ST201905

1 Donsuitable clothingandgloves
tocollectyournettles.Lookout
foryounger,morenutrient-filled
plants.Cutatthebase.
2 Crushortearuptheleavesand
the stems(withyourgloveson!),
orchopupwithclippers,putting
thebitsintoa bucket.
3 Pressdownthe plantmaterial
usingbricksand/orstones.
4 Addwater untilbucket is about
three-quartersfull(collected
rainwaterworksbetterthantap
water),thencover.

5 Storeawayfromhumans,if

possible – it’sa pongyprocess.

6 Stireveryfewdaysfora couple

ofweeksuntilit stopsbubbling.

7 Sieveintoanotherbucketto

removeanyplantmaterial.

8 Dilutewithwaterata ratioof1:10,

nettlewatertowater,thenapply

directly toyourplants.Bewarned:

it’stoopotentforyourindoor

plantsorthelikesofroses.

9 Keeptoppingupwithmore

nettlesandwater.Whendone,you

canputanyleft on your compost.

NETTLEPLANTFERTILISER

MAG OF THE MONTH

• Elementum•
  Immerseyourselfin
  naturea wholenew
  waywithElementum:
  a considered,thought-
  provokingand
  downrightbeautiful
  publication.Published
  twicea year,it’sa really
  substantialread.Each
  issueexploresa
  differenttheme,

seeking to combine

responses from writer,

scientist, artist and

ecologist alike. We’re

in love with the feature

on pioneering early

photographer Anna

Atkins in their latest

‘shape’ issue (it’s her

work on the cover).

£18, picsandink.com

INDIE

WITH 31 DAYS IN MAY, note the

French use of the number. Rather

than getting dressed to the nines,

they use ‘trente et un’ for someone

who’s well dressed – likely because

getting dressed up that one day

each month makes it extra special.

The 31% of women in Glasgow who

say donning a new outfit makes

them feel better will surely agree.

GARDEN HA

CKS

How many jars of chutney, relish, honey or jam

do you buy? We’re drizzling and slathering 20.3

million kg of honey every year, which means

we’re buying lots of packaging, too.

Fortunately, most such items come in glass jars,

which are simple to rinse and recycle. Yet despite

glass being one of the best materials to recycle,

we only recycle 50% of it.

Whatever you do, don’t chuck it in the bin:

glass takes 1 million years to decompose in the

environment. But there are many ways to reuse

glass jars. We all know how handy they can be

for storing bits and bobs – you could try

screwing them by the lids to the undersides of

shelves in the kitchen or sewing room.

There’s potential for remaking in other ways too,

from turning one into a pin cushion, or a twine

dispenser. Search ‘empty jars’ on

experthometips.com for inspiration. Another

idea is a word jar – filling it with words as a

prompt for creativity (see Issue 68). If you have

so many jars you can’t use them, it’s easy to find

someonewhowilllovethemonFreegle.

ECO FIXES

GLASS JARS

No sting in this tale, if you use the plant to make a nitrogen-rich liquid feed

* Answer: The mole

Rachelle Strauss helps people to reduce

waste, save money and preserve resources

with talks, workshops and other resources;

zerowasteweek.co.uk.