eating nettles - (video on harvesting)

Ela La Salle wrote:Thank you for the tip. I'll try (no chicken coop. Not allowed by by-laws. Tried to fight it to no avail).

Last year I fertilized one of the patch of nettles I have with urine once or twice in the spring. It seemed to do no harm, and they seemed much taller than the other two patches I have. I know that for fiber, one would want the plants tall. What I *don't* know, is whether the resulting fiber is the same quality as the fiber from the shorter plants. I intended to do some fiber harvesting last year, but things got crazy busy and it wasn't critical path. It would be an interesting test to do.

Sad about the chickens - the small city near me is trying to get that changed *again* - someone tried not too long ago. Considering our lack of food security locally, it seems like a short-sighted approach.

Ela La Salle wrote:....
I learned about it through permies. I am trying (with little success) growing some.

In the past 4 years, little grew.

Last Summer, I counted 11 "canes", and I didn't pick any because I would like to get a nice size patch. For whatever reason, while it grows (or supposed to) anywhere and in abundance....it sure is a slow process on my property!?
I transplanted the wild young bunch but so far...it's slow going. Why? I do not know. The climate is similar, the plants bloom, set seeds and then....not much!?
I'm beginning to wonder if uranium has a lot to do with it. The town used to be a mining town that closed its mines in early 1990s (so I've red).

As far as I know nettles grow better when you cut the stems. Seems counterproductive maybe.
And they like to be peeed on (as a female I use a bucket, which is in my garden shed for that special purpose).

Nettles for the win! Drinking 7 cups of nettle tea a day when I got hay fever a few years ago, quelled it quite a bit and the hay fever has gotten less with each year!