How do I attract butterflies
 

Stinging-nettle soup for your garden: :-)


Fill a big pot/drum with nettles, fill 3/4 with water and stand pot in a
warm location do not cover. It should start fermenting - leave for a week
or two, stirring every day or so. When it's finished fermenting it should
be a dark brown colour (and probably smell awful). Remove nettles and bung
on compost, you can now cover the pot if you want.

Dilute 1:50 and spray to fight aphids.
or 1:10 or stronger as a liquid feed. Rich in nitrogen and potash.
Or so I'm told.

You can do a similar thing with field horsetails (Equisetum arvense). Wait
until mid summer until you collect the horsetails. Good for mildew and
fungal infestation.
Leave 1kg horsetails in 10 litres water to soak overnight. Then simmer the
mixture for about an hour. Cool and sieve. Dilute 1:5 and spray infected
plants.

Other horsetails are pretty inefective.
--
Tim C.

How do I attract butterflies
 

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 11:31:33 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Try with caution, folks: I did, and I & my mum & sister thought it truly
revolting. Even the dogs refused it. YMMV.

What did you use for the stock base?
I knock this soup up every year round about now - even the kids love
it ( and kids aren't known for being 'into soup' ).

If you fancy munching weeds/wildflowers, I do recommend ground elder and
ramsons - both can be used as a pizza topping or cooked in butter, and much
nicer than nettles.

Could get on with Ground Elder - I found the taste insipid...couldn't
quite place the flavour, but it seemed vaguely metallic.
I was disappointed - I really quite relished the thought of being able
to eat the damn stuff into extinction!

I'd imagine that anything eaten with Ramsons would taste just fine
though - I get hungry just walking past them ( until they turn! ).

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

How do I attract butterflies
 

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:36:12 GMT, Tim Challenger
"timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:



Stinging-nettle soup for your garden: :-)


Fill a big pot/drum with nettles, fill 3/4 with water and stand pot in a
warm location do not cover. It should start fermenting - leave for a week
or two, stirring every day or so. When it's finished fermenting it should
be a dark brown colour (and probably smell awful). Remove nettles and bung
on compost, you can now cover the pot if you want.

Ain't no 'probably' about the awful smell - it really does niff
something chronic!


Dilute 1:50 and spray to fight aphids.
or 1:10 or stronger as a liquid feed. Rich in nitrogen and potash.
Or so I'm told.

I've used it as a foliar feed, and it works wonders.
I'd be inclined to spray it on late in the evening, to give the odour
a chance to dissipate overnight.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

How do I attract butterflies
 

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 11:31:33 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Try with caution, folks: I did, and I & my mum & sister thought it truly
revolting. Even the dogs refused it. YMMV.

What did you use for the stock base?
I knock this soup up every year round about now - even the kids love
it ( and kids aren't known for being 'into soup' ).

If you fancy munching weeds/wildflowers, I do recommend ground elder and
ramsons - both can be used as a pizza topping or cooked in butter, and much
nicer than nettles.

Could get on with Ground Elder - I found the taste insipid...couldn't
quite place the flavour, but it seemed vaguely metallic.
I was disappointed - I really quite relished the thought of being able
to eat the damn stuff into extinction!

I'd imagine that anything eaten with Ramsons would taste just fine
though - I get hungry just walking past them ( until they turn! ).

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

How do I attract butterflies
 

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:36:12 GMT, Tim Challenger
"timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:



Stinging-nettle soup for your garden: :-)


Fill a big pot/drum with nettles, fill 3/4 with water and stand pot in a
warm location do not cover. It should start fermenting - leave for a week
or two, stirring every day or so. When it's finished fermenting it should
be a dark brown colour (and probably smell awful). Remove nettles and bung
on compost, you can now cover the pot if you want.

Ain't no 'probably' about the awful smell - it really does niff
something chronic!


Dilute 1:50 and spray to fight aphids.
or 1:10 or stronger as a liquid feed. Rich in nitrogen and potash.
Or so I'm told.

I've used it as a foliar feed, and it works wonders.
I'd be inclined to spray it on late in the evening, to give the odour
a chance to dissipate overnight.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

How do I attract butterflies
 

Stephen Howard wrote in
:

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 11:31:33 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Try with caution, folks: I did, and I & my mum & sister thought it
truly revolting. Even the dogs refused it. YMMV.

What did you use for the stock base?
I knock this soup up every year round about now - even the kids love
it ( and kids aren't known for being 'into soup' ).

A bog-standard chicken stock from a cube, I think. Basically, it smelt
utterly gorgeous till we put the nettles in, then went utterly 'orrible.

If you fancy munching weeds/wildflowers, I do recommend ground elder
and ramsons - both can be used as a pizza topping or cooked in butter,
and much nicer than nettles.

Could get on with Ground Elder - I found the taste insipid...couldn't
quite place the flavour, but it seemed vaguely metallic.
I was disappointed - I really quite relished the thought of being able
to eat the damn stuff into extinction!

Odd - each to their own, I suppose. I'm not fond of strong-flavoured
vegetables such as cabbage, apart from garlicky/oniony ones. Oh, do like
pickled cabbage, but the flavour there isn't really from the cabbage. ;-).

Victoria

How do I attract butterflies
 

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 11:31:33 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Try with caution, folks: I did, and I & my mum & sister thought it truly
revolting. Even the dogs refused it. YMMV.

What did you use for the stock base?
I knock this soup up every year round about now - even the kids love
it ( and kids aren't known for being 'into soup' ).

If you fancy munching weeds/wildflowers, I do recommend ground elder and
ramsons - both can be used as a pizza topping or cooked in butter, and much
nicer than nettles.

Could get on with Ground Elder - I found the taste insipid...couldn't
quite place the flavour, but it seemed vaguely metallic.
I was disappointed - I really quite relished the thought of being able
to eat the damn stuff into extinction!

I'd imagine that anything eaten with Ramsons would taste just fine
though - I get hungry just walking past them ( until they turn! ).

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

How do I attract butterflies
 

In article , Neil Jones
writes
Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote in message news:zr8w8
...
In article , Tumbleweed
writes

I'd say they probably are threatened, certainly as a kid I used to see lots,
very rare these days, I see more tortoiseshells and those brown one's whose
name I forget.

Probably Speckled Woods - food plant is Garlic Mustard, which occupies
the base of the hedgerows round here.


I think you are confusing them with Orange Tips (which do use Garlic Mustard).
Speckled Wood caterpillars re grass feeders. I have successfully bred them on
Couch Grass.

Neil Jones
http://www.butterflyguy.com/

Oops. "It's not the things that we don't know that's a problem; it's the
thing we know which ain't so" - Mark Twain, probably not in those exact
words.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

How do I attract butterflies
 

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:36:12 GMT, Tim Challenger
"timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:



Stinging-nettle soup for your garden: :-)


Fill a big pot/drum with nettles, fill 3/4 with water and stand pot in a
warm location do not cover. It should start fermenting - leave for a week
or two, stirring every day or so. When it's finished fermenting it should
be a dark brown colour (and probably smell awful). Remove nettles and bung
on compost, you can now cover the pot if you want.

Ain't no 'probably' about the awful smell - it really does niff
something chronic!


Dilute 1:50 and spray to fight aphids.
or 1:10 or stronger as a liquid feed. Rich in nitrogen and potash.
Or so I'm told.

I've used it as a foliar feed, and it works wonders.
I'd be inclined to spray it on late in the evening, to give the odour
a chance to dissipate overnight.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

How do I attract butterflies
 

Stephen Howard wrote in
:

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 11:31:33 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Try with caution, folks: I did, and I & my mum & sister thought it
truly revolting. Even the dogs refused it. YMMV.

What did you use for the stock base?
I knock this soup up every year round about now - even the kids love
it ( and kids aren't known for being 'into soup' ).

A bog-standard chicken stock from a cube, I think. Basically, it smelt
utterly gorgeous till we put the nettles in, then went utterly 'orrible.

If you fancy munching weeds/wildflowers, I do recommend ground elder
and ramsons - both can be used as a pizza topping or cooked in butter,
and much nicer than nettles.

Could get on with Ground Elder - I found the taste insipid...couldn't
quite place the flavour, but it seemed vaguely metallic.
I was disappointed - I really quite relished the thought of being able
to eat the damn stuff into extinction!

Odd - each to their own, I suppose. I'm not fond of strong-flavoured
vegetables such as cabbage, apart from garlicky/oniony ones. Oh, do like
pickled cabbage, but the flavour there isn't really from the cabbage. ;-).

Victoria

How do I attract butterflies
 

In article , Neil Jones
writes
Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote in message news:zr8w8
...
In article , Tumbleweed
writes

I'd say they probably are threatened, certainly as a kid I used to see lots,
very rare these days, I see more tortoiseshells and those brown one's whose
name I forget.

Probably Speckled Woods - food plant is Garlic Mustard, which occupies
the base of the hedgerows round here.


I think you are confusing them with Orange Tips (which do use Garlic Mustard).
Speckled Wood caterpillars re grass feeders. I have successfully bred them on
Couch Grass.

Neil Jones
http://www.butterflyguy.com/

Oops. "It's not the things that we don't know that's a problem; it's the
thing we know which ain't so" - Mark Twain, probably not in those exact
words.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

How do I attract butterflies
 

The message
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

Nettle Soup

(snip)

Recipe taken from Wild Foods, by Roger Phillips.


Try with caution, folks: I did, and I & my mum & sister thought it truly
revolting. Even the dogs refused it. YMMV.

What bit was revolting?

I don't fancy the cream, and the rest I feel I'd find rather bland. I
shall molish some nettle swoop soon, and chip in with my recipe. There
may be more nettles.....

If you fancy munching weeds/wildflowers, I do recommend ground elder and
ramsons - both can be used as a pizza topping or cooked in butter, and much
nicer than nettles.

Agreed that ransomes and ground elder are good, but properly treated,
nettles are ace, too. Good King Henry, fat hen, glasswort, samphire
(Crithrum maritimum, *NOT* Salicornia perennis!), sea kale, sea spinach,
dandelion leaves and the young shoots of hogweed are all delicious as
well.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

How do I attract butterflies
 

The message
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

Nettle Soup

(snip)

Recipe taken from Wild Foods, by Roger Phillips.


Try with caution, folks: I did, and I & my mum & sister thought it truly
revolting. Even the dogs refused it. YMMV.

What bit was revolting?

I don't fancy the cream, and the rest I feel I'd find rather bland. I
shall molish some nettle swoop soon, and chip in with my recipe. There
may be more nettles.....

If you fancy munching weeds/wildflowers, I do recommend ground elder and
ramsons - both can be used as a pizza topping or cooked in butter, and much
nicer than nettles.

Agreed that ransomes and ground elder are good, but properly treated,
nettles are ace, too. Good King Henry, fat hen, glasswort, samphire
(Crithrum maritimum, *NOT* Salicornia perennis!), sea kale, sea spinach,
dandelion leaves and the young shoots of hogweed are all delicious as
well.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

How do I attract butterflies
 

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 16:33:19 +0100, Stephen Howard wrote:

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:36:12 GMT, Tim Challenger
"timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:



Stinging-nettle soup for your garden: :-)


Fill a big pot/drum with nettles, fill 3/4 with water and stand pot in a
warm location do not cover. It should start fermenting - leave for a week
or two, stirring every day or so. When it's finished fermenting it should
be a dark brown colour (and probably smell awful). Remove nettles and bung
on compost, you can now cover the pot if you want.

Ain't no 'probably' about the awful smell - it really does niff
something chronic!


Dilute 1:50 and spray to fight aphids.
or 1:10 or stronger as a liquid feed. Rich in nitrogen and potash.
Or so I'm told.

I've used it as a foliar feed, and it works wonders.
I'd be inclined to spray it on late in the evening, to give the odour
a chance to dissipate overnight.

Regards,

I only tried the nettle brew, but all these teas and infusions are pretty
popular over here. You can even get instant nettle infusion concentrate in
the gardening shops, just add water....
The field next to the garden has a patch of nettles right up to our fence.
So anything that grows through is fair game. I am happy with the bits in
his field as it feeds the caterpillars (spikey black ones with hundreds of
tiny white spots - peacocks?). But it looks like this year he's going to
dig that patch up. Shame.
--
Tim C.

How do I attract butterflies
 

The message
from Stephen Howard contains these words:

I'd imagine that anything eaten with Ramsons would taste just fine
though - I get hungry just walking past them ( until they turn! ).

I had no idea they could become aggressive.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/