Is this stinging nettles

Davesnave

Yes, pick them young, if you're going to eat them. Voice of experience!

Otherwise, leave a patch for the butterflies.

As for plant food, comfrey is easier to harvest, just as smelly and possibly better, because its tap root goes deep and pulls up nutients and minerals from a long way down. Nettles are shallow-rooting.

Davesnave

JP08 wrote: »

Ha - now that brings back memories. Primary school and my teacher Mrs Rumbelow. She was getting on a bit and was strict even by 1974 standards*. Caught a couple of kids chasing smaller ones with nettles over lunchtime. Afternoon registration, she'd been out and picked a good bunch, had the 8 year old culprits lined up at the front of the class, and applied the nettles liberally to their hands. Sticks in my mind as a) being one of the chased and b) she stung herself quite badly in the process. Can't see it happening nowadays ...

*What kind of mind makes six year olds learn their tables forwards, backwards and in any order to get all six points on the star. And sets [STRIKE]Crysan[/STRIKE], [STRIKE]Chrisan[/STRIKE], [STRIKE]Chrysum[/STRIKE], Chrysanthemum in a spelling test for the same !

Ah, the good old days! I think most of us met a Mrs Rumbelow somewhere along the way....;)

My favourite was Mr Norris, who used to do Russian roulette punishments by making you roll a dice. If you threw a one, for example, you had to sing to the class. A three got you a rap across the knuckes with a ruler. However, if you threw a six, you got off scot-free.

I think it was his approximation to real life, because people who do wrong usually face consequences of some kind. However, that's not always the case; life's not a Disney film.

hollydays

Davesnave wrote: »

Ah, the good old days! I think most of us met a Mrs Rumbelow somewhere along the way....;)

My favourite was Mr Norris, who used to do Russian roulette punishments by making you roll a dice. If you threw a one, for example, you had to sing to the class. A three got you a rap across the knuckes with a ruler. However, if you threw a six, you got off scot-free.

I think it was his approximation to real life, because people who do wrong usually face consequences of some kind. However, that's not always the case; life's not a Disney film.

Presumably this was only done if you had done something wrong first? He wasn't just a sadist?!!

Davesnave

hollydays wrote: »

Presumably this was only done if you had done something wrong first? He wasn't just a sadist?!!

I think the concept of punishment implies prior wrongdoing, but of course, what's regarded as a 'wrong' act in one generation may be viewed differently by the next.