Do you work in your garden barefoot?

Question

It rains often where I live and I also have heavy clay soil. Wearing shoes or boots in the wet garden means tons of soil sticks to them and also causes soil compaction. However, walking barefoot in the garden does not cause this if the soil is not totally saturated.

I have found that working in the garden barefoot has made me a better gardener in that I can tend to weeding and harvesting quicker after it rains. To wear shoes, typically we must wait 2 to 3 days before entering the garden to accomplish anything, so weeds tend to grow out of control and produce gets overly mature.

There are still some tasks that cannot be done, for example, beans should never be touched when the plants are wet -- that is an old wives tale that is true. But, basically, barefoot gardening is a good thing. If you have never tried it, I recommend it some time.

Answer 1

I have always gardened barefoot.
I find it more comfortable, it’s a quick way to judge dry soil conditions and to pick up on the first hint of moles and other tunneling critters. I garden with all my senses and being barefoot increases information from touch.
I also love to feel all the different textures underfoot.

Answer 2

i'm in sandals or flip flops as soon as the weather turns warm so being barefoot in the garden is second nature to me.i enjoy feeling the mud under my soles and between my toes.also i dont have to worry about getting my shoes dirty all it takes is a quick spray with the hose and my feet are clean.i do take precautions when pruning my rose bushes and wear shoes then because i dont want a thorn in my foot.it so relaxing to feel connected to the earth doing being shoeless in the garden.

Answer 3

I too have done the barefoot weeding thing. It is soooo much easier to wash the mud from your feet than from your shoes. The only thing that deters me is the fact that I have used sheep manure to fertilize and am afraid of picking up a serious infection if I were to have a scratch or wound on my foot. But sometimes I have no control and end up in there shoeless.

Answer 4

I LOVE being in my garden barefooted, but then again I go barefooted whenever I can. Living in Wisconsin, that can be a short season. When I'm barefooted I feel more connected to the earth.

Answer 5

I do everything barefooted, and gardening barefooted is a pleasure. There's nothing like the smell of dirt! Lovely!

Answer 6

I agree it feels great but too many dangers in the garden, not only the hook worms, but far to many accidents occur with people who don't think it will happen to them. The garden is a place to relax and take your cares away and most of the time that's when a pair of secateurs fall, or the fork bounces of a stone or the lawn mower runs back. Had a couple of close shaves over the years and seen too many accidents. Wear protective shoes unless you don't like to dance.

Answer 7

I'd like to garden barefoot too, but unfortunately Nepoleon is right. Flip through a parasitology text book when you get the chance and take a good look at the photos. I'm all for natural, but watching worms squirm about just beneath my skin would be a bit too natural for me.

Answer 8

There are very few things that feel better than gardening barefoot. There's just something so organic, so unifying with mother nature, that it can't be ignored. But then again I am a Pagan so i love being enveloped by nature in most of her forms.

Answer 9

Unfortunately I have lots of thistles and poison ivy in the back yard. The people before me (the house is 76 years old, so lots of people!) left lots of "bits" behind - glass, metal, wood scraps with nails, etc. I have found a shovel, a frying pan, a trowel, several toys, and most recently a woman's plain wedding band! (Sold it for gold - $10.00 worth)

And now I have a dog.....

Answer 10

I went into the garden barefoot once when I was a teenager and stepped on a garden slug, yuck, gross. I never went without shoes again in the garden.