Why I Believe in Garden Gloves

Gardening may be the furthest thing from your mind with chilly mornings and snow dusting the mountain tops not too long ago. There's also that morning “burr” factor when you step outside. But except for our record windstorm in December that took down trees and roofs, winter weather has been somewhat mild compared to the rest of the nation.

My garden shed is calling. I peeked in the other day and saw the insecticide I will soon add to some trees (best done in February). I give two maple trees a special in-ground treatment to ward off aphids. So far, it has worked fine. So, I put on a pair of garden gloves and did the job. I also finished a rock border where the red rock needed to be separated from the gravel. It felt good to be outdoors. The sunshine was glorious. Healing even. It seems only fair with 2020 well behind us now. Never mind the virus is still a problem in places. We need to be aware of those areas, but mostly, I feel liberated with all those shots behind me.

As for wearing garden gloves, if you do not know already, gloves are important!! Some obvious reasons would be to keep the garden chemicals from penetrating your skin when applying fertilizers and insecticide. The stoutest gloves also keep thorns and stickers from poking through and drawing blood. Ouch. I find that welder gloves work extremely well when pruning roses. They are thickly padded and cover your lower arms completely. I'm on a second pair now. So worth it.

Another obvious benefit of wearing garden gloves, assuming there are no holes in the fingers, is to keep your hands and fingernails clean. Important if you have someplace special to go later. Maybe dinner out somewhere nice? A good soak in the tub is the only other option. So, wear the gloves!

A few summers ago, I came to appreciate an even greater benefit of wearing gloves. Their use in preventing insect bites. We have scorpions and black widows in Desert Aire. Fortunately, the scorpions are not the dangerous kind. I read that their bites resemble a bee sting. Fortunately, I wouldn't know. It's never happened. But yes to black widows!

 

Black widows, although not normally aggressive, will bite if threatened. I discovered this while checking the cantaloupe vines for fruit. (Cantaloupe grows well here in Desert Aire). But dumb me, I was not wearing garden gloves that day. When the bite came it was a needle-like sting, and left double fang marks on the skin. I instinctively knew it could be serious. I recognized the spider's white silky web a foot or so away. We were familiar with black widows and often sprayed, but apparently missed this one.

I went inside immediately, turned on the computer, and googled “black widow bites.” Already my hand was swelling and hurt like the dickens. I iced it as instructed, swallowed antihistamine and ibuprofen, and waited…watching for more serious signs. Within the hour I felt nauseated and wanted to vomit, thinking it was time to head for the medical clinic in Mattawa, but the nausea passed quickly. No breathing problems, cramping, or numbness followed, which would have definitely meant a trip. The swelling lasted for several days though. So please, take those garden gloves seriously. Don’t let a half-inch spider protecting her eggs convince you. 

Happy Gardening Everyone. Spring will be here soon. If you happen to see me later, running across the lawn like a crazed woman, I probably walked into a spider web. I must admit I'm easily spooked now. 😀

Sharon Himsl