REUSE SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE THREAD

It's a bit silly that we don't live backwards! Then we could have done things over again and learned from experience. During the project, Kristine and I discover things that we would like to have documented or handled differently - when it's too late. And one of the things we should have done was to see how many times you can harvest nettles from early spring to August. As a food plant, nettles are supposed to be at their healthiest and best in the first part of spring and summer. The great miracle, however, is that you can cut the plant down all summer (and into the fall?) to have constant access to new shoots..

But since the intention is to have a good collaboration with nature, we leave the nettles alone in August and September so that the butterflies can have their time.

Maybe they need nettles before August too, but then there's still something to learn... It's not a large field that I've cut down, but it's big enough that it's easy to mark with string to keep track of how many times I harvest plants - so fresh that they're standing on their toes!

NUTRIENT CONTENT SPRING, SUMMER AND AUTUMN

Another thing that would be interesting to look into is the nutritional content of spring, summer and autumn, - especially if the plants are mostly new, young.

And what about the nutritional content if the leaves are dried?

And the fibers, - do they become extra strong if the plant is cut several times?