Two questions...

number 1...

Hardening off. I raise seeds in a little plastic greenhouse cum coldframe in my garden prior to transporting them off down the allotment for planting. I rarely, if ever, give the plants any time to "harden off" before planting them straight in. Possibly true they slow down for a week or so but I've never noticed any ill effects apart from that. The question is, why does all the literature I read say hardening off is essential and am I doing any damage...?

number 2...

Nettle tea. Smells awful. There's about 1/2 foot squashed mashed and squelched stinging nettle in the bottom of one of my water butts with about 2 foot of water on top. The "nettle tea" and it's potent lingering stench is good good good news for my spinach. The question is, can I give spinach, peas, brassicas, etc TOO much smelly nettle tea, and what will happen?

Thanks all, in advance.

No 1 ....
Basically I think that yes you can get away without hardening off BUT you do get a check in growth, which can for some crops mean the difference between a crop or no crop/bolting cauliflower being one that springs to mind, also when you get a check you are delaying your crop by whatever time it takes to recover. never heard of plants dying of not being hardened off, but I have certainly noticed the difference in the one that have or have not. Also some plants I have noticed drop their flower buds again delaying cropping.
Hope this helps Jon