It’s time for another holiday giveaway, but HURRY – this contest ends December 5th!
A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to review a pair of Fields & Lane gardening gloves as well as offer a contest for my readers. Â And all I can say is HOLY COW, I LOVE these gloves!
Gardening gloves are normally something I go through at the speed of light. Â I’m very hard on them, and they seem to last about a month or so before I blow out the fingertips. Â I’ll admit, I don’t spend much on my gloves, probably in the $5-10 range, but I figure since I’m so rough with them why spend more? Â I also don’t spend a fortune on sunglasses since I’m always losing or breaking them, but that’s another story.
I’m also really picky about my gloves since I don’t want anything thick and cumbersome, preferring to feel whatever I’m touching. In fact, I’d prefer to garden bare-handed any day if it didn’t completely destroy my skin and nails.  Because of my pickiness, I requested to review a different pair of gloves (the Flex Gardener) than the thicker pairs offered in the contest, knowing I’d prefer the lightweight version.  And after giving them a massive workout this past week I am probably their #1 fan!
At first I thought they might be a bit snug for me, and therefore drive me crazy. Â I had measured my wrist, according to their directions, and ordered the small size. Â As soon as I began to garden, though, they felt as if they were custom made for me, quickly conforming to the shape of my hands. Â I even forgot I was wearing them when I tried to access the messages on my phone, which I was successfully able to do without taking them off!
The goat leather is fantastic, allowing me to handle pruning thorny rose bushes with ease. Â In fact, my daughter didn’t believe they could be so puncture-proof so she even tested them for herself and now wants a pair for herself!
Another reason I love goat leather so much is it doesn’t get stiff and crackly after its been wet (like my cheap plastic gloves do!) Â After gardening all day yesterday, in the wet mud no less, I was able to put my gloves on today and within 5 minutes they had warmed up and felt good as new!
And the breathable fabric on top of the glove lets my hands stay cool all day long – crucial when gardening non-stop.
Fields & Lane is located in Carleton, Oregon and sources all leather within the United States. Â The gloves are then assembled in a fair trade factory in Costa Rica. This company impressed me on so many levels, one of the main reasons being its commitment to community. Â They’re huge into philanthropy and won me over immediately. Â See for yourself:
Company & Community
We take our values seriously, integrating them into our business and our personal lives. Our focus on special-needs children has its roots in owner Bob Laughlin and his wife Dorothy’s experience with their own daughter Bonnie, who had cerebral palsy.
In 1992 the Laughlins started helping at La Escuela de Ensenanza Especial, a public school for children with special needs in Costa Rica. Â Their involvement with the Escuela is really how they got involved with the community there and why we set up shop in San Isidro. Â Our factory has been making semiannual donations to La Escuela since we started producing in 1995.
The factory also makes monthly donations to support two homes, or hogares, for community members with special needs in San Isidro. Â Hogar Manuel is a group home for adults with disability. Â Hogar Bethania is a care center for adults in their last years of life, average age over 80.
We’ve also helped the victims of the Haiti earthquake and the 9/11 attacks by donating our work gloves to support the relief efforts after those disasters, shipping over 900 pairs to Haiti and 2400 pairs to relier workers after 9/11.
Okay, so what’s the prize?
The Fields & Lane Prize Package: One lucky Gossip in the Garden reader will win 2 pairs of gloves, including 1 pair of Forester gloves (valued at $27; men’s and women’s sizes available) shown on the right, AND 1 pair of Wave gloves (valued at $29.35; only women’s sizes) shown on the left.
2 Ways to Enter this contest  It’s easy to enter this giveaway! Just do one the following before midnight on December 5, 2011:
1)     Leave a comment on this site telling me why you want these gloves, what you look for in gardening gloves, any tips you might have, etc.
2)      Or you can also head over to the Fields & Lane Facebook page and sign up on the company’s mailing list.  Just make sure you leave me a comment letting me know you did that!
A few more details:  The winner will be chosen at random by Dec. 7, 2011 and contacted within 24 hours. If the proposed winner forfeits or does not claim the prize by Dec. 12, 2011, the prize will be re-awarded based on the sponsor’s sole discretion. All prizes will be awarded. Please provide your name and email to enter this contest, so I can immediately contact you if you win. The winner agrees to allow his/her first name to be mentioned in conjunction with this giveaway.
The number of eligible entries will determine the odds of winning. This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only, who are over the age of 18 years old. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN. This sweepstakes is VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Â By entering this giveaway, you are agreeing to these conditions.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, and product and compensation were provided. All expressed opinions, however, are absolutely and without a doubt, my own.
Don’t forget! Â You must enter this giveaway before midnight on Dec. 5, 2011.
Good luck everyone!
 UPDATE!!!  And the Random Number Generator has chosen…..drum roll please…..Meghan Phillips!  Congratulations Meghan! I’ll be contacting you today to get your address! Â
Thanks for your comments, everyone.  I truly enjoyed reading them as some were actually quite funny!  I wish I could give each of you a pair, but alas I cannot.  Here’s hoping Santa leaves some for you in a few weeks!  🙂
33 Comments
Need? or Want? these gloves….IT IS BOTH! thanks for the chance to win.
I’m buying these if I don’t win them! Just found a hole in my gloves, 6 months in, while trying to pull the fall weeds out prior to winter. It took me 2 weeks to get the dirt out from under my nails.
I am just starting to embark on my gardening career as a new homeowner. I have gone through way too many crappy gloves this year and realized quickly the investment in a good pair is critical. Would love to win these!
Thanks!
Meghan – congratulations! You won the giveaway!!! I’ll be contacting you today to get your address – hope you like them as much as I do!
I have finally come to understand that I need to wear gloves when I garden. I fought it for so many years! I admit I had never even heard of this company until you posted about them- so thanks for the introduction!
THANK YOU FOR WEBSITE! You are quickly becoming a habit! I’m so excited about the Fields & Lane gardening gloves! My husband has had several months of toe amputations due to Diabetes and he is eager to get out to the garden. It is great therapy! So, of course, if my name is drawn, I will be sure to make good use of them on several levels!
I’m looking forward to spreading the word of such a great company! There are many gardeners in our wonderful little community and they deserve good comfort.
Never can have too much “Good Gossip”!
Thank you again, Rebecca. You are sunshine in my days!
I would LOVE a new pair of gloves, especially a good quality pair. I do much, much gardening, and typically use my bare hands because I don’t like bulky fabric to get in the way. However, I also prune roses, and dig up shrubs, perennials regularly and need gloves to avoid cuts and callouses. These sound like superb gloves! Thanks for the chance to try to win these!!
I work in a nursery environment and always carry 2 pairs of gloves with me. One pair has been so thoroughly used that I wore the finger tips bare such that I just cut them off. When I require finger protection I don the other pair. I always enjoy sampling new products that could make my life and the lives of my customers more enjoyable. Thanks Rebecca, Happy Holidays!
Keep Gardening!
David
While I have lightweight gloves that are OK for weeding, I really need some leather gloves for more prickly situations since we have lots of cacti and some roses to contend with. I never knew cactus could grow so quickly. We’ve had to move several large ones this fall away from paths and it’s a challenge with skinny gloves. This sounds like a great company too.
I have several pairs of gloves so that I can use a different pair each day. I do this because they get wet, uncomfortable, stiff etc… and I cant stand to wear them until they’ve been washed. Your gloves sound like the perfect solution!
I would love to win a pair of these gloves because any type of gardening on the mountain is tough. While I’d love to keep them for myself. I would give them as a gift to my best friend who lives up here and planted her first container gardens this past season and is doing a trial run on a winter garden. These gloves would be the awesome present from Santa sitting under the tree for her. I am making her a gardening basket as her gift this year.
I can never have too many garden gloves! Since landscape/gardening is my profession, I need gloves that can stand the test of time, are comfortable, and breathe. I would love to try a part of these!
May all your gardens grow,
Jan
I would enter the contest but I, too, would need the flex glove as I have very small hands (size 3.5-4 ring). But, thanks for tuning me into the wonderful company. Guess I have entered by commenting, so if I win, then friends/family will be the recipients of some really nice gloves as a present!
With fall clean-up I’ve just gone through fingertips of last intact right-hand glove. I’d love to try new ones! The recent crop were Foxglove brand, worn with a rubbery pair on top when needed. Love yr blog. Thanks.
I would love to win the gloves! They look so comfy and durable. A much needed item for gardeners.
Enjoy reading your blogs!!
I need these gloves because I plan to do a lot of landscaping at my new home this spring. I am an avid gardener and I wear out so many pairs of gloves. I look for gloves that are tough and fit my hand snugly enough that I can pull even the tiniest weeds out of my garden without taking my flowers with them.
Woops, I had the wrong email address on the previous comment…sorry about that. It’s changed now. Anyways, I’d love a pair of quality gloves instead of the cheap ones I have now. Thanks, Nicky 🙂
I would love to win these gloves. I go thru a lot of cheap gloves in a gardening season, blowing out the fingertips, and it would be wonderful to experience the quality of these instead. I used to garden without gloves, but after several nasty cuts, splinters and infections over the years, I finally saw the light and now wear gloves almost always in the garden.
I would love to win this item. I also love that you are giving it away.
I buy a lot of gloves and have found these to be some of the best! I’d love to win a pair of the forresters for my winter gardening, which is so hard on my hands. Thanks for the opportunity to win these!
It is so wonderful to find such a responsible company – thank you for highlighting them! My gardening gloves are so very much on their last legs, so these would be amazing – way better than my current ones. It is challenging to find good gloves – they do tend to feel like you’re wearing oven mits, so knowing that you practically forgot you were wearing them is a huge bonus. Thanks for the giveaway!
Oh I could SO use a new pair of gloves! Sadly, the garden has gotten a bit overgrown and it’s time for me to dig in–maybe a new pair will give me that last push to get out there and get going??? I hope I’m able to find out!
Anyway, my ideal pair of gloves would come in a pack of two pair with a third right hand AND a link to a person who has the same size hands but is left-handed… I don’t think I’ve ever worn out a left-hand glove in my life…
Cheers,
Garden Goddess
These look like the kind of gloves I could wrap my hands around. So to speak. As you know Rebecca I am a succulent gardener. That is all. So I think I am extremely tough on my gloves. I go through so many in a month it is mind boggling. The problem comes when the stickers get in them. Once that happens you pretty much have to write them off. Because every time you put your hands inside the stickers are still there. Most of the time I actually double up on the gloves. I put a cheaper pair in a leather pair. I am always on the lookout for a better pair of gloves. So I hope I am chosen because I would be a good test subject. LOL
I’d love to have these gloves because the sound perfect for what I want in a glove. I also don’t like wearing gloves because I can’t feel what I’m doing, but that’s so hard on your hands!
Like you Rebecca, I am very hard with my gloves. I order Atlas Garden Gloves by the dozen as I thought that they are the best. They fit perfect and not bulky. But, now that I see your review of these gloves, I am ready to give them a try. You have me convinced. I would love to win . I like the idea that part of their profit is spent on helping others. One of my favorite places…. Costa Rica. Can not wait to try these gloves. Thanks for posting this company.
As a transplant from Oregon to Alabama, I’ve discovered the value of gloves – one fire ant bite is too many and I’ve certainly gotten my share. Every time I forget to put gloves on, I end up being sorry in some way. These sound fantastic. Thanks, Rebecca.
One of the best lessons I learned when working many years ago at Filoli as an estate gardener was that a good pair of gloves is just as essential as having an excellent pair of pruners. Still to this day I find the investment of $20 to 30 dollars for a exceptional pair of gloves an excellent value.
Looks like these Fields and Lane gloves are constructed very well and will provide a gardener months of good service. Thanks for the review Rebecca , I’ll be on the look out for their gloves when I burn threw my current pair.
I’m in need of some good gardening gloves and these look super soft,durable and stylish!
There’s nothing worse than heading out to work in the garden and having to put on leather gloves that are so stiff you have to beat them with a hammer first to get the flex back in them. It’s great to see that there is a softer alternative available. Thanks for the chance at winning these, Rebecca! ~@SolakNC
How timely. I just filed my fingernails last night in yet another attempt to ‘save’ my poor hands from the wear and tear of gardening. I made a vow to wear gloves from now on! Would love to have a pair of these. I might even be coerced into actually paying for a pair!
I also would prefer to garden without gloves, but you’re right, it’s so hard on the skin and nails! I use very lightweight ones now, but go through numerous pairs each season. So I would be delighted to find some that are more durable!
I have to wear gardening gloves or my fingers start to break out with dyshidrosis, a type of skin eczema that affects the hands. I try to find the thinest possible, just like you. I look for the same qualities in gloves as you do!
I tend to not use gloves because they all feel cumbersome to me. I found a pair I like but they are not really durable.
I would love to win a pair of these gloves, and if you like them, they must be good.
I love to buy products of a company that is not just out there to make money but also has a social commitment. Thanks for bringing this company to our attention.