Gardening Essentials: Long Sleeves and Gloves

In addition to gloves, I consider long sleeves gardening essentials. A good pair of garden gloves protect the skin and nails on your hands and fingers.  Otherwise, bacteria in the soil and garden material can cause health problems if allowed to penetrate your skin.  This happens faster and more often than you imagine.

Most garden gloves, however, do not protect much past the wrist area.  Without long sleeves to protect my arms, I end up with scratches, scrapes, and contact dermatitis. That’s why I consider both my gardening essentials.

My skin is extra sensitive; contact dermatitis is a common occurrence for me. I have kept some of the long-sleeved, lightweight T-shirts and sweaters that my sons have outgrown for this purpose.

The long sleeves on these shirts work well. Most of the time. I just have to remember to quit pushing up my sleeves when I get warm!  That’s the problem I have when the weather warms up too quickly in spring.  That seems to happen often here in Ottawa, Ontario.  I rarely get a chance to finish my spring cleanups in long-sleeve weather.  It’s a tough problem to have, I know, but I do love the cooler weather for garden work.

Gardening in the rain leaves a good impression!

dirty gloves

A few days ago it rained all day making gardening a dirty process.  When I came home all of my equipment and clothing were filthy dirty, caked with mud.  I left my gloves on the driveway, hoping the rain would wash away the dirt.  In the morning, these muddy impressions were left on the driveway.