Ouch! Stinging Nettles—Naughty or Nice?

By Tamara McIntee – Chartered Herbalist

Stinging nettles, Urtica dioica in Latin, grow like a weed, often in wasteland areas. They have heart-shaped leaves covered with coarse stinging hairs. This useful plant grows abundantly on Texada Island, among other places.

You may remember stinging nettles from the Sleeping Beauty story. They surrounded her castle to keep the prince away. There is much more to nettles than their sting, however. This plant was cultivated in ancient Greece and Rome. At first possibly used to keep out intruders, it was then discovered to be a tasty food and useful medicinal plant. This herb was used to treat gout, rheumatism, snake bites and poisonous insect bites. In harvesting this plant nothing was wasted; even the stalks were used to make fabric.

When collecting fresh nettles, you may want to use yellow rubber gloves to avoid the sting. Be careful! Their sting will go right through clothing. If perchance you do get stung, a poultice made with fresh yellow dock leaves can help alleviate the pain.

Stinging nettles should be collected only in the spring while they are still young and tender. Once they are old and tough, wait until they go to seed-then the seeds can be collected and used as an aphrodisiac.

There are several ways to preserve nettles. They can be hung to dry, dried on screens or dried in brown paper bags. Test to see that they are completely dry by breaking the stalk in half: if it snaps crisply, they’re dry; if the stalk still bends, they need more time. Once dried they can be stored in air-tight glass jars away from the light.

Another way to preserve this herb is by blanching; then storing the shrunken herb in zip-lock freezer bags. Stinging nettles can also be put through a juicer, and the juice can be frozen in ice cube trays. The dried nettle leaves are good for one year, but after their time expires they can still be used as a nutrient-rich garden tea or mulch.

Drinking an infusion of stinging nettles can strengthen and support the whole body. Use this wonderful plant as a tonic for extended periods of time. Nettles are an excellent tonic for female problems. The minerals in this herb are easily assimilated by the body. Urtica dioica is a good source of iron, calcium, vitamin A, chlorophyll and vitamin K. (Vitamin K is used to treat and prevent hemorrhaging, including excessive menstruation, post-childbirth hemorrhage and nosebleeds.)

Alternating regular doses of stinging-nettle tea and red-raspberry-leaf tea is an excellent choice for pregnant women. Nursing moms can use this herb to help enrich and increase milk flow and restore energy. Menopausal women can use this herb to reduce water retention. Stinging-nettle tea also can help alleviate the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.

Stinging nettle has a wide range of uses. It can help reduce allergy and hayfever symptoms. The juice of nettles taken twice daily can be used in cases of hives. When combined with burdock root and oregon-grape root, this mixture can help with eczema and even dandruff.
A good way to boost your immune system is to infuse the fresh nettles in honey. Simmer over a double boiler, covered, for about 40 minutes. Strain with cheesecloth or a metal sieve, and store in the fridge. This makes a great healthy treat for the kids. When cooking nettles as a vegetable, steam them as you would spinach-the left-over water makes a lovely hair rinse!

Remember: now is a perfect time to harvest and stock up on stinging nettles for the year to come.

Visit www.immanence.ca for Tamara’s recipes for Stinging Nettle Lasagna and Nettle Miso Soup for Kids.
Get fresh nettles at Mitchell Brothers