Use approximately 1 cup of leaves to 2 cups water. If you want to learn homesteading skills, like raising chickens and preserving the harvest for winter, you’ve come to the right place. Pop the wad into your mouth, and chew it well before swallowing. She has earned an Associate of Applied Science in Horticulture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts. So if you grab … Some tips and tricks on how to harvest stinging nettle roots without getting bitten by the stingers can help keep you safe as you collect this potentially troublesome, yet beneficial, plant. The Beginner’s Guide to Backyard Homesteading. We typically loosely fill a 5-gallon bucket. Don’t try to eat stinging nettle raw! Just began eating stinging nettles, raw (uncooked), after watching some Youtube videos. I haven’t tried this and now my stinging nettle patch has been bulldozed for a new subdivision. Cook It – Steam, Sauté or Boil. Typically when I harvest, I harvest mature nettle plants with large leaves. One loose cup (240 mL) leaves is enough for two glasses of tea, although you can make it stronger or weaker. This makes the most medicinal nettle tea I’ve ever used. I was no stranger to the idea of eating weeds as a kid. For more help with identification, check out this website. Wear gloves to protect your hands from the stinging hairs or you will likely regret it! I struggled to identify them for a couple years until I found a patch and confirmed that it was indeed a stinging nettle patch. Their flavor is wonderful! I found it preposterous at the time that this irritating weed could be edible, much less a delicious wild green. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "theselfsuffic-20";
), For my next foraging project, I intend to create homemade stinging nettle rennet to make cheese. It's preferable to harvest the leaves before the nettles go to seed. Lisa Lombardo is the author of The Beginner's Guide to Backyard Homesteading and she writes about gardening and homesteading for this website and The New Homesteader's Almanac. You can easily make your own tea by drying the leaves and steeping them in water to harness the flavor and healthful benefits. Nettle leaf tea is the most common way to consume nettles, and a favorite of many herbalists! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. We are now registered with the Government of Canada to sell stinging nettle tea. I have grown, harvested, and used stinging nettles for many years. I’m Lisa Lynn and this is The Self Sufficient HomeAcre. Come harvest some Nettles with us! The stalks become very fibrous and may be used for creating cordage as plants mature. I have used this method to eat wads of four or six leaves, and haven’t felt a sting in my mouth yet. Clip or pinch off several sets of leaves from the top of the plant. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. amzn_assoc_title = "Helpful foraging tools...";
This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services, to personalize ads and to analyze traffic. Nettle can be harvested three times a year – spring, mid-summer and again in the fall. Thanks for the idea…Hopefully I can find some nettles this year to try this. Once you have your roots, thoroughly clean them in fresh water. Mix with water Here are the ratios to follow: Fertilizer → 35 oz (1 kg) stinging nettles for 10 quarts (10 liters) water. It's Stinging Nettle season! Make an herbal tea by steeping leaves in hot, but not quite boiling, water until it is green. Freshly harvested nettle will store in a bag in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator, unwashed, for at least 2-3 days (probably longer). Then strain and drink. You have successfully joined our subscriber list. For me, it’s the first real sign that spring is around the corner. Learn how to identify, harvest, prepare, and eat this vitamin packed powerhouse! By working from top to bottom, you’re working with the stingers instead of against them. Alternatively, you can blanch and mash the roots before storing in the alcohol, but some of the benefits will be lost in the process. Looking to harvest the mint for tea, I plucked a handful of leaves from the closest plant and put it to my nose to get a deep whiff of the lovely mint smell. There are LOTS of nettles in the various parks I visit. How can you harvest your own nettle leaf and make your own nettle leaf tea? Stinging nettle tea. The easiest way to get the benefits of nettle is to steep the fresh leaves in hot water for an earthy hot tea. Now that I have experience harvesting it, I know exactly what to look for (and you will too). We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. We harvest it and bag it. amzn_assoc_asins = "B071FRBJN8,B0050U240O,B011XEA15A,1615648895";
. One man said that he occasionally felt a mild sting on his tongue for a short time (less than 30 seconds, as the enzymes in saliva neutralize the formic acid in the leaves). Use stinging nettle as a substitute for spinach in any recipe where the greens are cooked. Once it does (during the middle of summer), it develops gritty particles which can do damage to your urinary tract once ingested. When you’re ready for them, just pull them out, rinse if you wish and go for it! The stingers (or needles) point down. Cut the leaves away from the stem using scissors and place your harvest in a basket. Allow the tea to steep for about ten minutes. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
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I use heavy gloves and clippers, but for arthritis and joint pain, I shove the affected limb into the plants and take the sting. Drying removes the sting. amzn_assoc_linkid = "6a046523488496d95e684bdd6034ff01";
I pick long stems with scissors and then use the scissors to cut off the leaves. You can also let it cool in the refrigerator to make a healthy sweet ice tea. A distant mint relative, stinging nettles are equally invasive and need to be sternly managed . The plants begin growing early in spring and may have a purplish tint to their leaves in cold weather, changing to a deep green as temperatures warm. Tear up the stinging nettles Place them in a basin or a bucket. Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings. While the leaves are blanching, fill a large bowl with cold water and ice for an ice-water bath.