Nettles Don't Sting This Month!
@owlwings (43915)
Cambridge, England
March 30, 2017 9:36am CST
Stinging nettles grow just about everywhere in the temperate climates of the world but especially where human settlements have provided extra nitrogen in the soil. I heard once that Greenland was called 'green' mainly because of the nettles which grow in abundance on the old settlements on the shore line. I don't know how true that is.
In Europe, the time when nettles start to grow is late March to early April and a favourite practical joke (at least, of my brother and sister) was to con your little brother into touching them by telling him that "Nettles don't sting this month" (well, they don't, do they, because you can't sting a MONTH!).
Nettles certainly do sting! They have tiny glassy needles all over their leaves which are full of poison. When you touch the leaves lightly, the needles pierce the skin and release the poison, which causes a tremendous itching and redness. It doesn't actually do any more harm than that and, indeed, it was said that a good cure for rheumatism was to rub the affected part with nettle leaves. Again, I don't know how much truth there is in it!
When they are very young - just two or three leaves showing, nettles can be gathered and cooked like spinach. Cooking them ruptures the little hairs and destroys the poison in them, so they are quite safe to eat. They have quite a pleasant, bitter flavour when cooked and chopped with, perhaps, a little cream. They used to be quite a favourite spring vegetable, either served like spinach or made into soup and were said to be excellent for 'cleansing the blood' (whatever that means). I have often eaten them both ways and, in fact, have just made some nettle soup which we are about to eat for lunch.
As they get older, they get more woody and are no longer good to eat but, when they are gathered towards the end of summer, they can be retted like flax and make quite a good fibre, as strong as linen though a little coarser. They can also make a very good and strong paper. Considering the ease with which they can be grown, I'm quite surprised that they are not very often used for these two things.
'To be nettled' or 'to nettle someone' are common ways of expressing irritation. I have seen one or two people getting a little nettled recently and it's not something which ought to happen much here!
13 people like this
15 responses
@topffer (42156)
• France
30 Mar 17
Nettles can be used fresh to prepare a pesto, they do not sting when they have been crushed. We usually eat only young nettles leaves, the old ones smelling like fish when they are cooked(I have seen a recipe of a vegan bouillabaisse with old nettles
).
My preferred spring omelet is an omelet with hop shoots
.
).
My preferred spring omelet is an omelet with hop shoots.5 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
30 Mar 17
Some time ago the BBC banned its gardening programs from recommending steeped nettles as a fertiliser. I never did understand why because, as you say, it makes a very good and natural fertilising liquid. Putting cut nettles on a compost certainly helps the other ingredients to rot down nicely, too.
4 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
30 Mar 17
@owlwings It is forbidden to sell a nettle fertilizer in France, but not forbidden to prepare it and use it. Since 2014 doing some publicity for a nettle fertiliser is also forbidden. I do not know if it is a French or an EU law ; in the second case, it would explain why the BBC banned a program promoting it. Gardeners are finding this law absurd, and I read that this law was made to please a few lobbies...
2 people like this
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
30 Mar 17
I think it might be an adaptation or evolution of the term, but here we use "to nettle (or needle) someone" is to tease them, although that does irritate some people.
3 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
30 Mar 17
I think that 'nettle' and 'needle' may come from the same root and perhaps people use the phrases interchangeably here too, though I think it is always more than just teasing here ... or, at least, teasing to the point of irritation!
3 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45496)
• United States
30 Mar 17
I guess we don't have such things here...thank goodness.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
30 Mar 17
They are native to the west of North America (which I take to mean west of the Rockies) so may be less common elsewhere. Wikipedia claims that it grows in every state except Hawaii but it does like moist soil, so if you live in a dry area, you are less likely to see it.
@AbbyGreenhill (45496)
• United States
30 Mar 17
@owlwings We aren't a dry area that's for sure. I've never seen or heard of this, maybe a different name here.
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
30 Mar 17
I have read about nettle tea too, but I wondered if that was a joke as well
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (457918)
• Switzerland
1 Apr 17
@Jessicalynnt I would never bring a nettle concoction inside the house, it smells bad enough staying outside.
2 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (86732)
• United States
20 Dec 20
I remember nettles in England and both of us my son and I getting stung. None around here that I know of.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
31 Mar 17
It works. I've often tested it when weeding. It's only when you brush lightly against it that the hairs penetrate the skin and break off. If you grasp the nettle firmly, the hairs break before they have a chance to penetrate and you are less likely to get stung.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
1 Apr 17
The common stinging nettle's got a number of uses. I have had it cooked, chopped through mashed potato.
Is there any truth in the story as to why nettles and docking, dock leaves, grow together? Dock leaves are known to calm nettle burn when rubbed on the skin that is red and angry after contact t with nettles...
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
1 Apr 17
They can certainly often be found together. Perhaps they both like similar soil conditions (damp and rich). Dock leaves, as well as certain other leaves, are good at calming nettle stings, as any country child can tell you. Whether they really do contain natural antihistamines (nettle poison is a histamine), I don't know. I've never seen anything specifically saying so. I suspect that it is more likely to be that they are naturally cooling (because of transpiration) and often handy. I have sometimes used other leaves with equally good effect.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
31 Mar 17
Nettles are very good for chickens. Just a little ground up and mixed with the feed gives the yolks a wonderful yellow colour and they contain all sorts of nutrients which keep the chickens healthy, too.
@sallypup (57836)
• Centralia, Washington
30 Mar 17
We used to gather nettles for an Easter vegetable. We no longer live near places that nettles like. Boiling does soften the needles so that there is no worry about eating them. They do indeed have more minerals than garden spinach.
1 person likes this
@Courtlynn (66921)
• United States
30 Mar 17
This was interesting to read. Good info to know. Thank you.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
1 Apr 17
@RubyHawk I should love to have seen a photo of them. I have never seen nettles with purple flowers here. It could be the climate or it may be that you have a different variety in Georgia. Nettles are the preferred food plant for several butterflies and moths, so allowing them to grow encourages wild life. If you keep a compost, they are excellent for encouraging the waste to rot down (though it's best to cut them before they seed).
