Nettles and soup recipe
1. My favourite foliage/greenery/plants
Edible weeds, especially Nettles, mainly because they remind me of home and springtime is just around the corner.
I love the natural world and the synergetics of weeds.
In childhood, often our first meeting with nettles is getting stung by them and being told the old cure of rubbing the sting with a dock leaf.
Dock leaves seem to commonly grow near nettles and both are deep rooted plants. They are also hard to eradicate due to their deep rooting systems and the plants themselves are mineral rich as a result. Plantain leaves have been found to give greater relief to nettle stings, but they are not known in folk cures as such.
2. What do I love about them
It is a plant that heralds the return of spring, a tonic of vitamins and minerals; and also a plant redolent of swans and spells, of love and loss and loyalty, of ancient powers skillfully knotted into the most traditional of women's arts: carding, spinning, knitting, and sewing.
I use it in my herbal clinic in mixes because Nettles enhance natural immunity, helping protect us from infections. Nettle tea drunk often at the start of a feverish illness is beneficial. Nettles have long been considered a blood tonic and are a wonderful treatment for anaemia, as they are high in both iron and chlorophyll. The iron in Nettles is very easily absorbed and assimilated.
What cooks will tell you is that two minutes of boiling Nettle leaves will neutralise both the silica 'syringes' of the stinging cells and the histamine or formic acid-like solution that is so painful.
At our house, spring is the time for making Nettle pancakes, soups, breads, pizza bases and pesto rich in the nutrients needed after a long winter.
Mixing medicine and magic, a healer could cure fever by pulling up a Nettle by its roots while speaking the patient's name and those of his parents. Roman soldiers in damp Britain found that rheumatic joints responded to a beating with Nettles. Tyroleans threw Nettles on the fire to avert thunderstorms, and gathered Nettle before sunrise to protect their cattle from evil spirits.
If we had no Nettles we would not get to witness the many pretty butterflies that grace our summers. We also can’t forget the autumn nettle seeds that our forefathers once used as a nutritious addition to their diets and now form a valuable food source that enables many of our small birds to survive the winter's cold. That would indeed be real desolation in times to come.
Many species are dependent on local food sources and we might be too, more than we think we are. There are many lessons to be learned from our ancestors who lived lives of resilience by depending on local resources. Many wild species are the same in that way. So please put away that weedkiller for this year and allow the insects to flourish and the seeds to ripen.
3. A handy tip to look after them
Looking back home, Nettles are a pure weed as we have an abundance of them on our surrounding fields. There is no need to look after them, they grow with the cycles of nature. If using in cooking, use the young spring leaves and use gloves foraging them. You can dry them for winter and use in teas (store in airtight container away from direct sunlight to keep medicinal benefits).
Care of Nettle in Your Garden ?
Keeping Your Soil Moist. Moisture is a big part of growing and caring for Nettle in your garden. ...
Mulch, Trim and Fertilise your Plants. Since Nettle likes moist soil, incorporating leaf mulch around your plants can be a great idea. ...
Letting Your Plants Go Dormant. Remember that Nettles are a perennial plant, so they come back each spring. ...
Keep it Under Control. While Nettle is an incredibly useful plant to keep around, it can also get a bit rambunctious in the garden.
Quick Nettle soup recipe
2 cups (50 g) nettle leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion medium
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 cups (300 g) potato 2 medium potatoes diced or sweet medium size sweet potato
2 tsp stock powder or bouillon or broth
2 cups (500 ml) water
1/2 tsp of majoran
1 tbsp lemon juice
sea salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Whilst wearing gloves, prepare your nettles - remove any thick stalks and wash the leaves well
In a medium saucepan heat the olive oil, then add the chopped onion and garlic
Fry for a few minutes until translucent
Then add the diced potato, water and vegetable stock ( powder and stir (or use broth)
Cover the pan with a lid, and let it simmer for 10 minutes
Check the potato is soft, and then add the washed nettle leaves and cook for another minute until the leaves have wilted down
Finally, add the lemon juice and Majoran and blend the soup until smooth using an immersion blender
Salt and pepper to taste and serve with a drizzle of extra virgin oil and a sprinkle of seeds
ENJOY