Stinging Nettle – Materia Medica
Science meets spirit
Nettles is an Herb widely known, and known well. Stinging nettles. Famous for their bite when we encounter them. But truly they are so much more than just a nuisance. Urtica diocia is an herb that I use almost every day. It is also found in majority of the remedies offered by Enchantment Creek Apothecary. And herb that reminds you not to judge a book by it’s cover. There is much more than just the Sting of the Nettle…
I tend to harvest them strictly from the wild because they are such prolific growers. She, although he does seem a little more appropriate for this plant… Are always found growing around season long water. You can find this plant around streams, valleys, marshes, and spots in the mountains. I have found them up to 10000 feet in elevation. They are incredibly prolific and easy growing.
When am I Harvesting Nettles?
If the wild herb has a strong water source, Nettles can be harvested many times over in a season. The first growth cycle is perfect for foraging food in the very beginning of Spring. As they grow they become a more versitile medicine through summer. For fall harvesting, when they have gone to seed offers another aspect of medicinal, and nourishing properties to the plant. I love this about Nettles. Not only are they tenacious, but are relentless in their remedies.
Their list of uses, like most medicinal herbs, goes on and on. And similar to hemp in strength, appearance, and nutritional value. Their stalk can be woven into rope or made into cloth. This making Nettles diverse in their use as well… maybe coining them to be dynamic! The seeds of nettles are incredibly nutritious. As is the foliage. But, when you are redy to harvest, I urge you to be mindful. Their sting is no myth, and is bigger than their bark.
Avoiding the Sting
I usually wear gloves when I’m harvesting just because I work with this plant a lot. I have a garden, a business, farmers markets to attend. The laste thing I need, or you for that matter, are swollen arms and skin so itchy you wake up at night. I do harvest a fair amount of Stinging Nettles. And when you’re harvesting in quantities, the harvest style tends to be be quick, and efficient. So gloves, and sleeves are essential for me.
I urge you to do the same. BUT if you have the time to be quiet, calm, and time is not of the essence… pick gently. Quietly. Bond with the Nettle plant, and know where, how and the effects of it’s venom… Nettles are an incredible teacher in this way… A process that early on in my herbalist path was irreplaceable.
Excellent Herb for Beginners
Nettles is also easily identified in the wild. This making it a great plant to work with when you’re beginning your herbal path. Most of us were warned of this herb when we were children. If we were blessed to grow up running around barefoot in nature. Under the trees, we were warned of it, or we came across naturally. This being, that when we ran across it, or fell into a bed of inviting plant greenery. That sting stuck with our senses as we bent to examine what bit our little toes.
This sting usually becomes an early memory of our child hood… you know it then, and memorize it for later.
Working with Nettles in your Home Apothecary
The appearance of nettles is so similar to hemp. And like I said before, some of their uses, nutrients, and medicinal aspects are linear. When I harvest it and bring it home to dry. I feel like a hemp farmer when I stand back to look at the lot.
I’ve seen it grow up to 8 feet tall in the Rockies. And hwere I am from, the Pacific North West, I have seen nettles up to 10′ tall in the forest. If your intent is to harvest for food, I encourage an early start to harvesting. Make sure it is young and small. Take the leaves and work them into your soups. Pizzas, salads and the like.
As nettles get bigger throughout the summer the consistency becomes more woody and stringy. BUT for use in tinctures, vinegar, and infusions of water and oil. This is perfectly OK. I actually recommend it since your nutrients levels will be more diverse and concentrated. I like to harvest nettles at the end of the season. When it has gone to seed. This because a lot of the nutrients found in the seed are going to be present.
Early Season or Late Harvesting
When harvesting the nettle late in the season, you have a lot more plant material to work with. You will have the stock as well as the foilage and seeds. This leading to your harvesting being even more multipurpose, and more sustainable. The leaves will not be as tender for eating in your foods. But when using the whole plant for extracts you are going to get more out of the whole plant.
Here in Wyoming where it is dry the seasons are hyper. I have to get to the plant stands when they are ready to roll. It is an intense practice, but well worth the efforts. I have seen Nettle in this region at 10,000 feet and all the way to Sea Level in the Pacific North West. This plant is not only recognizable from our childhood. It is one that grows in all Zones of temperarture, and all elevations. I encourage you to get out and find your local patch. Most likely, it is hiding in plain sight close to home.
It’s Beauty is More than Its Bite
The appearance of Nettles is striking when harvesting late in the season. I have seen it growing well over my head in the Rockies. In the Pac North West, higher still. Because this woodland lovely is so rich in Chlorophyll, it is a stunning green, especially when it grows with it’s feet wet. The beautiful leaves are alternating around the tall stalk. And are very deeply serrated.
Along the edges of the stem and stalk are the sure telling notion that you are looking at nettles. Little hairs, spiny almost thorny but softer than that will be lining the entire plant. These soft little spikes are a sure sign of Stinging Nettle. When you look at them under a microscope, they are barbed. Not only does this action prick the skin, it houses a sort of venom. Showing you where Nettle gets it’s bite. If you brush them lightly. You can get away with experiencing the plant with out a sting. But get in a rapid flow of harvesting these tall stalks, you are sure to be stung.
It is not devistating, but when pricked relentlessly, expect your skin to be burning for many hours. Tingling like pins and needles. If you are senstivie like me, you will have welts, and be very red. I have walked out of harvesting burning and itching like mad. The kind of itching that wakes you up in the night, and makes it difficult to shower! So be mindful, quiet and delicate when you are working with this plant. Respect goes both ways, and it is sure to reciprocate the gesture.
Besides it’s height. When nettle has gone to seed it becomes majestic. AT the top of the stalk where the leaves are tighter. You will find tassels of seeds dangling from the stems. I love this appearance, it makes nettle look so elegant. Decorating stream beds, and creeks. While also giving it’s offering to the forest floor. More foilage please! Let’s get this under growth party rolling. Leaving it’s mark whenever the wind blows.
If you look very closely at these tiny seeds. You will see individual little balls. At the end of the seed pod, when they open up, a tiny tuft, looking like a barb will be perched at the end. They fly easily, and I love to shake them out when I grab a section of stalks. If they fall in the water, only traveling in the stream to let the stand grow and travel. This making late season harvesting even more thrilling.
Sustainable Harvest
Early fall houses seeds and roots ready to become medicines. When we work with the rythems of the forest our impact becomes beneficial instead of detremental. When a plant we love has gone to seed, we can spread seed as we harvest. This will ensure that our stand of wild nettles is going to grow, and expand from what we found originally. I have seen this happen from my harvesting in the same places year after year. I watch and document these stands of plants. They are being tended to as the garden needs to be.
Because of this interaction with our wild herbs, I have seen growth expand. I have very specific places that I harvest and have watched those stands grow. They have gotten thicker over the years. Their borders wider than years previously. New growth is abundant and this fills my green heart with such joy. Over harvesting and devistation to wild plant populations is real.
But does that mean we should stay away and ignore our forests all together…?
Farm Life
The next phase of sustainability involves taking seeds and roots to the farm. I full believe that one day the garden I am beginning will house the main bulk of my harvesting sapces. Trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials of this region. Some harvested from the wild, and some from cultivated crops throughout our country. Restoring native populations and cultivating a community crop of medicines of the wild lands that we love.
Stimulating and Nutrient Dense
‘Let thy food be thy medicine. And thy medicine be thy food”
HIippocrates – 460 BC
Not only is our Nettle plant a marvelous medicinal. It is prolific in it’s production of nutrients. It can be relied upon in survival situations in the forest. And be considered the multi vitamin of the woodlands.
There are many nutrients in Nettles that create it’s sustenance, color, and strength. Being a well rounded food it is high in many minerals, vitamins, amino acids, and omega oils. Each of these aspects of nutrition add to its’s medicine. The high mounts of iron and chlorophyll are responsible for it’s strengthening the blood and nervous system.
Along with enzymes and minerals, the nettle is encouraging to a strong digestive tract. Electrolytes keep our muscles contracting and relaxing so if we are found in that survival situation. We can keep on keepin on! Along with the nourishment, you won’t have to worry about feeding your muscles either. Nettles are incredibly high in protein and can be relied upon for a sustainable source of this vital nutrient.
Vitamin Vinegar Bitters
Each aspect of this nutritious plant lead to proper functioning of the body. When you start to explore our Herbal Offerings at Enchantment Creek, Nettles is a repeat ingredient. Most of my Vitamin Vinegar Blends have nettles in them. This is because vinegar is an excellent menstruum for extracting minerals, and vitamins.
These bitters are not only encouraging to the digestive system in working well. But they offer a boots of nutrients along with them. Specifically nettles are a nutritive tonic in water and vinegar. They are an excellent remedy for the kidneys with diuretic action. While they can also be a mild laxative.
Herbal Actions of Nettles
A general Qi strengthener, nettles are also an alternative. This is an old herbal word meaning ‘to clean the blood’. They are also antiseptic and nourising to diabetic conditions. Nettles are an effective pectoral as well. This meaning they strengthen the qi of the entire respiratory system. Stinging Nettles are also astringent and asthmatic. While also encouraging expectoration of phlegm.
Each of these actions are showing to be nourishing and encouraging to vital energies of our bodily systems. Nettles are an excellent addition to daily tea time, vinegars, and meals. Adding nourishment and a powerful healing ally to many tissues in the body. Though specific to digestion, the urinary tract and pectorals. Nettles will lead to overall vitality of our system by creating balanced states in our eliminatory organs.
Its not Just the Sting
As you can see, not only is the sting where the stimulation comes from. While this is a medicinal action in itself. Nettles are so much more than their bite. I hope you are able to enjoy Nettles often. They have so much to offer us, as food and medicine. Thank you for reading and as usual…
