Stinging Nettle
As I have a large field, and there appears to be a good supply of nettles both here and generally on the island. I decided that I should have a go at making some fertilizer based on the ubiquitous stinging nettle.
Below is the method I’m using.
Nettle based plant food is pretty easy to make, although very smelly to say the least. When I last made some several years ago it was definitely an ‘outside job’ in an unused corner of the garden. The resulting liquid is very high in Nitrogen, making it ideal to dilute down and use on both flowers and vegetables.
What you need
- Nettle – whole plants, but not roots.
- A watertight container.
- Water.
- Both a wait and a weight.
Preparing your nettles
Young stems are best, generally before they start to flower, but can be harvested at any time. The process is much quicker if the stems and leaves are bruised or chopped.
You can lay them out on flat concrete (or similar) and ‘mow’ then and collect in the grass bin. Great for larger quantities.
If you can’t chop, then scrunch them with your hands while wearing suitable rubber, plastic or latex gloves. The better scrunched, the faster the process.
Next Stage
Stuff the crushed/scrunched/chopped leaves and stems into your water tight container/bucket/bin/etc. Place a weight on top of the stems. This is to keep them compacted and reduce the need for stirring. You may a little thought here, and use something of similar diameter as the container. So as the nettles rot, the weight goes down this them. A stiff mesh and bricks or a section of slab work well.
Fill the container with water to cover the nettles. Cover the container, air tight if possible, or the smell may put you off making a second batch!
Wait
This is where the other ‘wait’ comes in. You need to leave the process around three to four weeks to rot down. And let the soup produce its final results.
Finishing Off
After the three to four week wait, the solut9ion is ready to use. Strain, placing the waste matter in your compost system. The liquid can then be bottled away ready for use. I use 5L and old beer tubs to store.
Usage
Use about once a week, diluted at 10:1 liberally around or on plants during their growing season. Water as per the plant needs. Repeat the process and watering until the nettles have been used up.
I should have no probem in sourcing more here on Westray, because in farming areas it grow like crazy.
If your storage container is sterile and air tight, then you should be able store over winter ready for next season.
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This stuff is just great. pretty smelly but it soon ‘calms down’ when applied. great result… Thanks.
As Westray is one very large beef farm, the flies have better things to ‘feast’ upon.
So less of an issue for me, they don’t appear to be a problem.
Just started using my nettle brew today and people should be warned that, if you have an aversion to flys, you probably shouldn’t use this, as it tends to attract every fly within a mile radius to your garden. I have honestly never seen so many flys in my life, within seconds of applying it.
Great stuff though