Stinging Nettles...

[JDO330]

Hi All,

I want to try Nettles this year and would like some tips.

Im really interested in Nettle tea and how to prepare the plant but also eating them. I saw am RM Wild Food episode where they were picked & wilted over a fire and just eaten, cant believe its that easy? Which ones do you pick, whats the best way to handle them, how do you know when they are ready to eat or use in a drink?

Many thanks in advance.

Regards, Jon.

 

[bushwacker bob]

Best bits are the bunch leaves from the top of the plant. Pick them before the nettles have flowered and use like spinach. The water you cooked them in is your nettle tea. Or wilt them over a fire if you like.

 

[yomperalex]

I recommend considering nettle beer. So easy to make and really delicious.

Myself, I fancy having a crack at nettle cordage this year - as well as a batch or two of beer of course.

Alex

 

[locum76]

They're healthy but I think they're fairly tasteless. I like 'em best in an omelette.

 

[trekkingnut]

soup, beer, cordage AND if you get the right species of nettle (non stinging variety) at the right time, they will be covered in white flowers, when i was a kid we used to pick them off and suck out the nectar from the back! makes a great addition to any dish to sweeten it up! yummy!

 

[L8starter]

beer sounds good to me, lets have a recipe?

 

[slowworm]

I use the young tips and I tend to pick the stems carefully and don't get stung much, or you can use gloves. Choose a patch you know hasn't been sprayed, by man or beast!

I use them as an addition to curries, with wild garlic in a quiche or even in home made green pasta.

 

[Mang]

Nettle cordial http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43734&highlight=nettle+cordial

I can recommend it (but I would say that as I posted it! )

 

[yomperalex]

beer sounds good to me, lets have a recipe?

as soon as my wife gets back I'll get her to dig out the book

Alex

 

[Nova & Pinky]

Lovely used like spinach with feta or goats cheese in a tart or wrapped in filo pastry. Mmmmmm...

 

[greensurfingbear]

can be eaten raw, I do it on nature walks with kids to show the benefits of learning stuff. knowledge can making something good etc etc. Plus it tends to get their attention.

take the leave fold it so the needles aren't hitting your tongue and chew. I quite like it, think it tastes like cucumber.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Best handled with loads of confidence and a little know how - after all how bad does a nettle sting really hurt?

Begin with fingers near the base of the stem - slowly move inward and upard to brush the stinging hairs flat against the stem, then simply grip, twist and pluck the stem away from any close to it. Once in your hand, swallow another mouthfull of confidence, and strip the majority of the leaves away in a similar manner with your other hand. If you leave the top 4 or 6 leaves on (2 or 3 pairs) these can be seared over hot coals and eaten directly - I reckon they'd go well with some melted butter but being dairy allergic, I'll pass.

They go great in a light soup - fried onion base, bucket full of nettle tops, reduce with as little water as you can get away with, thicken with a diced potato and blitz it in a blender - but hold a few leaves back to garnish!

Ogri the trog

 

[Harvestman]

Chopped up and dried they make a really good herb for adding to bannock or stews.

 

[Toddy]

There must be different nettles. Ours leave wee tiny microscopic glass like hairs in the skin Burns for days and there is no way to brush the needles out of the way, they're on every bit of the plants, from the leaf edges to the root/soil boundary. None of this know how to handle them properly stuff.....wear gloves snip with scissors, or beat them down.
I gather a lot of them though, for dye, for food and for fibre, not one leaf at a time.

Then again, maybe you lot are just *hard*

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Ogri the trog]

Mary,
I must admit to stretching the truth a little - yes I can feel it, sometimes for a day or two - but its more like having sensative fingertips rather than being in pain. If you can demonstrate the action even once, the effect on newcomers is profound, I don't mind if they wear gloves but their perception of you after seeing it done that one time........



Ogri the trog

 

[royce22]

Definatly beer. HFW has a recipe on the rivercottage site which I've used with sucess. very nice to

 

[John Fenna]

Mary,
I must admit to stretching the truth a little - yes I can feel it, sometimes for a day or two - but its more like having sensative fingertips rather than being in pain. If you can demonstrate the action even once, the effect on newcomers is profound, I don't mind if they wear gloves but their perception of you after seeing it done that one time........



Ogri the trog

You egotistical Sadist you!
You be a bad man you be!:evilangel:

Done the same myself in the past - you can almost feel the Hero Worship ...and it makes the pain worthwhile

 

[Toddy]

I must be soft , but it burns and it lasts for days.....in fact I've got it on my ankle just now, I wasn't careful enough redding out beside the pond a few days ago and the tiny wee leaves are just up. I leave these ones to grow for fibre, they come up over 2m tall

Pain or not, they're too good not to make use of them

cheers,
M

 

[Grendel]

I was told it's only the older nettles that sting and the young ones with white flowers where harmless to touch. But must admit have never put it to practice to find out.

 

[Toddy]

Only the 'dead nettle' doesn't sting.
The new growth is vicious, and new seedlings are just as bad. The flower tips don't have the stings, but the little leaves in among them certainly do.
I suppose we're lucky though, in Nepal the nettles grow thorns :yikes:, makes brilliant fibre though

Basically they're useful right through they're growing, but that said, don't eat older ones, they contain crystals that aren't good for you.
Early ones, and softer new growth, but non flowering, tops, for eating. Long ripe ones for fibres. Apologies to whoever posted it a few years ago, (I can see your avatar in my mind but I can't mind your name) but he recommended using the roots for tieing and lashing since they are so strong.
I use the whole plant for dyes, and the grown but not old leaves for tea, and hens thrive on the seeds

cheers,
Toddy