DRAGON BABIES, SOIL AND GROWING CONDITIONS

May 2021

Nettle is the nature's eternal partyqueen, so social to the extent that it does everything it can to come into contact with other nettles. In addition, it multiplies itself, so that each root shoot becomes a whole family, - strong like a mafia.

A wet and cold spring in both Steinkjer and Lier meant that the April trip to Trøndelag was postponed until May. The purpose was – quite literally – to put the first sod roof on cultivation fields of wild nettle in order to document growing conditions, weather and wind. And thus the stage was set for Kristine's first lesson where she teaches me about:

SOIL AND GROWING CONDITIONS

This project is about making textiles from wild stinging nettle, but for today's topicality it is certainly a point to also find varieties of nettle with a lot of fibre. In old sources I find that a new nettle was introduced which gave more fibre, but not as beautiful a quality. Which variety still remains to be found during the project.

But before we go any further with the stinging nettle, we shall take a deep dive into what it has around its feet, namely the soil. The growing conditions in Steinkjer and Lier were very different! In Steinkjer, we planted in field with soil, sand, stone and clay, - nutritious and full of potassium. In Lier, on the other hand, we planted in airy topsoil with sand. To me, the field in Steinkjer looked like the Gobi desert. I could hardly imagine that the clayey pile of gravel would become a lush field of nettles. But then Kristine tells something beautiful:

The nettle plants will add more micro-life to the soil, - and more insects, which will eventually leave their mark on the soil. The social beings invite you to party and baluba! In addition, the soil will give good taste to the leaf material.

Nettle grows almost anywhere and will have different nutrient content if it grows on a gravel pile, in clay or rich topsoil. Aparently the fiber quality is best when the plant grows on clay soil with potassium in the ground. Some say the fibers will become stronger in plants that are exposed to the wind, much like our muscles grow when they are exercised.

The plant thrives behind outdoor sheds and manure cellars, but even though it loves nitrogen (fertilizer), it manages with simple growing conditions. If you make soup from plants behind a barn, the soup will taste bad, but the plant will be great for fertilizer water. Never take all the plants in a tuft, but leave some for fiber use or as fertilizer for the plant. If we don't harvest the plant, it will fertilize itself. Now that we are going to harvest for fiber use, we should give some fertilizer back to the cultivation field. Then we can use the retting water. The more plant debris, the better decomposers appear in the fall. In addition, it prevents soil erosion and keeps carbon in the soil, which is what we need to stop global warming!

In the old days, nettles were grown for fibre, poor man's food and as animal feed [1] . It was often sown in areas unsuitable for other agriculture such as slopes and moors. Today, it is an advantage if one can reach with a scythe or mower without destroying the soil.

But remember that the plant spreads! The nettle is a pioneer that survives as a species by spreading out across the ground in search of nettle company, eager to take root. Each root stem will create a family that can stand for 12-15 years without any care other than harvesting and a little fertiliser. By taking up cuttings, the cultivation field grows in size as each new plant becomes a tuft.

The reason for this socialization is not just jazz and partying, but that they are special species, - that is, either male or female plants, dependent on each other to carry the family forward. (There are also "bisexual" nettles.) Nettles are propagated by insects mixing pollen from plant to plant. For that reason, they stretch towards each other.

We therefore planted the cuttings in Steinkjers "Gobi desert" with a distance of 10 cm in each direction. (In retrospect, I have learned that the nettles should be planted in a continuous, long row.) Then they should work on getting close to each other. The nettles grow in bunches so that you harvest about 3 plants for each cutting you have sown, each of which will get 3 plants next year, etc. The Urtica urens have a red rootstock, while the Urticia dioica have yellow roots. The nettles can be moved at any time of the year as cuttings, but are least stressed if they are planted when they are 5-7 cm high with less leaf mass. It is important to include both hair roots and some foliage. The smaller the hair roots, the less chance the plant will survive. Also make sure that the soil is moist and that the roots do not dry out in the sun.

Back in Lier, I planted cuttings in a field in the garden. Now I have a garden with an emphasis on trees, wild flowers and meadows, and chose to plant the cuttings directly in the soil without any kind of plowing and weeding. (Big mistake!!!) The growing field is not a big deal, maybe 16 m2. It's because I'm a little afraid that the plants will take over the garden and because I already have access to wild nettles elsewhere. Also, I'm waiting to make "fields" until I know what kind of nettle variety I'm going to grow in the future. In the first instance, the field has two purposes: Documentation of growing conditions, as well as the growing place for food that I want to test without contamination of any kind. And now, after about 3 weeks of maturity, I see that the field still needs to be weeded for other plants - with an axe!

While the wild nettles , the nettle dragons who have come uninvited, are completely kings in the garden.

[1] The priest Hans Jacob Wille writes in Description of Sillejord's Rectory in Øvre Tellemarken in Norway (1786).