The Great Ethel Garden Glove Giveaway

UPDATE:  We have our winners!

And the gloves go to: 

Kim for her 'Little Glovies' song.

Benjamin for standing up for his right to fabulous gloves.

And, if she checks back in and gets an email address to me, Becca for her fabulous red dress.

Kim and Benjamin, I sent you an email already.  Just need your address, size, and style of choice.

Thanks for playing!  Wow--65 entries! That's more comments than we got for the garden cart giveaway.

Remember that you can still order a pair online and use the promo code RANT to get 10% off.

As part of our ongoing efforts to provide you, our readers, with free stuff, we are pleased to announce that three of the cleverest and luckiest of you will win a pair of the new Ethel garden gloves. Actually, you'll need to be not just clever and lucky, but also female, because the deal is that these gloves are designed to fit a woman's hand.  In fact, according to the brochure:

You're the woman who wears red stilettos to a black tie event and a polka-dot dress to a business luncheon.  When asked to give an impromptu speech--to an audience of one-hundred unforgiving critics--you never hesitate.

And furthermore:

No woman feels beautiful with torn cuticles and dirt-encrusted fingernails. Yet, tasks around the house and garden often lead to these adverse consequences.

Indeed!  I'm not sure Ethel's going to reach the stiletto-and-polka-dot crowd here, but the torn cuticles and dirt-encrusted fingernails sound familiar.  So Ethel gloves come in five colors and styles, and they're priced at eighteen bucks, and even if you don't win our big prize, you can get a 10 percent discount if you order through their website and use the code RANT.

Now, as longtime readers may recall, I burn through a pair of gloves in a single year. No garden glove has ever passed the twelve-month mark in my backyard.  The holes always appear in the fingertips, making them useless as a means of keeping dirt off my hands.  So I'll be giving Ethel a try in the garden, but it'll be a solid year before I'm able to make a report. As you can see, I've already put them to work in the garden and I've used them for that all-important task, feeding chicken scratch to my hens.  Dolley couldn't wait for me to toss the scratch to her; she flew right into my hand.  That girl knows how to get what she wants.

So here's how you get what you want:  Post a comment and tell us about the one thing you do that absolutely, positively, always requires the use of gloves. Some of us go glove-free in the garden, some of us pull our gloves on and off in frustration as we alternate between glove-worthy and non-glove-worthy tasks, and some of us glove up before we exert even the slightest effort outdoors.  Be creative.  Expand your glove-worthy tasks to include non-gardening activities if you like.  I'll choose three of the most entertaining responses and get a pair of gloves to you.

Bonus points if it involves red stilettos.  Double-bonus points for photographic evidence.

Comments

[Christopher C NC]

This is obvious discrimination. I am appalled and offended and couldn't care less. Amy, Michele, Susan and Elizabeth, you are all tagged for a list meme. Now you could be annoyed by my bold retribution for blatant discrimination or seize this as an opportunity to expand your About pages and let your loyal readers know more about the writers behind the Rant. The procedure is here: http://outsideclyde.blogspot.com/2008/07/colorful-life.html

About gloves, one word, thorns. I may consider using gloves after I have been stabbed once or twice. Strangely I have been pretty good about using gloves while working with lumber to build my cozy little cabin.

[Colleen]

I hate gloves. Hate them. My hands get too hot, and no matter how thin the gloves are, I end up fumbling around with more precision tasks like seed sowing. I have a pair of heavy duty leather gloves that I use when I'm pruning my killer (as in deadly, not awesome) rosebushes, but other than that, I don't wear them.

It's pretty safe to say I'll never be a hand model :-)

[Cara OK]

I tend to use latex gloves when I'm planting or putting mulch down, and don't use my leather gloves except in the barn. Otherwise, I'm gloveless.

[Nancy Bond]

There are two things I always use gloves for: one has been mentioned by others already, and that is for pruning any shrub with thorns. I learned that the hard (or stupid) way. The other is when amending any bed where I'm likely to encounter any form of creepy-crawly. Yes, I know how beneficial some are to the garden, but it's so much easier to squish the life out of a slug with gloves on. :) I do neither in red stilettos, though I'm always up for a challenge. ;)

[Anita]

Sorting the dead thistles out from the mulch requires gloves; I have developed the skill to nip out the young ones without gloves, but all things go into the mulch/compost around the melons (especially since my neighbor helpfully dumps theirs into my space). Sorting out the dried, stiff prickles is nigh impossible to do without a pair of gloves. Now that a tangle of centipedes has moved into the same area of the community garden plot, I dare not put my bare hands in the dirt. I love centipedes as much as the next person, but have no desire to test my friend's assertion that their bites are painless.
Also, if I had these gloves, the ad copy strongly implies I could transition straight from my garden, slipping on my stilettos as I leave the gopher-riddled paths, stopping off at the ongoing neighborhood cocktail party, where my gloves would fit right in - and I would not be shamed by the state of my hands. As long as my hands are pristine, I'm sure the party will not scorn the clay-encrusted jeans, or the aroma of catnip smeared on my skin in a vain attempt to ward off mosquitos. I will pop my lovage into a glass of heirloom local tomato juice and cheap vodka, and let the party admire me and my fashionableness. That would be awesome.

[Cindy]

I never was much for gloves. Maybe because I was never much for finger nails, since I'm a non recovering nail biter.

But then came my epiphany moment. The garden walk was coming. I had committed (in hind sight I should have been committed to a psych ward) and set upon completely reconfiguring my yard. I made paths where no paths had gone before. I dug into a slop to make a flat cobblestone patio. I filled in with free dirt from the public works department that came from dredging the river. Such a deal. And I did it all with my bare, and I mean totally bare, hands.

Then the weeding and planting began. Where the free dirt was deposited I spied a new species in my yard. Was it something exotic? Would it be pretty? Should I pull it out? I went with out and had my very first introduction to STINGING NETTLES.

I love gloves. I love gloves. I love gloves.

[Matriarchy]

I have a heavy leather glove I wear for thorns. Just one; the other hand is ungloved to use the clipper.

I was gifted a pair of Foxgloves (a pricey glove brand) for my birthday and plan to wear them for planting. I keep another pair of gloves in the car for gardening on-the-go, where hand-washing may be unavailable. But I am mostly bare-handed for everyday watering, deadheading, and weed picking. I suppose I should wear gloves more often, but I go out "just to water," see a weed, and the next thing you know I am covered in dirt.

I did once own red stillettos, and polka dots, in another life. Now I live in garden clogs and khakis, and should wear gloves more often. But, for the record, I *am* still beautiful with dirty fingernails.

[Karla]

I love gloves. They protect my hands while digging in the dirt, pruning, and cleaning the chicken coop.
Most important, tho, is the day of my garden club's tour and tea party. I wear a dress, hat, and my prettiest garden gloves.

[Dee/reddirtramblings]

Since I've had the poison ivy from hell this summer, I would use my Ethel gloves (which are washable BTW) to get rid of the rest of the PI on my 7.5 acres. I'll also be wearing a hazmat suit, but I'm sure a hint of the red stiletto heels will just peek out from pant leg.

[Pam]

Working with the roses, I most certainly need to wear gloves. I do not like getting pricked by all the thorns and a good, sturdy pair of gloves is a must. Thanks for offering them!

[Meryl]

Heavy spring weeding. Can't find a tool that's small enough to not take out baby seedlings, so I always do it by hand. By May this year my nails looked like Uma Thurman's when she digs her way out of a grave in "Kill Bill".

[Kim]

Unlike Colleen, I love gloves. I can't resist a gardening glove display and I will not submit to having my many pairs counted. Probably couldn't handle the embarrassment. And the different types, each with it's own use, and the colors . . . .

Little glovies, in the garden tote,
Little glovies made out of different stuff,
Little glovies, little glovies, little glovies, none the same.
There's a green pair, and a pink pair, and a blue pair, and yellow pair (really!).
And they're all made out of different stuff, and none of them are the same.

And the glovies, in the garden tote
Get used for all different kinds of things,
Where my hands need little glovies, little glovies, none the same.
Some for pruning, some for raking, some for planting, some for chopping wood,
And they're all made out of different stuff, and none of them are the same.

I love my gloves! And I wear them ALL. Off to take a photo and post on my blog.

[susan harris]

Kim, you had me SINGING "Little Houses" (Or "Tickey-Tacky" or whatever it's called) ALOUD to your perfect lyrics. Hope you win!

[Gen]

I am one of those who gloves up for the smallest gardening task - as a pro, I have had to learn to do that or suffer VERY cracked hands!

But you know what I was pleased to pull on gloves for the other day? Cleaning out my freezer! Not only did I avoid the perennially unpleasant aroma of freezer burn on my delicate digits (which seems to need more than the usual floral soap to wash off), but I also avoided frostbite! Woo-hoo!

[susan harris]

Christopher, I almost forgot to respond! YES, dammit it. I'll do some soul-searching on the road to Buffalo tomorrow and respond soon. For you, I'm losing my meme virginity.

[Mrs. Greenhands]

I typically don't wear gloves in the garden, but there is one task they are vitally essential for - pruning blackberries and raspberries!

I love blackberries, but not those tasteless, thornless varieties. I have a "wild" blackberry bramble at the edge of my garden and it requires yearly pruning after the fruiting season. Although I love the taste of these black gems, the thorns have been known to eat my fingers and hands! So, hence, the reason I need gloves.

The same goes for my raspberry canes!

[Robin Haglund]

Winter pruning. I pull on thin gloves and cover the thin gloves with fingertipless ragwool gloves. And sometimes this still isn't enough. I add in hand hotties during the coldest times, and I try all sorts of gloves to help. My doctor recently told me that what's happening is Raynaud's Syndrome (more here: http://www.medic8.com/healthguide/articles/raynauds.html). And, no, Lupus isn't involved.

Still, even on a warmish day in the garden one or two or all of my fingers may lose circulation and go numb. Mostly, it happens when I'm working in the winter (see pruning above), but you never know when it will rear its ugly head!

[Karen]

I'm afraid these are not the gloves for me. Dirty nails? Ragged cuticles? Please. How about some protection against blood and blisters? Here's what I've needed gloves for in the past year in my garden: running a jackhammer, wrestling flagstone, wielding a pickaxe, shoveling yards of crushed gravel, post-hole digging, toting lumber, busting sod, and okay, yeah, dealing with raspberries and a singularly bloodthirsty shrub rose.

Sing it, Matriarchy! I feel beautiful with dirty nails too.

[becca]

Gardening? Check. Gloves don't phase the pyracantha, but I wear them anyway because I don't want to encourage its taste for blood.

Snow? In SoCal? Nope. But we wear gloves when it's chilly and 60. Admittedly, we do this mostly to annoy visitors from really cold climes. It's petty, but it helps us reconcile ourselves to our mortgages and our commutes.

Wedding? Check--WITH red stillettos! Sadly the shoes do not appear in the pic, but I think you'll be convinced anyway.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2698149063_1e816b627f_o.jpg

[Nancy France]

Thorns are Not Your Friends. Go here to find out why: http://nancysgardenspot.blogspot.com/search?q=bougainvillea . I use gloves most assuredly when handling thorny pruning jobs. I usually start wearing gloves when I'm weeding in damp dirt...tho they've been known to come off when I am weeding between small plants. It's easier to feel the difference between a plant you want to keep and a plant you want to yank out by its roots, when your skin is involved.

As soon as I've identified the miscreant however, the gloves go back on and I ruthlessly dig through the dirt, finding the deepest roots I can, and yank them suckers out.

You did say extra points for pictures. I gave you thorns for my extra points....

[Benjamin]

I am a transvestite.

You'd think in 2008 there'd be room / willingness to expand our cultural definitions of gender and sex.

[susan harris]

Benjamin, how interesting!
http://deepmiddle.blogspot.com/2008/07/one-year-anniversary.html
However you may dress in your off-hours, you have guy-sized hands, right?
Believe me, GardenRanters are among the most open-minded and inclusive folks you'll ever meet.

[Lorlee]

I never used to wear gloves in the garden -- never could find a pair that didn't seem to just be in the way.

That all changed after a bout with breast cancer when the doctor strongly advised wearing them to be sure not to pick up any bad things in the dirt.

So I wear gloves in the garden all of the time -- still looking for that perfect pair [my garage is littered with lots of pairs with finger holes on the right middle finger] I have hopes for a lovely pair of lavendar gloves that matches my Easter Egg Lavendar house.

[Michelle Derviss]

I’m a certified full time glove wearer whether I’m out in the garden or in the art studio.
It all started when I was enrolled in a hort class at an Ag school in the agricultural belt of California ( Salinas Valley)
There was a ‘cowboy’ dance that I wanted to go to . Ladies got in free if we were in the agriculture , rancher, rodeo , or horticulture business.
The door man wasn’t buying it that I was a girl rancher or a hort student from the Valley.
I think it was my crisp Bostonian accent and Birkenstocks that gave me away.
So when I was asked to show him my hands as proof that I was a ‘hard work’en woman’, he gasped at my callused palms , soil stained split nails and torn cuticles.
The look on his face was shear horror. “ That them there are the hardest up look’en hands I ‘ave ever seen on a young lady”.
I got into the dance for free ( hand pity ) but I was mortified about my hands and have always been sensitive about them ever since.
My palm calluses have never gone away, they’re not as gross as they use to be when I was a full time , out in the field gardener, but they still exist.
So I wear gloves all the time, mostly to protect the eyes of others from my ‘hard up' looking hands.

[Kim]

Please, I need good gloves to heal the rift between me and my rudbeckia. I've grown to hate them because I hate wearing gloves (at least the ones I have), but the damn black-eyed susans refuse to stay in their area--and I've found out the hard way that my skin is very sensitive to the little hairy things on the stems.

So when I see a few of the leaves trying to hide at the bottom of coreopsis or taking over a spot in between the monarda and oregano (again), I swear at them and then put on the gloves and (aggressively and meanly) rip them out. My husband loves them and their (stupid) sunny happy flowers, and I used to love them, but now...well, we need counseling. Or gloves I wouldn't mind wearing.