garden hands

In general, I prefer to work without gloves in the garden, unless I'm doing some seriously muddy work.  I just worry about the clumsiness of my hands handling tiny seeds and pulling weeds whose roots are intertwined with those of my flowers and veggies.

This preference, combined with my desire for clean hands when returning to our apartment, means that I've spent time thinking about some good hand-washing strategies.  I used to just wash my hands repeatedly and carve out the dirt meticulously with the nail-file end of a pair of fingernail clippers, and then wash some more.  But, Lo! There is a better way: use a brush.

I just lather up my hands, and then use my bath brush to get at the fingernails, and rinse.  (If I had a mudroom with a sink or something fancy—namely multiple bathrooms—I'd get a fancy nail brush.)  I'm not for advocating unnecessary stuff, but I feel like I have clean hands all the time and don't spend nearly as much time washing them as I did before getting my brush.  However, I refuse to feel silly that it took me this long to figure it out; there are always tricks like this lurking for any hobby.

Also: why is my spinach bolting in May?  It should at least have the decency to wait a few more days until June.