Introduction to stinging nettle

It's Saturday morning and I am drinking stinging nettle tea. Stinging nettle is an herb that grows behind our greenhouse that offers a boost to the immune system, the side effect of clarity, plus energizes me.

I am an amateur journalist, a young 25-year old woman and, now, an even more amateur farmer - or farm hand.

On July 4th, I topped the heads of basil (it will grow back); we uprooted Adirondack blue and red potatoes called "new potatoes" because we pulled them up right after the plant had flowered white petals. We dug three-pronged claws into the soil and toppled the whole plant over to reveal glorious ruby red potatoes in the soft soil. Amazing!

After we harvested - and before the barbecue - I excitedly collected a bouquet of wild flowers from an overgrown escarole bed. For me, it was the next step to learning more about the world of wild plants that I have eagerly learned to forge. So, I pulled out a soaring, bolting escarole plant that has flowered purple, coupled it with poor man's pepper, a stalk of wheat and a large sprig of small yellow flowers (name?).

On Friday, we tied bulbs of three varieties of garlic to rope supported by PVC pipes in the office to dry to last longer.