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More details in this thread here: here.
thanks JAy for the quick reply...blaze deffinitley left the place in good hands.
what part of the nettles do you eat. im an avid backpacker /hiker..so good to know.??
HT
heres a good video about nettles, there is info about eating them raw in the end. this is how i do it. ( except im not as crazy about smashing it, but do roll it up) once you get the hang of it you can eat a ton of it fresh in a short time.
whenever im hiking and see a nettle patch, i know im walking away with a full stomach and tons of energy to keep going. and sometimes some leaf for my plants haha.
Ive just finished up using Guano,EWC & Mollasses Natural Cane Sugar(unrefined) & comfrey tea's flip-flopped & boy have my ladies exploded. not sure which worked best but the plants exploded. The Mollasses Sugar i wasnt sure about(its Billingtons)but it seems to have done the trick totally. Thanks for all the info on comfrey guys! nettles too, ill be using those next time. Cheers!
Great. will make a 'Burdock Tea' and measure the E.C. (electro conductivity) and gage results on some Rainbow Kush... against some shop bought stuff.
Its important to include the use of wild plants first IMO,, and explain how to mindfully grow/harvest feral and semi-domesticated species as priority,,, so that nature/wildlife is encouraged in the process.
Many domesticated flowers are useless to fauna and supporting flora... that's why nettles are so good ,, all round.
hey guys, thanks for the input, lots of info in this thread. will go collect some nettles for some FPE, making some benficial local microbe serum right now...
Great thread, I should've read this a lot sooner!
I've been using recipe #2 from the OFB thread, the guano/kelp teas, and it's worked out very well. That said, I feel like its time to switch it up and try some different things. Nettle & comfrey sound like a good place to do just that. Is it too late in the NE US to collect some? I've got a patch in mind to visit today but I did some reading and it mentioned late summer the seeds start to drop & earlier in the thread someone mentioned not to use flowering nettles.
Is it too late in the NE US to collect some? I've got a patch in mind to visit today but I did some reading and it mentioned late summer the seeds start to drop & earlier in the thread someone mentioned not to use flowering nettles.
collect some seeds and grow them yourself at home, they improve your soil, have your own patch to collect from every year, and your own food and medicine.
you can use alfalfa in place of nettles if you cant find any.
i wouldnt buy it as its way expensive, something like 18$ a lb here. waste of money imo. a 50 lb bag of alfalfa is like 10$ and will last a LONG time.
I would love to do that, Jay but where I live that isn't possible right now. I'm guessing by your response it's too late to collect em from outside so I'll look for some alfalfa in the mean time & make a note of going out next spring. Any suggestions on the best places to find alfalfa in bulk like you mentioned? I know the nurseries I usually visit for supplies doesn't have any. I'm thinking a nearby town might have a feed store that might have some but other than that I have no idea.
well depending on where you live there is a chance you can find some young nettles, but really where i have lived and live now the nettle season is pretty much over. usually by now you would have collected, dried and stored nettles for use over the fall and winter. now is the best time to collect seed and the long stems for making rope/string.
i guess there is one thing you can do that i forgot about in the last post. collecting and extracting the nettle roots beneficial properties and microbes. its great for getting rid of the bad fungi in the soil, disease causing fungi. simply dig up a plant(with rootball intact and dont dig up all the plants in one area) then shake away the dirt(saving the soil for later use) leaving as many of the roots as possible. add them to water, add a small amount of molasses( like a 1/4 teaspoon per gallon) let ferment 24-48 hours and no more. strain, dilute 1:20 for soil drench, 1:50 for foliar sprays. this is more of a biological stimulant rather than a fertilizer though.
the alfalfa can be purchased at animal feed stores, make sure it doesn't have salts or added "minerals" in it. if it doesn't say on the bag, it might be best to call the company who makes it. one 50lb bag is enough veg ferts for a LONG time unless you have huge plants ( 5ft+ plants and dozens of them) and that will run you about 10-15$. where 1 lb of alfalfa meal at a garden center will run you 10$. so its much much cheaper. usually it comes in pellet form from the feed store so you do have to grind it up some.
sorry guys, i wouldnt touch that crap with a ten foot pole no matter how good it is. btw pee was the only thing that took away the sting, much like a jellyfish. who the hell needs to mess with this crap. too many other things that DONT make you itch like crazy. and i did read the first three pages of how wonderful this shit is. NOT A FAN
with proper harvesting you can collect bags full without getting stung once. or simply wear gloves and long sleeves.
there are many ways to get rid of the sting and a few are mentioned in this thread, around here pretty much where nettle grows so does the plant "dock" (Rumex species) a little leaf crushed and rubbed on stung area cures the sting almost instantly. there are many more plants all over the world that do the same.
but hey im not going to force you, there are many alternatives to nettles. its one of many ways to fertilize your plants....with plants