companion plants

[Anne Kilmer]

I'm sharing this back to the list, as Guy makes such good points. 
Besides, it's fun.
Guy Van de Poel & A. Kalus wrote:

> Anne,
> 
> Why don't you leave the nettles be?
> Aglais urticae, Inachis io, Polygonia c-album, Araschnia levana (sorry, does
> not occur on the Islands), Vanessa atalanta and an innumerable number of
> moths use it as their foodplant (depending on micro-climate). You can make
> very good soup of the fresh leaves, and the venom should be good against
> rheuma (arthritis ?) and boldness. The nettles, left rotting in barrels of
> water, will give a good - and natural - anti-weed potion. I agree, there is
> little reason to protect nettles - you find them everywhere, but they have
> their advantages.
> One more: it contains a lot of iron (Fe).


yes, yes, I know all that (or most of it), but there are plenty of 
nettles ... my desire is to civilize the spot sufficiently to persuade 
my neighbor (the man with the hoe) to leave it alone.
I have not yet made my nettle soup this spring, and the nettles left to 
me there are pretty old and hairy, but as the young ones spring, I will 
make the soup, using a recipe  given me by the chef at Ashford Castle. 
Basically, it's your spinach cream soup, only with nettles.
I also use nettles as a tea, with goosegrass, against stomach 
inflammation and infection. When I pick them I will probably get an 
adequate dose for my rheumatic hands, and, if you promise me that it 
will cure my boldness, well, perhaps that will be a good thing as well.
The old nettles, stewed with sage and lavender, make a hair rinse that 
removes soap film ... our water here is very hard. If I were a blond, I 
would have green hair as a result.
I have a new white sweatshirt which I will tie-dye with nettles in June, 
providing fresh nettles to the butterflies of July, and creating a 
pleasant yellowish-green garment. There may be enough nettles along the 
roadsides to dye it now, but I'm not in a hurry. One rinses it 
throughly, with prayers to the shade of Nessus, and it is fine looking 
and not unfriendly to wear.

The anti-weed potion is also an insecticide, and a foliar feeder for 
adult plants. I don't know how it knows, as the man said of the thermos 
bottle, which kept hot things hot and cold things cold.
It's right against the retaining wall which is the inside wall of my 
tool shed, so I don't think it's a good place to plant a tree.
Across the path from it is my ash (I didn't know it was Yggdrasil, and 
will go out again and greet it with greater respect) and it is just now 
   leafing out. Lovely green folded fans.


> Most native plants dislike the rich soil nettles thrive on, but trees do not
> mind that much, and neither have a problem with the shadow from the
> nettle-canopy.
> I don't know which trees are native to Ireland, but maple (the European
> species: Acer pseudoplatanus, A. campestre, A. platanoides - maybe neither
> of them are native to Ireland) should thrive on such a spot, maybe also ash
> (Fraxinus excelsior)(the tree that kept the world together with its roots -
> Yggdrasil it is called in the Edda); one of my favourites, looks like a
> beech but isn't one: Carpinus betulus (indicative of rich soil, one of the
> prettiest trees here in the nearby Odenwald); you could also plant hazelnut
> (Corylus avellana), or you could finish off the job the Romans started and
> plant chestnut (Castanea sativa). Or of course, you could plant the king of
> trees, the majestic oak (Quercus robur), but it takes a while before it gets
> 'majestic'.
> 
> Guy.
> 

Oak wouldn't like that spot, even with the opportunity of pulling down 
my retaining  wall; it's too near to another retaining wall, so the spot 
would be inadequate for its roots.
My copper beech will be a fine tree in 238 years now; 250 was the score 
when I planted it, and already it's a fine little tree. Not a patch on 
the ash, of course, but easy come, easy go. The oak died.
Hazel is a nice idea; another tree proof against black witchcraft and 
beloved by us wisewomen. It was my mother-in-law's name, a dear woman, 
whose ashes are under a nearby apple tree. But hazel wants more room to 
spread. I know a good spot for it, along a stone wall near the little 
stream, and I'll put it there in your name and hers.
Foxglove and thistles get mowed before Michael puts the sheep in, and 
they're there already.
I have elder, of course, and hawthorn in the hedges. I was hoping for 
something seemly, to be perceived by Michael as a plant and by the birds 
and bugs as their very own weed, and to blend pleasantly with the 
nettles as their companion and friend.
Oh hey, what about gooseberries? That might be just the spot.
I'll think on it.
And thanks
Anne Kilmer
Mayo, Ireland



 
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