I’m in Love with Nettles!

This blog is about how to remember and appreciate the mundane (and why we’re running ‘Nettle Days’).

In life and relationships it is all too easy to take for granted those that are close to us, to over-look our loved one’s qualities that we once fell in love with. Too easy to forget that they are amazing, loveable, admirable, desirable, shifting our focus instead onto their negative qualities & the things we’d like to change.

Why nettles are worth falling in love with

I feel it is the same with Nettles (Urtica dioica). We’ve got so used to seeing them - almost everyone knows what a nettle looks and feels like - that all we have left to say to them is rude and dismissing. Our modern culture tells us that foreign super foods are bigger and better, though Nettles are just as good and free! It's time we rekindled our love for this plant.

Because nettles have always been there for us. A true native, growing and thriving through our British seasons, arriving, without fail, each spring - vibrant, potent and bursting with nutrition.

Nettle stings

Oooh, but nettles sting I hear you cry and they are always growing in the wrong place and are a real pain to get rid of.

Well, those so-called negative qualities also have a flip side. Nettles sting to protect themselves - yes, they’re that valuable that they developed a protective mechanism. Their sting even contains the same compound as a bee sting - formic acid. The sting of the nettle has also been used to help relieve severe rheumatic pains and to help improve blood circulation (Culperer Herbal). As spring arrives the sting is even more virulent (I can still feel my fingers pulsating from my yesterday’s foraging!).

The benefits of nettles

The ability of the humble stinging nettle to grow in abundance was of great use to our ancestors and is great for us too. Those long roots that are so difficult to dig up enable nettles to draw up the rich nutrition deep in the soil. Exuding with vitamin B2, C, E, K, iron, protein, magnesium, calcium, beta-carotene as well as other minerals. They’ve been used to treat anemia, rheumatism, arthritis and kidney disorders to name a few. All this makes nettles a fantastic food, hair tonic and herbal tea.

The thick, hardy stems contain strong fibres that have been used to make string & rope as well as practical & beautiful clothing. My favourite are delicate nettle shawls, see www.wildweaves.co.uk.

So to conclude, why would we want to get rid of this old love, for a new more exciting one? Why not re-ignite or even start your love for nettles; cherish their qualities, put on your best (nettle) clothes, eat (nettle soup), drink (nettle beer) & be merry! Nettles are our own, native super food. Available in abundance, on our doorstep, in hedgerows, fields & amongst the plants we so lovingly cultivate. Life is too short to chase the greener grass elsewhere, especially when the grass here is so rich with nettles!

Finally, are they tasty? Are they ever! Use like spinach, they’re great in lasagne, curry, soup, risotto, in falafel, gnoochi & make a great base for pesto (blanch the leaves first).

Wishing you a wonderful love affair... X

Related posts:

A Dozen Ways to Cook a Stinging Nettle Mad March Spring Foraging My Five Top Spring Wild Foods Why I love Stinging Nettles (A little film footage!)