Nettles to Liquid Nitrogen Feed

[ColdHands]

I have been neglecting my garden lately. There has always been something happening, and by the time I remember, it is too cold in the afternoon to do some gardening.

My flowerbeds had been overgrown with nettles. This is actually a good sign that the soil is in a pretty decent condition. I am making a liquid nitrogen feed from them. It is so simple to make.

Place nettles in a bucket, cover with water and let it soak for 4 weeks, and voila there you have a highly nutritious feed for your plants!

 

[claudine]

Thank you for the tip! It sounds like something easy to make, so I'll definitely try it out.
I was also thinking about making my own nettle tea. The one that I buy at the store is pretty tasty

 

[zigs]

Too late in the year for tea Claudine, nettles change in composition around july, making them inedible. Cut some down and wait for the new growth, that should be alright. It's also good for caterpillars, as they can't feed off the old growth.

Just made a dustbin full off Comfrey liquid feed for the tomatoes, its high in potassium, but smells like the devil's own cesspit

 

[claudine]

Oh... I didn't know that it's too late. I'll make my own nettle tea next year then and for now I'll drink the one from the store. Thank you for the tip.

 

[zigs]

Oh... I didn't know that it's too late. I'll make my own nettle tea next year then and for now I'll drink the one from the store. Thank you for the tip.

I just looked it up, its actually the beginning of june, after that they become coarser & act as a laxative

We've got some odd old sayings in England, think there's one about not eating blackberries after Michalmas because the Devil's wee'd on them

 

[claudine]

Lol, it's good that you warned me, I wouldn't like to take a laxative
Now, I'm tempted to eat blackberries after Michalmas to see what happens, haha

 

[zigs]

Let us know

 

[headfullofbees]

Too late in the year for tea Claudine, nettles change in composition around july, making them inedible. Cut some down and wait for the new growth, that should be alright. It's also good for caterpillars, as they can't feed off the old growth.

Just made a dustbin full off Comfrey liquid feed for the tomatoes, its high in potassium, but smells like the devil's own cesspit

You should smell my homemade seaweed extract...

 

[zigs]

You should smell my homemade seaweed extract...

Yep, got that too

 

[ChanellG]

How did I miss this before? There is nowhere to get seaweed locally so I have been thinking about using the food variety and making a "tea." I'm already doing that with banana peel with much success.

Nettles aren't something I have experience with; not sure they even grow anyplace near me. Haven't even seen comfrey dried on a shelf for tea in ages; would definitely have to grow that myself. Thinking of giving fennel seed tea a try for the garden.

 

[zigs]

If you grow Comfrey make sure you put it in a permanent place, its a bugger to get out once its established. Also, try & get some roots of the Bocking 14 variety, the seeds from that are sterile, stops it self seeding everywhere.

The tea might not be on the shelf as there was some talk of it being carcinogenic some years back.

 

[ChanellG]

Will have to look into that carcinogen thing; hadn't heard that before. Almost all herbs (like foods) contain minerals and so forth that could become toxic if over consumed. Pennyroyal was pulled a a while back because young girls were attempting to use it for birth control. L-tryptophan was pulled off the shelves because of a tainted batch, yet there is all this other stuff out there that should be banned and isn't.

 

[zigs]

Info here about it

Clicky

 

[ChanellG]

Info here about it

Clicky

Not working :-(

 

[zigs]

http://www.ageless.co.za/herb-comfrey.htm