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The Dirt: Feel The Glove

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 11, 2008

I have been due to buy new gardening gloves for, oh, at least three months.

When are gloves officially worn out? If you guessed, "When they're so filthy, your fingers curl up in horror so you can't put them on," you are wrong. That's pure wimp, gardeners, plain and simple.
Gloves should be replaced when holes have been worn at vital friction spots, such as where the palm meets the shovel handle. At this point, they no longer protect the hand, which is their No. 1 job. They should then gracefully retire, allowing you to guiltlessly invest in new gloves.

I have held onto my worn-out gloves because they're the only ones I've ever owned that fit properly. I could dig down into the soil and actually feel roots and stones!

And they're the only ones I've ever had that kept dirt from caking up under my fingernails, which I would think all gloves should do, by definition. But they don't.

These gloves were not your garden variety cheapies. They're made by West County, a brand designed by a champion bicyclist who married what works for her in a bicycle glove with her needs as a gardener. They sell for about $20. To me, that's a designer glove.

I got them a year ago as a tester sample. Normally, we don't keep products sent to us, we either send them back or donate them to charity. But once I tested these gloves, they didn't look like anything a company would want returned. And any charity would certainly toss them right back. So I kept 'em. Mea culpa.

And, yes, I gave them a good review.

This weekend, a friend gave me a beautiful banana tree. Planting it would require a shovel, which requires gloves. I knew my poor old West Countys weren't up to the job, and because they're only available online, I couldn't run out and buy a pair.

I went to Lowe's and dithered. Do I buy the ill-fitting $3 gloves? (Right price!) Or the tough, snug jobs for $20?

Apparently, the West Countys have changed my life. I'm now a designer glove girl.

Penny Carnathan

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Come play in the Dirt at TBO.com, keyword: Dirt. We provide all the tools.

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