Urtica dioica. Nettle is a very common wild plant that is often considered a nuisance when it should be regarded as a gift. It is a very nutritious food and a wonderful medicine. The first luscious-looking, mauve-green Nettle leaves appearing on the edges of woods and moist damp places is a sure indication that spring has arrived! It is easy to start your own Nettle patch if you don’t have access to one.
Many people know Nettle from the message of their small stinging barbs and are put off eating them for that same reason. But if you harvest the tops with gloves and steam them for a moment or two, they are delicious and there is no stinging effect at all. The first few weeks are the best, when the paired leaves of this perennial are often tinged a beautiful violet. They are a very rich green until the drooping flower clusters begin to form in late spring. Once in flower, Nettle leaves aren’t nearly as special, though they are still edible and good for tea.
Nettle is high in chlorophyll, iron, calcium, magnesium and vitamins A and C. It is one of the few plants to contain vitamin D, which is necessary for calcium assimilation and bone development.
Nettle tea is soothing and healing when you have a burn, hives, hemorrhoids or kidney inflammation. Applying fresh Nettles (i.e. deliberately stinging yourself) to many kinds of skin rash and for rheumatism will bring great relief: the stings stimulate the body’s blood flow and cortisone production. Nettle’s high iron, chlorophyll and vitamin content make it an excellent herb to take for anemia and other blood conditions. Nettle seeds are also packed with nutrients and contain acetycholine and serotonin. They can be harvested in the fall after leaves drop off.
Massaging the scalp with a strong Nettle tea infusion or using it as a hair rinse after shampooing will improve the colour and texture of the hair and remove dandruff. Nettle stalks are widely used for making thread and cloth. The roots yield a yellow dye.
Best grown at the edge of moist shade places. Tiny seeds are best started in flats in spring. Wear gloves to transplant!