Not a lot of people know this...
Nettles are great as a soup and as a window cleaner (soaked and used as a bunch in a gloved hand) They are also nitrogen-rich, and can be steeped in rainwater for a seriously powerful garden nutrient, and they attract lots of butterflies!
The Romans also whipped themselves with bunches to warm themselves up (this is of course, pre-Rita Chevrolet, so no sniggers from the girls please), and used them as an antidote for hemlock, although why anyone belts around imbibing Chateau Deadly Nightshade, just so they can get a few extra slurps of nettle hooch is beyond me...
The fibrous stalks are also stronger than flax, and can be made into bed linen, ropes, and seriously violent underpants.
(There is a theme of sorts here, which somehow reminds me of politicians and other high-spending wasters, but perhaps that's my vivid imagination...)
And when I was about four, I pushed Peter Hickey off a farm trailor into a huge bed of nettles, and was told off by the Headmistress for being so unkind! (I'm so, so sorry Peter, that was an awful thing to do, and I've always regretted it)!
4 comments:
Oooh little boy Scrobbers! I bit a boy when I was 4. Which is worse?
Rolling in a bed of nettles is meant to be a great salve for the pains of arthritis...
Scrobs, I hate the bloody things and eradicte them when I can, until then I'm trying to teach the little uns to avoid them or at least appreciate the virtues of a dock leaf.
I know Lils, it was so unkind, but he was getting on my nerves, and eventually, I just snapped...
Luck chap getting a Lils bite though, I hope he remembers it!
And yes, you're right about the arthritis cure as well - I imagine it is the perception of alternative pain or sensitivity which gives the feeling that there's something more important going on?
You'd know that wouldn't you!
They are a nuisance Thudders, but as they always say, they grow on good soil!
The nettle 'tea' I'm brewing for the garden, is already dark brown after only a few days...
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