Nettle
Posted by Phytopath on Sep 29, 2010
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica & Urtica urens) is considered by most people to be a pest plant.
It has a long history, going back to the Bronze Age, as a useful plant for manufacturing cloth, as well as a source of food and medicine.
There are records from Ancient Egypt suggesting the use of nettle infusion for the relief of arthritis and lumbago pain.
Burial shrouds made of nettle have been discovered in Denmark and nettle was one of the plants used in ‘Nine Herbs Charm’ by the Pagan’s in the 10th century.
Stinging nettle is a fibrous herbaceous perennial or annual, depending on the species, found in most temperate regions throughout the world.
It is often seen growing in cultivated land that is rich in Nitrogen and it makes a great green manure when turned back in to the soil.
If harvesting nettle to dry for later use, be very careful when opening the bag or container that the dried nettle is stored in. The small ‘stingers’ could possibly be inhaled and cause irritation to the throat and lungs.
Fresh nettle can be used like a vegetable. Collect the young leaves (very carefully) and cook them as you would spinach i.e. steamed, lightly boiled, lightly fried with ginger or added to soup.
It can also be used as an ingredient in herbal beer.
Older nettle leaves contain crystals of calcium oxalate, so stick with the young, new leaves.
Commercially, nettle is grown for its chlorophyll content which acts as a colouring agent in food and medicine.
Nettles are said to strengthen, support and feed the whole body (human) and therefore are good for the immune system.
The herb is considered to be anti-asthmatic, astringent, diuretic, galactogogue, haemostatic, hypoglycaemic (you’ve all heard of the glycaemic index!!!), hypotensive, styptic, rubifacient and a tonic.
Therefore it is used internally for anaemia, haemorrhage, haemorrhoids, arthritis, rheumatism, gout, allergies, prostate enlargement and skin complaints.
Extracts are also used by body builders.
Externally, nettles have been used to staunch wounds and treat nosebleeds. Also for arthritic pain, sciatica, neuralgia, gout, burns, insect bites (which is worse – insect bite or nettle sting?), haemorrhoids (ouch) and combined with nasturtium to treat hair loss (questionable).
The plant is rich in vitamin A, C, D and K and is very high in chlorophyll, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and sulphur.
The plant can also help to clear toxins from the body as well as slightly reducing blood pressure and blood sugar.
Freshly pressed nettle juice is said to be good for nervous and physical exhaustion.
So why aren’t we all eating it?
Most of us are just not game enough to try it and it seems sooo easy to pop a vitamin pill.
If you don’t currently have any stinging nettle growing in your garden, it can be propagated from seed sown in spring or by division of the perennial variety, also in spring.
Grow it in a moist, nitrogen rich soil in sun or part shade (in hot climates).
The perennial nettle Urtica dioica, has a much stronger (nastier) sting than the annual variety Urtica urens, but they will both cause some unsavoury words if grasped with bare hands.
If you want to ‘show off’ in front of friends and harvest nettle with your bare hands – make sure it is the annual variety and grab it at the base, near soil level, when you pull it out. That should do the trick.
