YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES
Garden Fashionista Part II
Posted on July 12th, 2007 – 8:58 AMBy Connie Nelson
I never mean to do it. It just happens. Weekend mornings, I grab a cup of coffee and head out to the garden for a quick look. Next thing I know it’s noon and I’ve discovered that the PJs I’ve been wearing for several hours are threadbare.
My neighbors are used to seeing me garden in my jammies. By now, they’ve either come to forgive me or ignore me. So that’s not my Garden Fashionista quandry. This is:
Say I’ve been working in the garden — all the livelong day. (Huh. Sounds like a song.) Say I’m sweaty, covered with dirt. Then I realize I’m out of potting soil or fish emulsion. So I brush my teeth, put on a baseball cap and head for a local nursery. But once at the local nursery I get stared at by all the make-up wearing, blow-dried, cleanly clothed people shopping there. (I once had a little kid look at me, cry and run for his mommy. And I had even brushed my teeth…)
What gives? Aren’t garden centers full of dirty things, like plants? Should I be required to take a shower and put on clean clothes before I load bags of manure into my car?
I guess I’ve taken my mom’s saying, “a little bit of dirt never hurt anybody,” too much to heart. Am I out of bounds? I mean, what should one wear to the garden center? What do you say, Greenthumbs?
20 Responses to "Garden Fashionista Part II"
I find that I receive better service at both garden centers and hardware stores when I’m all grubby.
I can only presume that it makes me look like I mean business…?
A true gardener always goes to the garden centre dirty and even wears pjs’ while gardening!I relate!
I too go to the garden center in some preseasoned outfits and get better service (maybe because they are wondering if I will scare off the other customers). I tend to be a hit and run shopper: waltz in, if I find what I want I buy it and go.
I live next to a home daycare and tend to be modestly attired if not fashionable in my shorts and t-shirt that is old enough that the print is almost faded into oblivion. I do however shun shoes and have had to hose off the feet and legs in order to comply with the “no shirt, no shoes” rules that retail requires.
I think it’s quite alright to do what you need to do in what your comfortable in–as long as your pants aren’t falling down and showing some undergarments. I think gettin’ dirty in the garden is beautiful, it’s the same feeling I have about my husband when he comes in from mowing the lawn….
I think people just look at gardeners funny because I get the same looks when I go to the garden center during my lunch break in a business suit. I feel like saying, “What’s the matter, you’ve never seen someone dress up to buy 10 bags of manure?”
Connie: I do the same thing you do, and I also get the strange looks. I figure those other people must not be “real” gardeners, which of course is probably a self-justification for not cleaning myself up before I head out the door.
Wow! I feel so much better. thanks for sharing!
Now, if I could only find a reliable way to get the dirt out from under my fingernails by Monday morning. Anybody have any tricks to do that? I heard the one about scraping your fingernails on a bar of soap before gardening. It really helps, but I usually forget to do it. . .
I work in a hospital and was able to get a surgical scrub brush (it’s all about who you know) and it works wonders on hands covered in garden dirt.
It could be that all of these somewhat cleaner people were just buying their stuff before heading out into the garden. I usually stop by and grab stuff on my way home from work and I’m not usually dirty. The auto parts store is a completely different story though. I go in there covered in dirt and grease all the time and the employees are way more helpful with helping me diagnose my problems than the times I come in with my shirt tucked in.
Ah-ha! So that’s how to get help at an auto parts store!
I sometimes stop at the garden center on my way home and end up loading plants in the car in my work clothes,too. Then I look like the rest of the people there. I swear I never see anybody who looks like they actually garden.
Of course, maybe some people have learned how to garden without getting covered with dirt. I haven’t mastered that yet . . .
I find that the best way to get nails clean is by washing dishes (by hand) usually by the time I’ve finished a load of dishes my nails are clean. If not perfectly clean, everything is soft enough that I can clean them out. Washing my hair also gets them pretty clean. I also find that when my nails are just a bit long they clean easier than when they are short nubby things.
To get my fingernails clean, when I’m in the shower I’ll scrape them on the bar of soap just before washing my hair. The combination of the soap under the nails plus the movement of the fingers as you wash your hair works pretty well. If they’re not completely clean before I’m done with my shower, I’ll scrape them on the soap again and use my other fingernails to scrape out the soap and dirt. This always works for me - better than the scrub brush we have.
haha. I’m always wearing inappropriate clothes in the garden.
I fell down in our flowerbed last night because I was stumbling around in 3 inch heels and a cocktail dress showing off the green beans to some guests. The plants are all ok, but I have a scrape on my leg.
Was anyone armed with a camera. I’d love to see a picture of a cocktail dressed, high-heeled gardener! (Before the fall,of course!)
Connie! Fortunately, no one was taking photos!
My boyfriend and I were talking about this blog entry as we were getting ready to go to a movie last night. We decided to transplant some lily-of-the-valley right before our date.
He: “I’ve got to quick wash my feet before we go!”
Me: “We always end up gardening when we’re not dressed for it…just like the Greengirls gardening in their pajamas!”
He: “Yeah, it seems like we’re always working out there in the wrong clothes.”
Me: “I told them about the falling down incident last week…with the cocktail dress and 3″ heels.”
He: “You didn’t!!”
when my boyfriend and i bought our house this spring, the backyard was littered with junk because it had been vacant for 6 months. in the junk pile was one of those battery-powered kids’ toothbrushes, which i noticed after we were finished digging up the sod in my new 10×20 garden. a flash of genius and a new battery later=no more dirty fingernails! very quick and works better than anything else i’ve tried.
Wow, I totally admire your DIY recycling, flytrap! It is amazing what we can reuse right in our own backyards… A good friend was telling me about a neighborhood gardener who turned an old tricycle wheel into a support for a snap pea trellis.
I too can relate. It’s either I’m overdressed or underdressed. Sunday’s are notoriously bad since I’m either coming from church or have been out in the yard all afternoon. If I’m feeling really gruppy, I change my shirt and tie my hair back again.
I keep your nails short for the summer. Does anyone know where to get a good nail brush? My current one is almost worn out. I like the ones with the single row on one side. That does the best job.
I like flytrap’s idea of using a kid’s electric toothbrush. Sounds like it would be just the right size and would provide it’s own power.
i’ve been seen in my garden in my pajamas, and i often have to wash my feet before i go anywhere. i keep a scrub brush by the tub and sit on the edge so i can scrub the cracks in my heels clean.
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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