Carla Emory has a couple of paragraphs about home-grown rabbit food: "The old-timers who wintered their rabbits on food they'd grown themselves fed them such things as stock beets and cabbage in winter as well as their grain and hay. So can you. Pea and bean vines can be cured like hay and make an excellent hay substitute or supplement. "In season, rabbits like anything green, but you must be careful not to feed them plants that are outrightly poisonous, such as chokecherry or rhubarb leaves, or potato peels with sprouts or the ones that have been in the sun long enough to get even the slightest touch of green. Other greens are only mildly poisonous in the uncooked state such as pigweed, amaranth greens, spinach, comfrey, and Swiss chard--but for a creature with a small body weight like a rabbit, especially a young rabbit, these can be a problem too. Much of the reason that people develop a fear of growing their own rabbit food, or have had bad experiences with home feeding of rabbits is that they don't understand how very many greens, wild or domestic, are not fully safe to feed rabbits, and which are. Before feeding a leafy green or herb for the first time, check the list under "Edible for Rabbits" below, to see if there is a warning of any sort about it. Stick to feeding them human-type salad greens unless you know for sure a wild one is safe. If cooking is advised for a green or category of greens (the amaranth family), don't feed it to rabbits who, of course, would be eating it raw. If it's in the least toxic, don't feed it to them. If it might have chemical residues in it, don't feed it to them. "I plant extra rows of lettuce for them. And when I weed in the summer, I take along a bucket to put the pulled edible weeds for rabbits. Feeding this way you never have to buy a rabbit pellet and they do fine. When fed home-grown stuff, they'll grow a little slower (and more normally) to that 2-lb. butchering size. But it's far cheaper, and I have organic meat because conception on, they've been nourished with home-grown foods and greens, or hay and grain from a source I know is chemical-free. "Vegetables/Greens/Fruits: A combination of grains is better than a single one. A combination of veggies and greens plus grain and hay is better yet. Let your rabbits do some of the picking and choosing. They'll choose what they need. They'lll love much of what you offer of this sort, and it's a nice way to tame them--hand-feeding them some veggie treats. For pregnant and nursing does, variety is especially important. Offer the vegetables or leafy greens in season (the longer the season, the better). Garden and kitchen vegetables and fruit scraps can be included also, as long as they're not on the unhealthy list. If you're just starting to supplement a rabbit's diet in this way, go slowly at first until your bunny gets used to it. Limit what you feed so that surplus doesn't rot in the cage. Rotting surpluses are good for chickens or pigs, but not rabbits. In fact, rabbits can get sick from eating partly spoiled greens. Garden vegetables for rabbits, as for people, are mostly water. Greens are water plus lots of minerals and vitamins. Root vegetables are higher in energy supplied, lower in the mineral-and-vitamin department."

Nettles is the healthiest plant,which has given us by Mother Nature.If people knew about the use of this herb that eliminates the symptoms of various diseases,we would use less medication... For what uses nettles? Nettle is one of the most medicinal plants, and is commonly used leaf and nettle root. Used to purify the blood and increase the excretion of fluids from the body, and has been applied to all diseases caused by an accumulation of toxins in the body (eczema, headaches, rheumatism, gout, arthritis). Nettle has a beneficial effect in a variety of diseases that occur as a result of excessive burden on the liver, gall bladder, spleen and kidney toxic chemicals. The liver and kidneys are responsible for processing and excretion of harmful substances from the body. If these organs are overloaded or fail to excrete harmful substances out, created fertile ground for the development of diseases that occur as a result of the burden of toxins (rheumatism, gout, migraine, eczema). Nettle prevents the sand in the kidneys and bladder Nettle is rich in iron, and is used in Iron Deficiency Anaemia. In folk medicine nettle is considered to be "strong blood", and also be used for pallor, anemia, anemia, lack of energy, fatigue fast. Nettle contains many vitamins and minerals, and some herbalists believe multimineralni and natural multivitamin complex. Nettle contains vitamin C, carotenoids (provitamin A), vitamin C, B2, B5, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicic acid (formic acid and histamine, which urns). Nettle root is an ingredient of a mixture of tea for curing prostate enlargement and urinary tract. Nettle contains components that regulate the levels of free androgens (male sex hormones), consequently increasing the metabolism of a swollen prostate tissue, fluid eliminates the deadlock and open the narrowed urinary channels. Nettle is also used for catarrh of the stomach, respiratory diseases, gastric ulcers, duodenal ulcer, pulmonary diseases.

Ginny, I’ll get some Red Valerian for you. Zach, it looks like the plant behind my garage is, in fact, myrtle spurge. I didn’t plant it there (it came with the house) and I didn’t realize it was on the “A” list of noxious weeds—in fact, it has been slowly getting crowded out by grass and thistles over the past four years. Two other invasives, perhaps? But you’ll be glad to hear that the whole area will be getting dug up by excavating equipment in a couple of months, so there will be one fewer patch of invasives in Colorado soon.

" Land wise, I think you'er at a higher elevation, so the sun's ray's penetrate your thick forests better. " I am at sea level, or just a few feet above. And considerably farther north than you so the sun's rays are actually at a much lower angle. Regardless of my circumstances, most literature confirms that the preferred habitat of Urtica dioica is raparian woodlands or moist 'open' forest so that also contradicts your statement that it "doesn't do well in shade". The plant in question is a nettle. I am not sure the exact species is that necessary to confirm but if so, the consensus seems to be dioicus. "Unless someone is monitoring a site all season it's kind of silly to judge whether some plant is perennial or not " I have no idea how this relates to the discussion at hand. A plant is either a perennial or it's not. It is not judgement call, silly or not.