"Alan Gould" wrote in message
...
In article , Franz Heymann notfranz.
writes

If may go off at a tangent: What is it that is special about nettles
as far as making an infusion is concerned? Can one not just dump
*all* one's green weeds in a barrel of water?

Young nettle leaves break down more quickly, and they have a lower
fibrous content - they are also edible to humans, thus they are
perfectly safe to use on food plants as well as being truly organic.

This year I am using comfrey instead of nettles. Just as good, but they
take a bit longer to biodegrade and they are more fibrous.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

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My Dad had three big strips of garden which he tilled on a big allotment
area.
Nettles were rife in the field corners but they were never interfered with.
They were part of our diet at Sunday roast dinners. Just like cabbage.
My brothers and father picked them with our bare hands and never got stung.
This is because you take just the top off the nettle stalk with just three
or four leaves on. Our Dad encouraged us to grip the top firmly and pull the
tops off one by one.
The allotment walls were the square grass sods piled hip-high all round the
perimeter. They were quite neat and as time went on the grassy walls
harboured all sorts of small creatures. There was at all times a large sod
compost heap which, when matured after two years was used as humous.
He was helped by a dishevelled tramp who lived in the local Grubber. (
Workhouse).
The allotments were on the diggings of the earth from the Docks when they
were built many years ago. That earth from the docks formed a shape like a
high domed grassy hill and was called Ramsey Island after the local
Dignitary who was responsible for the building of the docks, and the Town.
So, naturally, I and my brothers called him "The Ragged Prince of Ramsey
Island". The stories I could tell about that Gentleman tramp.!
Doug.