Tomatos gone wild!

[Larry Edgerton]

I like to trim my tomato plants with a jackknife but this year they are out of control so they are getting a bit big sometimes when I get to them. So........

Does anyone know of a thumb guard that I could cut against with the knife, my thumb is getting tender. I don't like gloves, and I don't like to use a pruner, not enough feel. End up cutting the wrong one.

Post office guys have a thing they put on their thumb for sorting letters, something like that but tougher.

Ideas?

Thanks, Larry

[Larry Frank]

I am glad your tomatoes are doing so well. Mine suffered badly with two months of rain in May and June.

[George Bokros]

My tomatos are not doing well either. Suffered from the June rain.

[Larry Edgerton]

I did not plant until the tenth of June, and have had to water since. Better that way as I can control it. I water very little in the first month to make the roots go deep, then use soakers about once a week.

My daughter lives in Valpo, she was saying that you have had a lot of rain this year. I don't want it now to avoid blight on my viney plants. Last year we got a little rain almost every day in the later season and I got blight.

[James Tibbetts]

How 'bout just duct tape a small piece of wood to your thumb?

[Bruce Page]

Would this work?

http://www.amazon.com/Malleable-Meta...=finger+splint

Probably available at your local CVS.

[Tom Stenzel]

Cut the thumb off of a pair of leather or welding gloves? Or if you have small hands use the fingers from a pair of XL gloves.

Although James didn't expressly say it, this is a woodworking forum so some solution involving WOOD is a thought.

-Tom

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I would look at a sewing thimble from a quilting supply or leather supply for sewing leather together. They are different than the one that goes on the tip of the finger.

[Larry Edgerton]

Good thoughts!

Bruce, you may have something there. The thimble idea as well.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Look for a Sailor's Palm. Google it. It covers part of the thumb and Palm.

[Myk Rian]

Everyone I've seen doing work like that just wraps what needs it in duct tape.
How much "feel" do you need to snip a tomato off a vine? Just snip it off and move to the next one.

[Dave Lehnert]

Woodcarvers use this.
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/16V...dult-Male.aspx

[Mike Lassiter]

Here's something you might like from Hoss Tools https://hosstools.com/product/handy-twine-knife/

handy_twine_knife3.jpg

[Wade Lippman]

I don't like to use a pruner, not enough feel. End up cutting the wrong one.

My tomatoes are doing pretty good.
If you can see them, why do you have to feel them? And if you can't see them, how is feeling them going to help?
I use a pruner.

[Joe Tilson]

Larry,
Why not use a carvers thumb protector.
I got mine from Lee Valley.