Urtica dioica - Nettle
Stinging Nettle
Parts Use: Entire Plant
Medicinal Properties:
Pectoral - Relieves disorders of he chest and lungs, such as an expectorant.
Diuretic - Promotes the production and secretion of urine
Astringent - Herbs that are drying and drawing. Externally astringents can be used to ease bug bites and burns and infections from a wounds. Internally, they work to help tone mucus membranes and dry up conditions of excess, like diarrhea or too much urine.
Tonic - Herbs that restore and strengthen the entire system
Styptic - Astringent, arrests hemorrhage and bleeding
Rebefacient - An agent that reddens the skin by increasing the circulation when rubbed on the surface.
Nettle is a weed most people dislike because when they touch it, it stings, but what some don't know is that this is a wonderful plant with medicinal and nourishing properties. Handel with care or she will let you know. Nettle has small sharp spurs that can cause stinging and irritation. When you harvest nettle leaf make sure they are new plants not old.
A rhyme from the book Garden of Eden, by Jethro Kloss
"Tender-handed grasp the nettle
And it stings you for your pains.
Grasp it like a man of mettle
And it soft as sil remains."
Stinging Nettle is a super tonic herb, a blood purifier. It is consider the "long life" herb and is a vitamin factory, rich in iron, calcium, potassium, silicon, magnesium, manganese, zinc and chromium as well as a host of other vitamins and minerals. It even makes a great hair tonic!
Cooked you can use them like you use spinach. You can use them to make a tea, pesto, infused vinegar, steamed and they taste really good..
Stinging Nettle activates the metabolism by strengthening and toning the entire system. Great for growing pains in young children. Nettle is used for alleviating the symptoms of PMS, menopause, and is excellent for making a reproductive tonic for men and women. Rosemary Gladstar says "it is a superb herb for the genitourinary system and will strengthen weak kidneys, essential for vitality and energy". Also great for liver problems and is excellent for allergies and hay fever.
Here is a list of things Nettle can do. Of course this also means changing your eating habits and life style habits to. To achieve great health one must seek balance in all areas of their life.
Nettle Can Be Used For:
Spring tonic
Daily infusions for better health, increase energy
Eczema
Tea made from the leaves of the nettle will expel phlegm from teh lungs and stomach.
Tea hair tonic, massage into scalp
Excellent for kidney troubles and kidney tonics, use in formulas to expel gravel from the bladder and to increase flow of urine.
A poultice of the green steeped leaves can relieve pain, but can raise blisters if kept on too long.
For liver disorders
To tone the nervous system, make a lemon balm and nettle tea
Reduce allergy and hay fever symptoms (with dietary changes to)
Drink 3 cups a day for edema
And so much more. ....
Information about Nettle Seeds:
http://whisperingearth.co.uk/2010/08/23/harvesting-nettle-seeds/
Now is the time of year to go look for it and harvest some. I also like to dry it for future use. Remember wear gloves! Make sure you do not collect Nettle where someone has sprayed chemicals!
How to harvest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eth05p_UYh8
How to make a Nettle infusion. I really recommend this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRoMWmQaWvU
Of course you cook Nettle, there are some who eat it raw, but if eating it is new to you I do not suggest doing this yet. Here are just a few great recipes that you can make using this wonderful plant.
Nettles Pesto
2 cups stinging nettles leaves, packe
1 cup basil leaves, packed
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons organic olive oil
2 medium cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- Place nettles leaves, basil, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic in a food processor or blender.
- Pulse ingredients until almost smooth
- Serve on cucumbers, rice cakes, gluten free crackers, on top of rice, meat you can get really creative.
Side note: There have been times we did not have a blender to make our nettle pesto, so we blanched it. Then chop it up with all the other ingredients.
Pickled Nettle
Harvest the fresh young tips of the Nettle plant (about the top 2 inches.) Loosely fill a pint jar with the nettle tops. Cover with ½ part apple cider vinegar, ½ part Tamari, and 1 tbsp honey. Add 3-4 cloves of garlic, and a sprinkling of fresh Rosemary leaves or flowers. Cover and let sit for 2 weeks to 1 month. Enjoy the fresh pickled Nettle on salads, on crackers , or as a daily mineral snack.
Nettle Vinegar
Supplies
Non-reactive container like a glass jar, and ideally a non-reactive lid or place a wax paper between the jar and lid, because vinegar can
Dried nettle or fresh
Raw, unpasteurized organic apple cider vinegar
Other Nettle Pesto recipes:
http://myecoblog.org/2012/05/11/raw-kitchen-corner-stinging-nettle-pesto/
Remember you do not have to put the cheese:
http://edibleportland.com/2011/03/stinging-nettle-pesto/
Nesto:
http://ruhlman.com/2012/06/stinging-nettle-pesto-recipe/
More Nettle Recipes:
http://herbalacademyofne.com/2014/03/stinging-nettle-recipes/
Electuary
Electuaries are a form of medcine that was created by acient healers. Electuaries are medicines made with honey or jam, sometimes made into a paste first
Link below is a recipe for renewed energy made with nettle seed.
http://www.herbsociety.org.uk/kh-hedgerow-to-kitchen-honey-p3.htm
Steamed Nettle with Balsamic Vinegar on it is really yummy. You can add it to your casseroles eggs, soups, lasagna, smoothies and make hot tea. Here is a link for some more ideas for your tastes buds:
I would like to urge you to try this wonderful herb called Nettle. It is that time of year to use Nettle as a springtime elixir. It has more nutrients than any veggie you would buy at the store. One of the earliest green plants to emerge each spring. Remember Nettles are healthful have restorative benefits which boost the immune system and awaken the body to spring.
