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Things to do with nettles

It’s a good idea to leave a clump of nettles growing somewhere in your garden. This is partly because nettles are a breeding-ground for early aphids and thus provide spring food for those very helpful ladybirds coming out of hibernation, giving them a head-start in life.

The other reason is so that you can make nettle “tea”. It’s a great concoction which will thrill and delight your veggies. It’s also free and doesn’t involve giving away your hard-earned money to the multinational corporations who make plant feed products (who knows what’s goes into those!)

To make: put on a pair of gloves and pull up or chop down a load of nettles, and chuck them into a bucket (adjust size of bucket to size of garden). Press down occasionally to fit the most nettles in possible. Fill the bucket with water, and put on the lid. Leave to stand for around 3 weeks – you’ll know it’s ready because it will stink like hell and make you run into the house when you catch a whiff of it, but don’t worry, that’s how it should be! Dilute 1 part nettle tea to 10 parts water and feed to plants, then fill out your application form for the local horticultural show. (You can also make this kind of tea with comfrey, etc.)

Of course you can also use nettles in the kitchen: nettle soup, real nettle “tea” for human consumption, use as a substitute for spinach, etc etc. They are full of iron and very good for you. Once cooked, even lightly, they don’t sting.

Long live nettles; at least I have some good excuses why the garden’s full of them!

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