, and they were wonderful, but I can't find another pair in small.

Why do the stores assume anyone doing yard work needs a large? And why are 90% of women's gardening gloves flimsy little cotton and/or rubber things?

The photo was a joke taken after a day of spring gardening - Gardener, Melted.

Yep, MadPlanter, totally understand about the holes in the fingertips. I plan to take a look at some of your products, the Rugged Wear being one.

Love your Melted Gardener. Somewhere....(no, it was lost in the drive failure)....I had a shot of DH in the outdoor shower fully clothed with his grubby gardening duds. Around the time he was creating his raised veggie beds.

I want to know what store buyer assumes that all women's hands are medium and large! I can never find smalls!

Sandy

Depends on the conditions and what I'm doing in the garden, rubber boots, rubber Garden clogs with cork insole, old sneakers, flip flops. Gloves, sometimes foxgloves, Women's work gloves hold up well for me. much of the time the Atlas Cool Touch gloves. I knew I couldn't be alone with being frustrated at the lack of smalls in the stores. I usually end up ordering online. I've also learned to keep the fingernails short so as not to poke through so easily.

I wear crocs or boots or sandals. I hate having shoes on so it's usually whatever i can get on the fastest and off the fastest. For gloves i like the nitrile coated ones like this...

and agree with the medium and large size womens gloves. i have small hands and usually my baby finger doesn't even reach into the glove hole on most gloves.

Here is a link that might be useful: gloves

I usually wear old sneakers. Usually bare hands till blisters start and I realize I should have worn gloves, when using shovels,rakes and such. I buy leather gloves at the thrift store to use when cutting back thorny things. Best looking garden gloves around, also use them when using the snowblower, not just for warmth

Hostarhodo, I was bare handed, flip flops, shorts, etc, several years back, when I began cutting some thick vines off a big pine tree in my back yard at MoccasinLanding. I had lots of blisters on my hand and they all burst. I finished the day of gardening before I discovered those vines were poison ivy, something I was not allergic to before. I also handled some chemical, by which time I was using heavy gloves but the sprayer came off the bottle and filled up the gloves with the stuff, entering my system through the busted blisters.

It was the perfect storm of conditions. I became sensitized to chemicals, allergic to poison ivy, and so broke out that I could not drive to work or wear much clothing for several days. And in total misery! Now I am super cautious handling any chemical.

Well, here we go Mocc...Was looking for a pic of the Vole Hunter, and got a pic of my gardening shoes. This was taken in November, and these shoes still have miles and miles of tread on 'em.

Don B.

Now that is a cat worthy of the music from WALK ON THE WILD SIDE....

Here is a link that might be useful: Walk On The Wild Side (1962 movie)

LOL That's awesome, Mocc! Thanks for the clip!

Don B.

Red nail polish, Hon! :o)

Theresa

Cute Theresa pink nail poish with dirt under the nails for me ! Sometimes my house slippers until they get muddy

Sorry, I cannot resist...Toes and Fingers!

-Babka