Lorelei Misha

P Colvin wrote:" Once the nettle has seeded, it is unsafe to use for making rennet. "

Why? Other sources cite the seeds as good nutrition, and I have made tea with seeded nettle, the whole plant.

As nettle plants mature to the flowering/seeding stage the leaves develop cystoliths, tiny crystals of (I believe) calcium carbonate that are insoluble in water and also indigestible, but depending on size can be absorbed. Ingesting too many of these can cause tiny tears in the body and cause irritation, especially the urinary tract, similar to having too many oxalates. This is why it is advised only young leaves in spring are harvested.

Hi

Just thought I'd add two cents - I grew up in the Macadamia's original habitat in Australia (though I know there are a lot more varieties now adapting to more conditions). It's hot but not really dry: our Winter is quite dry but Spring and Summer are very humid and can get relatively wet (when it's not in drought), with big storms every few days and occasional coastal lows that bring in rain, and then Autumn is flood season that usually sees at least one weakened tropical cyclone (hurricane) come down. So I'd also suggest having a method of keeping up quite a bit of moisture to the tree in those seasons.

And yeah, it will take quite a number of years for a seed-grown tree to become mature and productive, I think a decade or more.

Cheers
L