Horsenden Farm volunteer days always have a lot to offer. Today Sevan, Madhan and Kash ran and walked there with no expectations (maybe apart from the usual pizza and beer afterwards). The boss, Elsa, was pleased to see the GoodGymers again and came up with a range of tasks to choose from: scrubbing the farm equipment, watering the plants and making nettle hay.

Having Sevan wearing shorts and Kash in above-ankle leggings the team chose... the nettle job! The tingly, itchy feeling of being stung by a nettle is a privilege of being one with nature, just as running your fingers through the hair of a fluffy dog. The adorable pooches Vinny and Archie were there to satisfy the latter option.

Goat walk

We positioned ourselves at the edge of a nettle-rich path out of the farm into the woods, pulling the stingy plants by the roots and chatting away with another volunteer, Marietta. Suddenly, we heard a voice announcing:

Watch out for the goat!

"I thought you were joking!" exclaimed shocked Sevan to the woman with a real goat on a leash 🐐. If that was not surprising enough, the lady was followed by the second goat-herd. We squeezed ourselves tightly between the horned beasts and stingy nettles and hoped for the best. After the caprine procession passed us, we quickly filled a wheelbarrow with a first nettle load and deploy Madhan Express to offload it.

Animal feed

Following dramatic anticipation, Sevan and Kash started worrying that their friend who has not yet returned could have been eaten by pigs. Kash shouldn't have told everyone the story about her grandpa pulling nettles with his bare hands to mix them with potato mash to make feed for his pigs! Marietta volunteered to take the second wheelbarrow back to the farm and check what happened to Madhan.

The atmosphere returned to the idyllic state after it turned out that Madhan was involved in tying the nettles into bunches that looked like the dried ones Elsa had shown us earlier. She explained the nettles would be used in the winter as feed for cows and goats, certainly not for pigs.

Tea break

Elsa is known for inviting everyone for a cuppa during the volunteering day. Today was no different, apart from Elsa offering us something extra: radishes that a few of us found quite peppery. Who needs wasabi if you can have those crunchy Horsenden devils? 😋

Madhan and Kash returned to nettle binding for the last twenty minutes of the community mission while Sevan, craving some novelty, chose to weed the potato plots.

Before we raided the unreserved tables at the on-site bakery, Horsenden Loaf, we engaged in chats with other volunteers, pig watching 🐷 and showing off at the horizontal bar at the top of a sturdy metal gate.

Nettle specialities

While chilling in the sun with a half pint of an iced coffee and a box of wood-fired pizza, we discovered that at Horsenden Farm nettles have more uses than just animal feed. The nettle pilsner and pizza with nettle pesto brought a sense of adventure into the brewery and bakery menus. The delights and nutrients of nettles are to be savoured by humans, goats and cows. Maybe in the distant future someone will fight for pigs' right to enjoy the nettle goodness too. In the near future, we are planning to come back to Horsenden Farm for another volunteering day next month!