when working in my gardens or even doing basic yard work in the summer I wear a pair of orange flip flops. I bought them for $1.00 at the Dollar General Store about 3 yrs ago. I also go barefoot a lot. In cooler weather, I wear my $3 canvas sneakers. I cannot think of one reason I would spend 400+ dollars on garden boots.
You didn’t have a depression era momma. Mine would not let us go “bare foot” in the yard or garden area for any reason — pin worms and ring worms were her fear from the 30s.