What's covering your feet when you garden?

Wow, diannebill, sorry to hear about your injury. That's very useful info. I had no idea that could happen.

For me it's garden clogs and more recently Crocs because they have more cushioning and are more comfortable yet serve similiar function. Also, my Crocs have a thicker sole which keep my feet higher off the ground so they stay drier and cleaner - but not dangerously high.

Isn't it amazing how important our feet are, especially when it comes to gardening. And how little attention we pay to them, but how much we can talk about them once provoked!

Ever travelled in Europe and had the same discussions after walking Paris for a few days? The evening foot chats... And the morning p**p chats! My goodness, the variety of toilet facilities in Europe is a daily challenge, as is keeping 'regular'. But I digress ;-)

Nope, for me it was Ireland. Good lightweight hiking boots and an ankle length skirt will get you anywhere in comfort. Oatmeal is the answer. :-) I thought we always digressed on Dave's.

Crocs

Light gardening and "puttering":
Used to wear garden clogs w/ removable washable insole, but, now:
Croc wannabees (shoerack, but check to make sure they are "smooshy" not hard)
-- on even ground (not much around here) and in immediate vicinity of house (okay, I admit I do wear them out -- got brown, tan, and red pairs) (DH has tan ones and took over my bright yellow pair).

For just about everything else around our property:
Hiking boots 1 size too big, so the orthotics fit -- uneven terrain and old injuries :(

I have a pair of super comfy Merrell slides I bought to wear by the fire at night when on hiking or mountain climbing trips and they became my favorite knock-around shoes. Now they are pretty restricted to the garden.....after getting muddy and wet so often, I can't really wear them in public.

Leather Teva vibram sole hiking sandals most of the time for everything in the summer, and black rock climber shoes (with white socks!) the rest of the year. Yeah, I;m a dork, but I have all my toes, neener neener..

Redwing Workboots...always..
2 years ago I damaged the nerve in my leg from wearing old sneakers for digging, and from slamming my foot into the top of a spade.
I developed a condition called "drop foot" and had NO control over my right foot for almost 9 months, and had to walk with a cane.
Not worth taking the risk again.
I did recover and have learned my lesson.

Marilyn, I must have missed that post of yours! How long have you had them that they're wearing out??? You must really be hard on them! ;)

Zone5, I never can figure out how people's feet get so immune to rocks and prickles! LOL I love pedicures.

Gwen

flip flops

Sidney - Your're killin' me - LOL - til a buffalo poops! I gotta use that one!

Victor, We should post pictures!

since i have my containers on a table on my deck i can ware anything on my feet, ir bidt, that i want. when i am off i go out barefoot at 6 a.m. just to check that my soaker hose is working.
this is so much better than having a regular garden where i had to put up a 7 ft. fence to keep the dear out and all the other stuff i had to deal with like weed pulling and dragging the hose across the back lawn just to water them.

garden clogs... called sloggers! :-)

JD - Wow, I'm so glad you recovered from your injury. I'm that way about safety glasses ever since I got latex in my eye while working with some plants. I didn't know about latex. :-(

After hearing your and Dianebill's experiences, a little caution is in order!

kaperc...the first time I grew Snow on the Mountain Euphorbia, I was working with it one day and the next morning my eyes were swollen up like crazy from the sap...which never got directly in my eyes, but evidently there was enough on my hands that I didn't see which caused it . I must have rubbed my eyes not knowing. (obviously !!!)

Apparently the fumes will also cause symptoms if you are sensitive to it. I can't even handle my plumeria without precautions. I go through a lot disposable gloves around here.

I can't describe the pain I had in my eyes for days - doctor said nothing to do but put plain drops in every few minutes.

I also have a pile of shoes at the door too, but mine are not clean either, like yours madeintheshade.

If I have to dig, I wear my trusty old tennis shoes. They take the brunt of the shock when I press down with my foot. I have bad feet.

If it is wet, I wear flip flops or crocs.

If I'm just lolly gagging around and spending some time just checking things out, I could have on almost any of the shoes I own.

Crocs!!! I love these so much I have several pairs in different colors. When I first heard about them, I thought they were too ugly to be worn, but after putting them on, they're about all I ever wear now. I have neuropathy in my feet from lupus, and these are the most comfortable things I've ever had on. I second what someone else said about them not being for digging though, so hubby does the digging!

Hmm, with all this talk about how comfy they are, I might just have to invest in some of those Crocs!

I wear boots, I'll say why in two words.....FIRE ANTS.

I used to go barefoot a lot in my garden in the UK - until, taking my habitual barefoot evening tour, I stepped down off the back step onto a frog. POOR frog, that was several tons psi I should think. The same evening, after a quick clean up, I walked into TWO hedgehogs in the dark.
Actually, even that didn't cure me, but since moving to France, where the risk of stepping on snakes and hornets is rather higher, and having a lot of very uneven and prickly land, I've taken to sport type sandals with thick springy soles. I can still get earth between the toes, but not get anything too painful in my feet.

I've loved reading everybody's stories thanks. ......and am I glad we don't have those FIREANTS!!

I go barefoot because I grew up in the Ozarks (Mom's rule was that we had to wear shoes until school was out, but on the first day of summer vacation, those shoes came off and didn't go back on until autumn, except for church!) and because I have never found a single pair of shoes that fit my feet comfortably (and that includes crocs). Yes, I've stepped on things . . . a bee, for instance, and lots of thorns, but feet get tough in a hurry. Mine do look pretty bad, though, and with my stepson's wedding coming up in a few weeks, I'm going to have to figure out how to get my feet at least up to standard enough to wear a decent pair of sandals.

Rose, be sure to treat yourself a couple of times before the event to a pedicure. They can give you some tips to use in between the visits, and by the big day, your toes will be awesome!!! (If such a thing can be!) LOL

lol....I love my Crocs too......except when roly-poly's get thru the holes and you step on 'em.....yuckers....! :p But comfy.....lol

Melanie

ewwwwwwwwww gross! When I was a teenager in San Antonio I remember the day I put on my desert boots and laced them up THEN felt a wiggling around between my toes ! I could not get those boots off fast enough!!! I dumped out four or five what we called pincher bugs but I think they were really earwigs.

Scary! You don't have scorpions out there, do ya? I think I would keep my shoes inside, if so!

They were inside! In the closet! They supposedly love dark moist areas and must have been snoozing in there. I didn't feel a thing till I had them laced up and tied. Yes there are scorpions in San Antonio too. The Baptismal at the church used to have dozens down in there between uses. But I never ran across any in the yard as a kid.

I've found enough scorps in the house that I always shake my shoes out. Only one in the house is enough! LOL

Yikes! Scary critters in the house! I was stationed in San Antonio and Ft. Hood in the army. Glad I never ran across anything like that!

I'm too accident prone to go barefoot. I bought a pair of bright red rubberish clogs (like the wooden ones) with removeable liners from Smith and Hawken, I think, about 30 years ago. They need to be replaced. I hope I can still get them.

Those sound similar to the 'crocs' everyone's talking about, peep1--have you checked those out?

My big green "Wellies"

Crocs Rx have changed my life. (for the better... ; )

crikey.....lots of scorpions here.......even in our house!

Melanie

Had plantar fasciitis once, both feet. Only found out later the EASY cure: When first getting up, flex toes skyward, HARD! If you can reach your toes you can stretch them that way also. Take a minute, maybe two. Then stand up. The trick is stretching the affected foot, the longer stretching, the better your foot feels. Let me know...
Carol

wow that's amazing how similarly we all can be. thought i was the ONLY one who would insist on gardening in flip flops! ha!

i only wear my new balance shoes when i'm going to be mowing or clearing land, etc. if i just HAVE to have full shoes on for a quick trip around the garden, i will grab DH's lewis & clark's (LOVE those!!)

my feet get too hot. i've been a barefoot kinda girl my whole life. used to walk miles on asphalt, blacktop, gravel roads... didn't matter. feet were tough as boot leather--literally!!!

also love the ease of washing off those feet just before i walk in my house :-))

happy feet.
happy gardener!

gotta be crocs.
i'm a barefoot girl from way back, but years of neglect of the land i garden on now in CT = glass in totally unexpected places - it just comes up out of the ground. so now i wear shoes because i have to.

amy
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I love being barefooted, even the occasional , ew i just stepped on smurf village (mushrooms). Well unless I'm digging for trees or ponds..then boots are in order.. Most of the time though... barefoot city, even though I've stepped on the rake and got it in my foot, I like to think I just look a bit more these days.