Last fall, Jamey and Arthur planted quite a lot of garlic cloves in the raised bed we made from Lief and Angela's old deck material. Yesterday I counted 48 of those emerging, robustly from the bed. A few weeks ago I noticed that several of the cloves appeared to have been plucked from the ground by their new shoots and left to lie on top of the soil. So I sunk them back in cozily in the ground and fetched some 17 gauge K-Lath to cover the bed. Now they are looking happy and oh, so healthy.
The garden construction is coming along. We're using 12 foot treated 4x4 posts so that we can mount fencing well over 7 feet high, which we understand is roughly the limit of a deer's leaping ability. The garden dimensions are 25' x 19'8, with a hypotenuse of 31'8 inches.
Jamey and I just came back from a dual mission: a) collecting "manure" from chickens, rabbits and deer to create a "tea" for fertilizing our garden. b) collecting the tops of new nettle shoots to dry for nettle tea (in this case we plan to drink it).
We had a tea made from the fresh nettle leaves and all three of us boys enjoyed it. Heidi is far from convinced that nettles should be consumed in any form.
I'm seeing the first flush of Alder "flowers" emerging in the distance. The cause the shape of the tree to become visible in a flush of rusty pink. Seeing this causes me to look hopefully to the days ahead, as it won't be long until the pink is followed by the spring green.
6 comments :
I read somewhere that Nettles tea is good for something; what is it?
I know that Nettles, rubbed on an irritated skin will anesthetize the area so that it will no longer be irritated.
Nettle tea might just taste good, but the real purpose of nettles is to whip several stalks of it across your bare back. That stops you from lusting after your neighbor's donkey.
Great Grumpy has it backwards: if nettles are rubbed on skin, the skin will have to be anesthetized so that it will no longer be irritated.
Maybe you can anesthetize that skin with some fresh droppings from your neighbor's donkey.
Fresh garlic sounds wonderful, and spring green, I'm rooting for it as well (no pun intended).
Mom
Believe me, I greatly respect my No.2 Son's intelligence and judgment, but must caution all of you younger readers not to take his advice seriously as far as the proper uses of Nettles is concerned.
In the first place, he never lived on a farm and therefore doesn't know a donkey from a hole in the ground. In the second place, I doubt that he has ever had Nettles accidentally raked across his lower legs and subsequently experienced the euphoric sensation of complete numbness that occurs within minutes of the initial excruciating pain when the signal from the violated skin reaches the sensory cells in the brain.
It is indeed an anesthetic -- in the long run. Whether it is worth it in the interim is left for the reader to discover for him/her self.
No, I am not ready to decide that for myself, either.
Heidi, you may be well assured that stinging nettle tea is wonderful for energy and good for your skin. We drink it all the time during the spring, before they get the berries on them. May is the optimum time. Pick them with rubber gloves unless you are like Rachel, who has such calloused fingers from playing piano so much that the stings don't affect her. Boil your water, then place the leaves in the water for just one minute and take them out. The tea will be green if you drink it right away, but it turns black if you store it in the refrigerator for a nice iced tea later. You can also eat the leaves, the sting is gone and it tastes like spinach, only a little more chalky. Maybe because they got overcooked. Love to you all, Susan, Steven, and Rachel
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