Silly Poetry, The Easter Bunny and Stinging Nettles
@owlwings (43897)
Cambridge, England
March 20, 2016 10:32am CST
I'm in the mood for silly verse,
So here's my bit (for better or worse).
It's @JessicaLynnt who does me nettle
And makes me my best rhyme to fettle!
"Whan that Aprille ..." NO! That's been done
By Geoffrey near 800 years agone!
There are five words I must include -
(I check my list, and none are rude)
....
So ... "Spring is sprung, the grass is riz
I wonder where my basket is?"
The bunny's looking high and low
For places where his eggs might grow
The lamb is bought (a leg at least)
And rosemary will make a feast.
I'll look for nettles, too - they will,
When cooked like spinach, bellies fill
And, more than that, they clean the blood!
They're medicine as well as food.
When I was a child, the Easter Bunny would sometimes find a patch of nettles to hide his eggs in and we had to be especially careful not to get our hands stung!
Nettles (but only when young and tender) were something which my father encouraged us to try with the Paschal lamb. We gathered them with gloves on and, once they were cooked in butter, like spinach, they lost all their sting and were good to eat.
Have you ever eaten stinging nettles? What is your traditional or special feast for Easter Sunday?
10 people like this
10 responses
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
20 Mar 16
Oh yes, I have had nettles in mashed potato, as well as in tea.
The picture reminded me of a review I wrote once that contained this picture - mint, I know, but the product concerned made parts of you feel akin to this guy would be feeling were it a field full of nettles he was standing in...
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
20 Mar 16
@owlwings Oh, strange! Here's a link to the full review, with that pic:
Tingles the parts other gels can't! ? Review on Original Source Men XXX Black Mint Shower Gel. Overall 7 reviews on Original Source Men XXX Black Mint Shower Gel to help you make the right buying decision at Ciao.
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
20 Mar 16
I think that easter bunny was getting you back, sticking eggs in nettle, loved the poem!!!! and my cameo, 
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
20 Mar 16
@owlwings or getting you back for all of the times you woke him up in the night for whatever reason, heheheh
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98033)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
20 Mar 16
@owlwings we have nettles growing in the garden. In the late spring we make salad, saute or make nettle soup. They are good. For Easter this year most likely some chicken. Lamb on this side of the world is expensive. Of course plenty of boiled eggs and I make stuffed eggs in many different ways. Delightful poem about the Easter Bunny and the nettles that weren't as soft as petals.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (117246)
• El Paso, Texas
20 Mar 16
I've never seen this plant before, I'll have to do some research about it. Your photo made me think of Peppermint, I have that growing in a protected area out front, it gets so hot here that they dry up really fast if I don't create a shady spot for them.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
20 Mar 16
The leaves do look a little like some kinds of mint but they are a different family entirely (they are actually distantly related to hops and cannabis). They grow almost everywhere that humans have been on this earth but they do like a rich, moist soil, so they might not like your climate as much as others.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
21 Mar 16
I'm pretty sure that they are. You do have a native species (Urtica incisa - 'scrub nettle') but both of the European species - U. dioica with large leaves and U. urens with smaller leaves - have been introduced and can be found pretty widely, I believe. Dioica is the one in the picture and the one I use for eating. Urens is smaller but woodier and seems to survive all year round. There's a tradition that it was brought here by the Romans and so it's called 'Roman nettle' by some.
1 person likes this
@CRK109 (14556)
• United States
20 Mar 16
I've never eaten stinging nettles. Don't really think I want to! Our traditional Easter dinner was always ham with mashed potatoes, lots of vegetables, salad, ricotta pie, rice pie and a ham pie with cheeses that Mom would make. It was all so delicious!
1 person likes this
@destimona (1910)
• Luxembourg, Luxembourg
21 Mar 16
Loved the poem. I do cook grilled chicken and some meat at home. Bake a easter cake. That's all.
