Nettles

[sam]

Avril
you have mentioned, I think in Toby's diary, how horses like Nettles. If you have time (or anyone else has) can you jot down how to gather and prepare them for the horses.

I only discovered recently that they like swede and my first pony wouldnt touch apples because we were in Africa and he had never had them!!

Many thanks
Sam

[lisandsaf]

We used to strim our nettles to the ground and leave them overnite,, the following morning our guys used to hoover them up,, job done,

Lisa and Saf

[liz]

Ditto Lisa and Saf

[sarah]

As above. ;D

[avril]

A lot depends on the weather, and nettles wilt incredibly quickly. We can scythe a line of them if it's not too cold or wet, and within a couple of hours they seem to crisp up ready to eat. That must mean the sting has gone out of them since horses crunch them with such relish.

[sam]

Many thanks to all for the advice. I cut a load of nettles on Friday (with heavy gardening gloves!) and left them on the patio to dry overnight. By Sat evening the ponies were wolfing them down - Oxo particularly liked them.

I like this because I dont like waste and so it gives me a good thing to do with all the nettles around the allotment!