Stinging Nettles

Last weekend, while botanizing along the White River in the Ozarks, we found many plants along the trail and came upon a large stand of healthy nettles.

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prick nettle , common nettleUrtica dioica

Last weekend , I attended the 45th Annual Rites of Spring Campout in the Ozarks on the White River . While the campout , comradery , music and food were a gust , the scene , weather and botanizing were superb . We found many plants while herborizing along the track and came upon a large stand of healthy nettles . So armed with glove , knives and pruners , we harvested a great amount of nettles which we bring in home to cook down for a lovely hatful a ’ greens and we used the clipping to make a nettle tone .

The undermentioned info on nettle is extract from my novel book , The Culinary Herbal : Growing & Preserving 97 Flavorful Herbs , co - author with Dr. Arthur O.Tucker , Timber Press , 2016 .

While the prickles of stinging nettle may seem a baulk , it is well deserving the effort to cultivate this plant for its virtues , both culinary and medicative . You will necessitate to wear protective gloves to harvest and to prepare them in the kitchen ; pair of tongs come in handy .

The scent of crushed nettle leaves is green and herbaceous , slightly odorous . Nettles have a lovely , meek flavor . They smack a snatch green , slenderly sweet , not bitter or strong . A loving cup of nettle tea leaf is a wonderful spring soda water - it detoxifies and promotes kidney role , helping the body cleanse itself of waste . The leave incorporate vitamin A , 100 and many of the Bs , beta - carotene , calcium , Fe , phosphorous and atomic number 19 , as well as a good amount of chlorophyl . Make room for nettles at the bound of your garden or the outskirts of the yard .

The arrant natural spring tonic , nettle are full of nutrients that strengthen the resistant system , renew and tone of voice dead body tissue , and nourish and purify the stemma . Nettles always should be cooked before ingestion . They can be enjoyed as an extract , are good wilt , in soups and casserole , thrash about with pasta , used in immature sauce and delicious in spanakopita , or any sweetheart where you might use spinach . Cook them on their own , or with other leafy vegetable , and use them as you would any wilted green , they are delicious with garlic and olive oil .

Cultivation and propagationWild stinging nettles seem to acquire in waste areas at the woods edge and near compost piles , specially in the neck of the woods of a current or water source , since they like damp areas . They circulate on a creep rootstock and can tend to be invasive ; however they can be kept in controller by polish off dormant rhizome . The plants can be sown from semen , or divided , which is well done in natural spring before much leafage emergence . If you are introducing them into your garden , place them in an out - of - the - agency blot or corner of the garden .

Nettle has deeply veined , hairy , oval , toothed leaves . The leaves are seize to leaf staunch opposite to one another on branch shroud with bristly hairs , which are the cause of the sting . And you will know if you get too tightlipped and allude any part of this plant ! The stinging hairs are empty and contain formic Zen and histamine , which induce the stinging sensation . The sting stay put with you for hr , but the nuisance can be somewhat relieved if the area is rubbed with jewelweed or dock leave ; handle nettles with the utmost respect . Even the wan - green - yellow flowers can prick ( manlike flowers be given to be more erect , while female flowers hang down ) .

harvest and preservingSo how does one manage nettle leaves ? address very cautiously with gloves and protective article of clothing - one does not harvest nettle in insolent fizzle and shorts . To see a few harvests , cut young nettle back almost to the ground in the leaping , again a prison term or two , and just as flowering begins , which will earmark another turn of growth . Older leaf contain gritty Ca oxalate , are bitter and should be stave off .

In the kitchen , rinse and dry in a salad spinner or bowl of inhuman urine and pat dry ; jade baseball mitt to remove leave-taking from large stems . At this point , leaves can be steamed or droop to be eaten or used in recipe , or laid out on concealment or baskets or hang in small big money to be dried . There is no sting sensation , once nettle leave-taking are wangle or dry out .

If you find a spell of nettle , take advantage of these wonderful wild herbaceous plant and gather some ( cautiously and wearing protection)–it is well deserving the effort – delicious and healthy food for thought full of vitamins and mineral .

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Wild nettles are easy to spot on the trail–with their stinging hairs an identifying characteristic–be sure to wear protection when harvesting.Photo/Illustration: Susan Belsinger

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