a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Spring Is Here

Written by

theMan

in

Spring is here at a man and his hoe®. Vibrant shoots of stinging nettles bursting out of the ground prove it. The best vegetables never make it into the stores. Once in a great while, I’ve seen stinging nettles in a farmer’s stall in a farmer’s market. But here, from now through May, there is an endless supply of succulent stinging nettles to eat. The best way to describe them is spinach on steroids. Delicious steamed, fried, or used in soups, they are especially delightful made into a soup with a touch of cream.

With all the new shoots and bugs emerging, the chickens are having a field day. What a difference two sunny days in a row make.

The three hens below, Ina-Svenda, Cognac, and Kuro-hime, laid three of the eggs in the colander. I’m not sure who laid the fourth egg. Even though I gather eggs throughout the days, sometimes there are too many hens in a row using a single nest to determine which hen laid which egg. Ina-Svenda laid the egg on the far right, Cognac the dark one, and Kuro-hime the white one.

ThreeLadies
NettlesAndEggs
Nettles
NettlesCooked

Comments

2 responses to “Spring Is Here”

  1. Andre

    Hey there! Decided to write today to let you know your work for your family, community and the Earth is very much appreciated. Your site is well designed with beautiful pictures of your farm and very good videos of your philosophy on chickens and life. It thoroughly enjoyed!

    Stinging Nettles, huh? I am sure I have seen the “weed” in NYC but am not completely sure it’s the one you’re showing here and the images I’ve Googled. It must be an excellent source of nutrients. I’ll be ordering my first non-mass produced chicken from you soon! Thanks.

  2. amanandhishoe

    Thank you. Glad you are enjoying the site. Stinging Nettles do sting. Handle them with your bare hands and your hands and finger can tingle and burn for several days. I’ve never had blisters, just this intense feeling that a million microscopic needles are pricking me. So you have to make sure they don’t touch your bare hands when you pick and prepare them. Soaking them in water or cooking will remove the stinging chemicals. They are very nutritious and delicious. A cup (89 grams) provides these percentages of daily requirements: 35% of Vitamin A, 42% of Calcium, 8% of Iron, 5% of Vitamin B-6, and 12% of Magnesium.

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