National be nice to nettles week
14 May 2008 by colouritgreen
According to these people anyway. I’m not sure if picking nettles for processing as they suggest is actually being ‘nice’ to them… but I don’t feel like being nice to them at all, as I managed to get stung on the back of my ankle whilst trimming the sheeps’ feet, and it still hurts! *whine*
anyway, that brings me to: what are nettles good for: #6 plant feed
I got this one from Green Rosie. Basically, we got an old dustbin, filled it with nettles, added water and squished, then put the lid on and left it. Revisited it and phew! it stinks! Dilute 1:10. Don’t know yet how good it is as a feed - we shall see.
Mine’s getting really stinky - should be ready in a couple of weeks. I was in the Organic Farm and Garden Shop this morning and they were selling nettle plant food at 8 euros for about a litre. I’ve got a dustbin full of the stuff for the price of the dustbin - 8 euros incidentally!
bargain! - what do you feed with it?
The info says tomatoes and flowers love nettle brew and anything else that needs a boost - I’ll probably give it to everything. I’ve also got a bin of sheep poo plant food brewing and am off to see what plants that is best to use on ………….. Geoff Hamilton’s book says this is really good for treating any mineral deficiencies but any liquid feed should also be complemented with solid feed e.g. seaweed meal fertlizer etc, especially for hungry plants, as liquid feeds are quickly leached out of the soil. Also liquid feeds must be aplied to wet soil so water first if dry.
sheep poo feed eh? whats that ? sheep poo dropped in a bin of water?..we are not short of sheep poo….
Sheep poo food - actually you can do any ruminant poo but sheep poo is the best as it is highest in nutrients. Half fill a hessian sack with the poo of your choice and suspend in a bin of water (you can tie it to a stick across the top to facilitate getting it out!) Leave it to soak for a fortnight then remove the bag, cover the bin and use as needed. It can be applied neat to wet soil or dilute 1:1 and apply as a foliar feed. The French love all sorts of brews made from plants both as plant foods and plant rescues - this is a good website for more info:
http://www.frenchgardening.com/tech.html?pid=3164873867231346
excellent - thanks for that
Try adding rosemary or bone meal to your nettle fermenter. Both help to reduce the smell.