It's Spring

[Halo Jones]

Due to moving to a property with a garden I have decided to give the “grow your own veg” a go, I have potatoes chitting on the kitchen windowsill & seedlings in the airing cupboard & after 9 months the coffee plants are still alive (well 6 of them) it’s all quite exciting in a sad sort of way.

Any others growing their own this year (or are you all boomed contractors who just get it shipped in from Abel & Cole?)

[xoggoth]

The missus is into this stuff, I just do the donkey work like foundations for her patial greenhouse. She did potatoes last year, planted a row of potatoes, waited months, then we got about the same number as planted. It was splendid.

PS Although raspberries are good. Bung em in, no work at all. Get lots. Chewy.

[Halo Jones]

I am planning raspberries but I will not get the raised bed built until summer so then Ill plant them next spring & hope for fruit the following year, at the moment I am just doing stuff in pots until I get the garden arranged.

[lightng]

A mate gave me a composter a couple of years ago so I decided to try it. I got a good yield of potatoes and carrots. Seemed to taste much nicer than shelf produce. Might try something different this year.

[TimberWolf]

Why not try to grow stinging nettles?:

In its peak season, stinging nettle contains up to 25% protein, dry weight, which is high for a leafy green vegetable.[14] The young leaves are edible and make a very good pot-herb. Nettles can be used in a variety of recipes, such as polenta and pesto. Nettle soup is a common use of the plant, particularly in Northern and Eastern Europe.

Nettles are sometimes used in cheese making, for example in the production of Yarg[15] and as a flavouring in varieties of Gouda[16]

In Nepal and in Kumaon region of Northern India, Stinging Nettle is known as Shishnu. It's a very popular cuisine and cooked with Indian spices.

Stinging nettle has a flavour similar to spinach when cooked and is rich in vitamins A, C, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. Young plants were harvested by Native Americans and used as a cooked plant in spring when other food plants were scarce.[13]

Extracts can be used to treat arthritis, anemia, hay fever, kidney problems, and pain. Nettle leaf is a herb that has a long tradition of use as an adjuvant remedy in the treatment of arthritis in Germany. Nettle leaf extract contains active compounds that reduce TNF-α and other inflammatory cytokines.[6][7] It has been demonstrated that nettle leaf lowers TNF-α levels by potently inhibiting the genetic transcription factor that activates TNF-α and IL-1B in the synovial tissue that lines the joint.[8]

Nettle is used in hair shampoos to control dandruff and is said to make hair more glossy, which is why some farmers include a handful of nettles with cattle feed.[9] It is also thought nettles can ease eczema.

Nettle root extracts have been extensively studied in human clinical trials as a treatment for symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). These extracts have been shown to help relieve symptoms compared to placebo both by themselves [10] and when combined with other herbal medicines.[11].

Because it contains 3,4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran, certain extracts of the nettle are used by bodybuilders in an effort to increase free testosterone by occupying sex-hormone binding globulin[12]

Fresh nettle is used in folk remedies to stop bleeding because of its high Vitamin K content. Meanwhile, in dry U. dioica, the Vitamin K is practically non-existent and so is used as a blood thinner.

Stinging nettle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

No gardening or even planting required. All you need to do is let your house get into a state of disrepair, perhaps breaking a few windows, and you have the perfect growing conditions, AFAIK.

[Mich the Tester]

Why not try to grow stinging nettles?:



No gardening or even planting required. All you need to do is let your house get into a state of disrepair, perhaps breaking a few windows, and you have the perfect growing conditions, AFAIK.

I like nettle soup and nettle cheese, but you have to use very young leaves.

[Halo Jones]

All you need to do is let your house get into a state of disrepair, perhaps breaking a few windows, and you have the perfect growing conditions, AFAIK.

I don't think BGG would let me try that - he has made comments about the length of the grass as it is

[lightng]

Millions of uses for nettles. Apparently stinging nettles are used by some people during foreplay. Ouch!

[TimberWolf]

I like nettle soup and nettle cheese, but you have to use very young leaves.

Meine mutter ist deutsch, so she sometimes says how good they are, though I've never tried them. Presumably even when the leaves are young they need to be cooked?

[Mich the Tester]

Meine mutter ist deutsch, so she sometimes says how good they are, though I've never tried them. Presumably even when the leaves are young they need to be cooked?

Yep, they always need cooking.