Springing Nettle

“…it would be well if people knew how to make use of them. When the nettle is young, its leaf forms an excellent vegetable; when it matures, it has filaments and fibres like hemp and flax. Nettle fabric is as good as canvas. Chopped, the nettle is good for poultry; pounded it is good for cattle. The seed of the nettle mingled with fodder imparts a gloss to the coats of animals; its root mixed with salt produces a beautiful yellow colour. It is besides excellent hay and can be cut twice. And what does the nettle require? Little earth, no attention, no cultivation.“

The extract above is from Les Misérables, demonstrating that novelist Victor Hugo knew well the benefits of nettles, as well as marvelling at their ability to thrive without human intervention. A true gift from nature.

The nettle provides year-round benefits, with all parts of the plant – from leaf, stem, seed and root – being deployed for multiple purposes. For now, we’ll focus nettle’s springtime properties as a cleansing tonic.

Populating the globe

When we look at the global distribution of nettle (or Urtica dioica) it is associated with the presence of humans. It was thought to have been brought to the UK by the Romans who valued it’s ability to support immunity and stimulate circulation in the cold, damp northern climate.

Nettles are very well able to survive without human intervention. They have two means of propagating: by rhizome (the thick yellow roots that creep below the surface) and by seed. The ‘diocia’ part of their latin name means ‘two houses’ meaning they produce both male and female plants. These are easiest to tell apart in the late summer and autumn when they go to seed, the female plants having much thicker, droopier seed tassels than the male.

Protective Sting

A Indian folk tale tells how the nettle developed its sting to protect itself from extinction due to over harvesting. The whole plant, leaves and stem, is covered in stinging hairs. When touched, these release irritating substances that cause painful welts.

It’s worth knowing that calendula is perhaps a better antidote to nettle stings than the classic cure of rubbing with a dock leaf. If you can, have some calendula balm to hand (made by macerating calendula flowers in oil and then blending with beeswax); alternatively, you can simply rub a sting with a calendula flower.

Historically, the sting has been put to good use in stimulating circulation through flogging with nettles, called ‘urtification’. The sting is harmless, infact, it may be beneficial as the plant secretes useful iron through our skin. Incredibly, each person will receive the level of iron they need (hence some feeling the sting more than others) – plants are cleverer than we recognise.

If you prefer to avoid being stung, wear gloves, long sleeves and long trousers. Once gathered, the sting will disappear if the leaves are rubbed or boiled, cooked, dried, ground or infused in oil – any of these processes will destroy the hairs that produce the sting.

Not being afeared of nettle has become somewhat of an identifying trait for a forager. Anyone wanting to supplement their diet with wild gathered food would be foolish to ignore the nettle.

Superfood

Nettles are now regarded as a ‘superfood’ as they are packed with protein (25%), iron (in a more accessible form than spinach due to the natural presence of vitamin C – other iron rich foods need to be eaten with a lemon dressing or a glass of orange juice to provide the vitamin C that enables us to absorb the iron), vitamins A, D, K, several B vitamins, and the aforementioned vitamin C (which is 3x that of broccoli), essential fatty acids, and vitamin E, along with antioxidants such as flavonoids, carotenoids and polyphenols (twice the phenolic compound of cranberry) and anti-inflammatory triterpenes, anti-allergic quercetin and rutin. O, and a whole range of minerals including calcium, manganese, potassium, zinc, silicon and lovely green chlorophyll.

Thankfully there are many tasty ways to enjoy nettles. As a general rule, wherever you may use kale or spinach, think of replacing with nettles. Which leads to quite an extensive menu including soup, pesto, pasta filling (great with comfrey leaves), lasagne, smoothies, spanakoita, nettle butter as well as nettle beer and nettle crips (recipe below).

Nettle Crisps

Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Spread washed, dried nettles on the tray so they’re not touching (be careful at this stage, but baking removes the sting).

Spray/drizzle with oil to coat.
Season with salt, pepper and other flavouring as preferred.

Cook until dried and crisp – this will vary depending on how much moisture is in the leaves, approximately 5-10 min, turn if necessary.

Nettle tea

Nettle tea is both wonderfully fortifying and a great support for seasonal allergies. Drink it on a daily basis to help build up immunity and as a nutritious, invigorating and restorative tonic.

Prepare your nettle tea as an overnight infusion, to be drunk cold the following day. I tend to prep this each evening as the sun goes down by putting a couple of teaspoons of dried nettle leaves into a jar and covering with boiling water. Lid on, and leave overnight. In the morning, the leaves will have sunk to the bottom the green water is ready to strain off and sip through the morning.

Regular drinking of nettle infusion increases energy, brings shine and swing to the hair, strengthens fingernails, clears and firms skin, restores elasticity to blood vessels, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, counters incontinence, improves digestion, reduces cancer risk and strengthens lungs.

Harvesting nettle leaves

The fresh nettle tops that are now appearing are perfect for harvesting and drying to create your year-long stock of nettle tea.

Harvest them in the evening or early morning for highest essential oil content. Wear gloves to do this, I like to snip them with scissors over a basket so I’m not touching them at all. Collect topmost leaves (about the top 4” of the plant, with leaves no larger than 2.5”). We’re doing this now, before the plant flowers because their chemical constituents change when they come into flower. The tops will regrow and can be harvested again, but its preferable to move onto another patch if you’re able. Treating them as ‘cut-and-come-again’ will stop the flowering, and hence stop the chemical change.

Spread your leaves out in a warm, dry place and leave for a couple of days. Once fully dry, pack them into a jar (you can crumble them as you do so), label and store in a cool, dry place.

Nettle oil

Use some of your dried nettle leaves to create nettle oil. For this you simply need to loosely fill a jar with dried leaves, then cover with oil (for example, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil or olive oil). Make sure there are no air gaps, and the plant material is completely covered. Then lid, label and sit on a windowsill for a full moon cycle. Shake from time to time as it infuses.

Once ready, strain through a muslin to remove all plant material and then store the oil in a dark bottle. Remember to label it. Kept in a cool, dark place it will be good for at least a year.

Skin soother

You may be surprised that, far from stinging, nettle is a great skin soother. It moisturises, clears redness and can help ease burns, sunburn, acne, eczema, dermatitis and insect bites.

It also helps ease stiff joints, arthritic pain, gout, sciatica, neuralgia and haemorrhoids.

In addition, it can reduce allergy symptoms, including rhinitis – the redness and swelling that can be caused inside the nose.

Nettle balm

Use your nettle oil as it is, or make it easier to apply by creating a balm. The simplest balms blend beewax and oil by heating both together in a bain marie (at a ratio of approximately 1:3) but you can change the texture by adding plant butter too. There’s lots of information on this in the book Vital Skincare.

Healthy hair

Nettle oil is also used as a scalp and hair treatment for healthy hair growth and shine (helped by the sulphur and silica content), it increases blood circulation which is essential for hair roots to get sufficient supply of nutrients; eases skin irritation on the scalp, including cradle cap in infants or eczema; it also relieves the dry and tense scalp conditions that can lead to alopecia – apply externally (massage into scalp and hair and leave for two minutes before rinsing, or add a few drops to shampoo or conditioner in your palm).

Nettle through the seasons

Nettle is a great ally throughout the year. Here we’ve looked at how to gather and use the nettle tops that appear in Spring. Later in the year we’ll focus on nettle seeds and roots which are also powerhouses of potent plant support.

If you’ve thought of nettles as so troublesome you want to get rid of them, or so commonplace you overlook them, think again. It’s time to grasp the nettle and make the most of them.