W. Baker wrote:

> Bj?rn Steensrud > wrote:
>
> : A grandchild invited herself and her sister to grandma's nettle soup. A
> : little late in the season, but grandpa went out to pick the raw
> : materials, grandma made spinach soup with stinging nettle instead of
> : spinach, with delicious result. Also with more vitamins and other good
> : stuff. Try it next spring - pick the tips before they sprout flowers!
> : Nettle was also used as a source of textile fiber - in the fall, so
> : don't wait too long to try.
>
> How were your hands after the harvesting? I have to pull them out of my
> garden and used som eold leather gloves, whihc were rotting. My hands
> stung for quite a long time! It never occurred to me to eat the da-ned
> things as they might do the same for my innards:-)
>
> Wendy-just back form a vacation in chcago

You weren't blown away?:-)

Ordinary gardening gloves are no good, they sting right through the fabric.
I use kitchen gloves - rubber or plastic. Also, wear long-sleeved shirt and
long pants - I had to wade into a meadow not far from here to pick enough.
Two days later the city had mowed it - as it does once a year to sort of
simulate grazing.

And no, the stinging hairs collapse completely and become harmless once
soaked in boiling water. I don't know about the "venom", if any, it's
probably leached out into the water. No time to research it now, sorry

I'm lucky in that if I get stung, the pricking goes away in about 15
minutes, while my wife suffers for up to two hours, so she is very careful
or delegates the job to me.

Bjørn - about to go on vacation