Forage season is upon us and a bank holiday weekend so hopefully you’ll have time to get out. I’ve also got a couple of spaces left on my Home healing and blessing space day this Saturday.
The Humble Nettle’s Big Moment If you’ve ever brushed past a nettle on a country walk and muttered something unprintable, this article is for you, get your own back and eat them instead! It’s time to make friends with one of Britain’s most misunderstood wild plants because the stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is, quite honestly, a superstar hiding in the hedgerows.
The UK’s most overlooked wild food?
Nettles are everywhere in the British countryside — riverbanks, field edges, woodland paths, even in my back garden. And while most of us spend our walks dodging them, foragers in the know have been harvesting them for centuries. They’re one of the most accessible, abundant and nutritious wild plants you can get.
The best time to forage nettles is spring through to early summer (roughly March to June), when the young shoots are fresh, vibrant, and at their most tender. Look for the bright, fresh green tips at the top of the plant; these are what you want.
How to pick safely!
You don’t need much kit, kitchen scissors, thick gardening gloves and a canvas bag. Pick the top 4 to 6 leaves (the fresh growing tip) from each plant, thanking the plant as you go along. Of course always forage from areas well away from busy roadsides, sprayed farmland and dog-walking paths. The sting comes from tiny hollow hairs on the leaves and stems that inject a cocktail of formic acid, histamine and serotonin. Nasty, so be careful – wash any stings under the cold tap. The sting is completely neutralised by cooking, blending, or drying.
A nutritional powerhouse
Here’s where nettles really earn their reputation. They are incredibly nutritious because their roots dig deep down they draw up absorbed minerals, so they are packed with:
- Iron great news for anyone watching their iron levels
- Calcium more per 100g than many dairy products
- Magnesium, Selenium, Manganese and Potassium
- Vitamins A, C, Silica (good for kidneys and bladder) and K
- Protein surprisingly high for a leafy plant
- Antihistamine effect and enhances immunity
In fact, weight for weight, nettles rival spinach nutritionally and arguably outperforms it in several areas. They’ve been used in traditional herbal medicine for centuries as an adaptogenic to support joint health, reduce inflammation, help digestion, bladder and kidney cleanser, support the immune system and clears fevers. Modern research is starting to back up what our ancient medicine already knew.
The beauty of nettles is their versatility. Once cooked, they have a rich, earthy flavour a bit like spinach but with more depth are are even freezable. Here are some ways to use them, it is easy if you just wilt then first in boiling water as it neutralises the sting:
Nettle Tea – dry the leaves hung upside down in bunches and when dry crush and brew for a mineral-rich herbal tea.
Nettle Soup – a classic British recipe and so easy. Sauté onions, potato and garlic, add stock, a large handful of washed nettle tips, simmer and blend. Top with a swirl of cream.
Nettle Risotto or Pasta – add wilted nettles just like you would spinach. Delicious with cheese and a little nutmeg.
Nettle Burgers – high in protein 25/30% so add to your fav bean or nut burger recipe
Nettle Pesto – Take a handful of blanched nettle leaves, drain and blitz them with pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, and parmesan for a rich earthy taste to pasta and bruschetta.
Important: Don’t Forage Nettles Once They’ve Gone to Seed or if they have eggs on the leaves
Here’s the one rule you absolutely must remember stop harvesting nettles once they’ve developed flower heads and seed heads, usually from midsummer onwards.
Why? Once a nettle plant begins to flower and set seed, it produces tiny, gritty calcium carbonate crystals in the leaves. These are harmless in small quantities but in larger amounts can act as an irritant to the kidneys if eaten regularly.
Once you spot those drooping green flower clusters (they look a bit like tiny tassels), move on and let the plant do its thing for the wildlife nettles are vital habitat for caterpillars of the Peacock, Red Admiral, Comma, Painted Lady and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies!
Go on, give those nettles a go!
The stinging nettle is one of those wonderful reminders that nature is extraordinarily generous if we just take the time to look. Free food, brilliant nutrition, an earthy flavour even a great story to tell at the dinner table. If you don’t have time to cook nettles freeze well and hold their nutrient levels.
Grab your gloves, head to your nearest hedgerow and get foraging. Your gut (and your iron levels) will thank you! Still – if you can’t BioNutri UK make a great nutritional supplement in tablet form so ask me about that one.