Stinging Nettle; Urtica dioica

Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioicia, pictured in the center left.  The rounder leaves on the right are that of the Wood Nettle, Laportea canadensis.  Both great to use!

 Overview

The stinging nettle is hands down my favorite wild green to forage.  You may know of it as that notorious weed lurking out in the woods ready to rub against your unsuspecting legs and cause a fury of itching, but there's more to it than that.  Nettle is full of vitamins and minerals and is known as a superfood, which loosely means that it has a very high nutrient content.  There are many health benefits to the stinging nettle, which include relief from hay fever, allergies, skin conditions, arthritis, asthma, stress, high blood pressure, and even depression.  There's a book out there called 101 Uses for Stinging Nettles  by Piers Warren you should check out.  It is exciting to know that there is a food right outside our doorstep that is so nutritious, so delicious, and so abundant that all we have to do is be able to identify it and harvest away!  While Stinging Nettles were introduced to America from Europe, the Wood Nettle is the Stinging Nettle's native American cousin.  I have read that Wood Nettles are used in the same ways that Stinging Nettles are, and I will be experimenting more with the Wood Nettle this year to see how they compare.

Let's talk about taste.  Nettles have been described by many as tasting like spinach...but to my palate I believe it's a perfect blend of green beans and asparagus.  The stingers on the nettle plant will certainly cause some skin irritation when in contact, so why would you put that in your mouth?  Well it turns out that once cooked, these stingers dissipate to nothing--they are neither erect nor rigid.  I will repeat: after cooking the stinging nettle there is absolutely no chance that you, your mouth, your throat or your stomach will get stung.  All that's left after cooking is a delicious and nutritious green.

This may look like Stinging Nettle, but on second glance, it's Catmint, aka Catnip.  Rub the leaves and smell them to test it out.

When I harvest nettles, I usually come prepared with gloves and scisssors.  There are times when I'm in the woods and I find a nice patch of nettles I can't pass up, and I'll pinch off the shoots between my fingers and bear the stings.  The stinging sensation is a lot different than, say, a bee sting or when rubbing against poison ivy.  The stings of nettle are very slight and shallow, while a bee's sting is strong and deep.  Poison ivy's oils tend to spread over the affected area and leads to uncomfortable itching for long periods of time.  Nettle stings are slight, shallow and quick.  If I get stung by a nettle, the itchy, stinging sensation will go away within 2-5 minutes.  I've gotten so used to nettle stings that I sometimes intentionally rub against it to get that refreshing sensation on my skin.  When you harvest the nettles, be sure to avoid the woody part of the stem, only harvest down to the tender parts of the shoot.  It's still edible, but just not as good as the tender, new growth.  Now, this time of the year the nettles are just starting to come up and the whole plant for the most part of spring should be quite tender.  Harvesting nettle into the summer and fall, be sure to just harvest the tops of the plant, where the stems are most tender.  Stuff the nettles into a large bag and bring them home for processing.

I will rinse the nettle in a big colander to get any debris, etc off of them...much like when washing lettuce from the garden.  Use your gloves for this task to avoid stings.  Now after it's been rinsed, the fun part is deciding what to do with them!  Perhaps you'd like to make a tea, eat the boiled greens as a side dish, maybe throw them in a soup, or even dry them for future use.  My personal favorites and most common uses are for tea and as a side dish.  As a tea, you can drink it plain, and with lemon it can be quite divine.  Drinking a hot tea during the summer is not usually on people's priority list, but don't forget about iced tea!  Simply steep the tea, let it cool, then put it in a pitcher and throw some ice in there.  As a side dish, just steam or boil the greens--I prefer to steam--strain and put on your plate.  You can amend the nettles with what you typically amend your corn/green beans/broccoli side dishes, such as butter, salt, and pepper.

Well, it's April 9th and the nettles haven't come up by my house yet, but I'm looking forward to doing lots with this amazing plant.

P.S.  Did I mention you can use the tall nettle plants in the fall to make your own rope?  A legal hemp alternative...