These plants are found everywhere in rich or well-fertilized soil. Butterflies revel in their presence.
Caterpillars need them for food. These are just some of the many reasons I have several of these plants growing in my garden.
Urtica dioica is a perennial, creating new plants from its root system, while the lesser urtica is an annual; I find the annuals more tender and tastier than her larger sisters. The raw, young spring-harvested nettle leaves - finely minced - are a tasty addition to herb butters, salads and simply placed on a piece of buttered bread. They taste great cooked like spinach in herb omelets and prepared as an herbal soup. To prepare an omelet, heat a mix of some good olive oil and canola oil in a frying pan, add cut strips of nettle leaves and slowly sauté them before adding the remainder of the omelet ingredients. One can even dry the leaves, rub them for storage and use them as a delicious seasoning.
Of course a tisane (herb tea) made from fresh leaves and blossoms tastes and smells like spring and endows one with invigorating energy. Even a drink made from nettle leaves steeped in cold water is tasty: place sufficient leaves and nettle stems into a glass with cold water and let steep for two hours.
Then strain and enjoy. The pressed juice from nettles has additional health benefits, and I guarantee it won't "sting." Drink it pure, as is, or add to sauces and soups. What are its benefits? The plant consumed as described is said to stimulate the immune system and minimizes arthritic discomfort.
The green seeds are tasty during the summer, either raw or toasted, on bread. Come Fall, when ripe, they provide a delicious snack.
Anyone who has ever been "stung" by this plant with its built-in self-defense might wonder how to harvest it. These plants sting when one touches them in the opposite direction of the way the hairs grow on the leaves. As soon as these fine hairs break, formic acids ooze out, which, once exposed to air soon loses its painful effect. (Translator's note: wherever stinging nettles grow in the wild, horsetail plants grow in close proximity. When "stung," crush a few horsetail plants in your hands and apply the mixture to the area where the nettles "zapped" you. It minimizes the pain almost instantly)
We have to use caution in harvesting if we want to reap the vitamin and mineral benefits this plant contains. Beginners do best to wear garden gloves when harvesting, or have a large bowl handy and let the stems and leaves - cut with a pair of scissors - fall directly into the bowl.
Another use for a rinse made from the stinging nettle: as a final hair rinse. Soak a few stems and leaves of the plant in cold water overnight. The next morning strain, heat and use. This makes the hair shiny and is good for the scalp.
The plant has been used for several hundred years as the base for a fabric called "nettle cloth," as mentioned above, as well as in knotting netting and in the making of rope. We have once again come to appreciate the quality of nettle in fine fabrics, which have a light silken sheen and are comfortable to wear.
A saying goes like this: "If people knew of its value, urtica dioica would long have become extinct."
Herbal texts speak of the plant's healing properties for gout, arthritic problems, weakened immune systems and poor memory. The plant teaches us respect for its care.
Feeds