– By Joanna Beujekian-Steven
My first encounter with nettles was when I was very young. I was walking in a forest in France with my parents when, somehow, I and a couple of other kids got into a patch of nettles. I still remember how badly it itched, and we quickly went home to apply a little vinegar to the affected areas.
Then, many years later while I was attending Law school, I went to the yearly “Salon de l’Agriculture”, somewhat like the County Fairs we have around here. Someone was selling pure nettle juice, which was supposed, amongst other things, to cure skin problems. Since I was then suffering from rather severe acne, I bought a bottle and proceeded to drink a cap of the green liquid every morning on an empty stomach.
It wasn’t bad, and it did actually help my skin a little. Once I finished the bottle, however, I didn’t get a new one and forgot about nettles for a while.
A few years later, I moved to the U.S. and developed an interest in foraging. The more I read about nettles, the more fascinated with them I became. In most countries, they are classified as a weed, a plant we don’t want to touch, and definitely don’t want to eat. But as Victor Hugo wrote in Les Miserables (after talking about nettles and all their uses):
“Mes amis, retenez ceci, il n’y a ni mauvaises herbes ni mauvais hommes. Il n’y a que de mauvais cultivateurs.” (“Friends, remember this. There are no bad herbs nor bad men. There are only bad farmers“).
Personally, I will pick some nettles from the forest, once they have gone to seed, and will scatter them in corners of my backyard, which I do not mow!
I strongly believe that we could all benefit from eating more nettles because nutritionally, they are a true goldmine.
According to Samuel Thayer in the excellent book The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants:
Nettles are extremely nutritious. They are high in vitamin C, very high in Vitamin A, and according to some sources are higher in protein than any other known green vegetable. They are also high in calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron (Brill, 1994). Nettles are so eminently nutritious that without their chemical protection, they would be quickly annihilated by hungry herbivores. Deer will scour nettle patches and pluck off those occasional leaves, branches, or even plants that are devoid of stingers. If the deer figure out how to cook, the nettles are going to be in big trouble.
Most people recommend that you boil your nettles, but why? I personally eat them raw, like I eat most greens anyway. Saliva deactivates the stingers, and so does blending. Lately, I’ve been juicing them nearly everyday, with cucumber or lettuce, lemon, ginger, and an apple. You don’t need to own a juicer to enjoy them. I often blend everything in my Vita-mix and strain the liquid through a nut milk bag (you can use cheese cloth). You can cook them as well (the way you would spinach), but boiling will remove a large portion of the soluble vitamins (B vitamins etc.). One advantage over spinach is that nettles aren’t as high in purines, and so are suitable for people with gout, arthritis, etc.
Many will also caution you against picking nettles with your bare hands and encourage you to use gloves instead. I don’t like wearing gloves, and neither does Samuel Thayer. He recommends picking them without touching the leaves, as pressing the stingers against the stem of the plant won’t sting. I personally just lick my fingertips, and go on picking half a bag full every morning. If I were to feed the nettles to someone else, however, I’d probably just be careful and still use my fingertips.
Because of their nutritional value, nettles won’t only make you healthier, they will also help strengthen your hair and purify your skin. As I mentioned earlier, the French have used nettle shampoos for a long time to treat scalp problems, and nettles are thought to be very efficient in treating eczema, hay fever, enlarged prostates, kidney problems and urinary tract infections, anemia and much more. They are also thought to be a potent aphrodisiac!
You can find stinging nettles in open, sunny areas, and wood nettles (which also sting) in more covered, woodsy areas. Happy foraging!
* Have you picked or used nettles before? How do YOU use these delectable wild little goldmines? *