Seeker

I don't like stinging nettles. No childhood walk or picnic was ever free from that painful brush of its leaves across bare legs and the frantic search for a dock leaf to rub on the skin, in the forlorn hope of 'making it better'.  Many of my adult gardening hours have been expended in trying to eradicate stinging nettles from our garden. Yes I know nettles are valuable useful plants. My father taught me that nettles picked young make good soup. I believed him. He never demonstrated this truth, though he did advise how to pick them. Supposedly, if you grasp them firmly you don't get stung. I tried this. I got stung - clearly there's something lacking in my technique. At the beginning of May every year  I kid myself that this year I will gather young nettle leaves and cook with them. I never do. I heave a sigh of relief at the end of May each year because then the leaves will be too mature and not so suitable, so I can make do with spinach. It's May again ...