Team Gloves, or No Gloves?

I'm Team No Gloves. I can't get into wearing gloves. I tried to be a good girl. I bought tons of gloves during Sandy's Co-Op a few years ago at ATP. I bought all colors for summer and the heavy ones for winter. I used them...for a time. I felt like Super Girl! I could touch everything and anything without worry. Grab it and get it out! Thorns and stickers were no match for Nitrile. Loved it except for one thing: I couldn't feel the Earth. I pulled up new plants to transplants to plant in other parts of the yard, and I couldn't feel the soil! I couldn't touch the root ball. I couldn't be gentle. The Nitrile gloves are the best, no doubt. I could touch things and feel protected, but there was no dirt feel, no wetness, no softness, no real feeling while wearing this protection.

So this season, off went the skin tight gloves! And into the dirt went my fingers, feeling the soil and pulling and touching every part of the weeds. Touch wood (not that way!!). Gently patted down my seedlings, feeling my way around the root ball. AHHHHH! I knew I was doing it right simply by feel.

But then afterwards, out came the hand scrubs and the nail brushes. Plain soap was not going to get out the grime from underneath my fingernails or get into in the nooks and crannies, and into the rough spots and callouses. Of course, after not using gloves, my hands and fingers got rougher. The pumice stone became my friend. Then came the creams and ointment in an attempt to re-soften my skin and heal the self-inflicted wounds. I found the Dollar Store "20 min. Moisturizing Gloves" treatments to be a relaxing treat and soothing, too, after days in the yard. A coat of pretty polish and all telltale signs of Mother Earth were hidden or gone. I was ready to go back to the working world and none would be the wiser.

It's vanity that keeps me hiding the fact that I play in the dirt and play often, but it's necessity that has me ditching the gloves to feel the Earth. What about you? Are gloves a necessity in your garden?