I've lived here 10 years...

[gerisullivan]

...how could I not have known that some of weeds running rampant are Stinging Nettle?

I can report it comes by its name honestly.

For the record, I was wearing gloves. Alas, they didn't protect my left forearm, or my left leg...through the cotton cargo capris.

Hmmm...surely I must have some aloe around here somewhere. Or some baking soda. I'm unconvinced that the washing and generic Benedryl cream are doing the trick.

Comments

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

I once found out the hard way why prickly pear cactus got its name. I found that running a pumice stone over the area got rid of most of the prickles which were pretty much invisible.

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

My experience with stinging nettles, usually encountered while hiking, is that the stings don't last very long, gone in an hour or two. But there might be a lot of factors involved, so ymmv. The one time I had a sting that lasted and lasted was when I had accidentally grabbed a nettle and gotten a prickle really embedded in my thumb. I eventually scrubbed at it enough to dislodge it. So the idea of using a pumice stone (maybe just a loofah as a first pass) sounds really plausible to me.

The trick I learned from Dave Crawford (remember Dave? Naturalist who worked at Interstate Park near Taylor's Falls?) was using jewelweed to relieve the sting. He pointed out that in the wild, they often conveniently grew nearby. I don't suppose you have any jewelweed in your woods, do you?

Fun fact: Jewelweed is also called 'touch-me-not' because the dry seed pods explode delightfully at the slightest touch. Hours of fun.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Yes, I remember Dave Crawford with pleasure and delight.

I don't remember seeing jewelweed about, but you were right about the stings not lasting very long. It was more like 3-4 hours until the last of the stinging sensation vanished (along with the welts), but the worst of it was in the first 15 minutes, and the "gosh, that still hurts" ended in the couple of hours you mentioned.