Weeding is painful!

**Russ** · 04-05-2010, 03:33 PM

I knew this weed was in my garden, found it the hard way last year...

... and this year. :gaah: I grabbed the damn thing bare handed again. It is a painful experience to grab this weed and the sting doesn't go away quickly.

First one to name this weed wins 1000 juju.

**nodmicks** · 04-05-2010, 03:59 PM

I don't know the name but we have some!

**Trentt** · 04-05-2010, 04:03 PM

Looks and sounds like the nefarious stinging nettle!

**Russ** · 04-05-2010, 04:05 PM

Trentt wins!

**Russ** · 04-05-2010, 04:07 PM

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinging_nettle]Stinging nettle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

**craftypam** · 04-05-2010, 04:12 PM

Weed Identification Guide

Slide 26 of 34

Nettle
Type: Broadleaf perennial

Size: To 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide

Where it grows: Garden areas with rich, moist soil

Appearance: Sawtooth-edge leaves and yellowish flower clusters are covered with stinging hairs.

Control: Mulch to prevent it; dig out plants or treat with a post-emergence herbicide.

Note: Always wear gloves when working around this plant.

Found this for you too!! Wanted to help. I don't care if I won. Put this here for you to see the note. LOL

**Trentt** · 04-05-2010, 04:15 PM

My word! Look at all my new juju! I don't even know what to do with it!

**dcompton** · 04-05-2010, 04:35 PM

If you like to read, check out Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart. It was a fun little book and your very unfriendly garden intruder got a chapter.

I got into one as a child. Not nice. Hope your hands are better.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 04-05-2010, 05:15 PM

I get something like that in the side yard and along the foundation of the house, but I got smart and decided to dig down as far as humanly possible and only pick it up with a shovel.

There's a reason that I always wear my gardening gloves when I'm out there.

**Contrary Housewife** · 04-05-2010, 05:23 PM

Ah, nettles. Haven't seen those in years. The sting goes away, like fire ant bites the best thing to do is just wait it out, don't rub or scratch it.

I hear they're edible, though.

**fairydana** · 04-05-2010, 08:35 PM

So now I know to wear gloves while weeding

**hestlauss** · 04-05-2010, 11:41 PM

Hey if you want revenge they are edible and are perfectly safe to eat once they’ve been cooked. Steam stinging nettles first for a few minutes to dissolve the folic acid (what makes them sting). Rich in vitamins A, B & C as well as a variety of trace minerals. Prepare like other cooked greens or used to make nettle tea.

**frugalfranny** · 04-06-2010, 02:13 AM

Thanks Russ ---will watch for them. You can keep them all!

Haven't seen that plant but I have some sort of 'thistle' I call it.......grows pretty tall and has very small clusters of yellow flowers. Pulls fairly easy but it is really 'stickery' and I make sure I have my gloves on when I try to pull it. The other 'dandy' is milk weed......you don't dare pull that bare handed.

Originally Posted by fairydana

So now I know to wear gloves while weeding

Yep --FD---you should wear gloves while gardening but not just because of the weeds. Because of what has the potential to be in the ground. It is a safety thing. I hate wearing gloves but I do just for the safety factor. well that----AND---I am not spending an extra half hour getting the dirt from under my nails when done.

**joyofsix** · 04-06-2010, 06:37 AM

Originally Posted by dcompton

If you like to read, check out Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart. It was a fun little book and your very unfriendly garden intruder got a chapter.

I got into one as a child. Not nice. Hope your hands are better.

I read that book. It was interesting. I was going to say nettles. Once you've run through nettles in shorts when you're a kid you'll never forget them. You can eat them you know. Gotta blanch them first to get rid of the stinging.

**Trentt** · 04-06-2010, 07:02 AM

I only wear gloves while weeding around nettles or thistles. I don't feel like I get a good grip on a weed with gloves on.

There's another sticky weed that grows in my back garden ... sort of a clambering climbing thing that looks delicate and is easily pulled when small, but grows rapidly over everything and develops sticky hairs that make it difficult to extricate once it gets going.

Once I started to include quinoa in my diet a few years ago, I read up on the plant and discovered it is a cousin to the wretched pigweed I ruthlessly destroy in my northern hemisphere gardens.