Nettles

[bogmyrtle]

First gathering of the year done today - we came home with a basket full of nettles! ;D

Tomorrow we will be making nettle soup using Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe:

www.rivercottage.net/SeasonalRecipes~March/67/NettleSoup.aspx

When collecting, pick the 4 or so small leaves at the top of the shoot(stalks included), although at this time of the year with the plants being so young you can take another couple down.

Nettles contain vitamins A & C and also contain a natural antihistamine. Nettle tea can be drunk if you suffer from hay fever, however, it does not work for everybody (as any anti-histamine) as we are al allergic to diffferent plants etc.

Nettles also make good string.

It will be nettle beer next week!

[bogmyrtle]

The said:

bogmyrtle said:

First gathering of the year done today - we came home with a basket full of nettles! ;D

Tomorrow we will be making nettle soup using Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe:

www.rivercottage.net/SeasonalRecipes~March/67/NettleSoup.aspx

When collecting, pick the 4 or so small leaves at the top of the shoot(stalks included), although at this time of the year with the plants being so young you can take another couple down.

Nettles contain vitamins A & C and also contain a natural antihistamine. Nettle tea can be drunk if you suffer from hay fever, however, it does not work for everybody (as any anti-histamine) as we are al allergic to diffferent plants etc.

Nettles also make good string.

It will be nettle beer next week!

Nettles have come up early in your neck of the woods haven't they BM?

Nettle beer next week too - doesn't take long to make it then. ;D

The one we make The witch is more of a ginger beer type (again a HFW recipe), and once we start drinking it, it doesn't last long!

I noticed in Exmouth the other week that the nettles had grown enough to start collecting, and in a couple of places we walk Warwickshire way, they were fine, other areas still too small.

I should have put that they contain a histamine not an anti-histamine (that's what 2 glasses of Birch Sap wine does!)

Oh, and the soup was delicious - lunch today here at work as well. ;D It also freezes very well.

[4pygmies]

I do wish you lived near me Myrtle! I could keep you supplied with nettles, as many as you could possibly need..........I have tried to go down the 'useful' plant road with Nettles but they have defeated me. I admire your positive attitude immensely.

NB The witch, I don't believe the nettles have stopped growing for more than a few weeks this winter - I have them 2/3' ft high already in places in my garden.......

[bogmyrtle]

4pygmies said:

I do wish you lived near me Myrtle! I could keep you supplied with nettles, as many as you could possibly need..........I have tried to go down the 'useful' plant road with Nettles but they have defeated me. I admire your positive attitude immensely.

NB The witch, I don't believe the nettles have stopped growing for more than a few weeks this winter - I have them 2/3' ft high already in places in my garden.......

They could be used as string/twine to tie your plants up, it's very strong but natural!

[4pygmies]

How do you use them as twine without getting stung please? I dry stacks of the stuff for the goats to eat and even then, dead and old, they still have a bite!

[bogmyrtle]

4pygmies said:

How do you use them as twine without getting stung please? I dry stacks of the stuff for the goats to eat and even then, dead and old, they still have a bite!

The sting doesn't affect the goats then?

You strip the leaves off the stalk (by holding one end and ripping off the leaves as the other hand runs down the stalk - with gloves on), then split them and scrape out the middle of the stem, dry the outer stem and then twist them. I will post full details for you tonight if that's ok? I have a step by step guide in my little notebook at home!

[4pygmies]

I'd be very interested to find out, thanks Myrtle. The goats very occasionally eat the fresh green tops of nettles but they prefer it well dried as hay I think. The stings don't seem to affect them but they have very hard palates anyway.

[emseypop]

Will you be bringing a few examples of this 'bush tucker' to the the bbq Myrtle? ;D

[bogmyrtle]

emseypop said:

Will you be bringing a few examples of this 'bush tucker' to the the bbq Myrtle? ;D

Yep - don't know what yet though! Beech leaf noyau to compare with Sleepy's as I think we use slightly different recipes, nettle beer if we have some, homemade beef jerky (we do a very nice vietnemese one although I say it myself), not sure what else yet - depends on how they work out!

[emseypop]

Sounds yummy ;D I love beef jerky

[bogmyrtle]

Here you go 4pygmies, nettle string:

You will need older nettles as the stem will be tougher. I would wear gloves. Grip the top in one hand and run the other hand down the stem to strip the leaves. Then run your nail down the stem to split it open, scrape out the pith. At this stage they need to be dried as they will shrink - we just hang ours over the landing or in the airing cupboard. They then need to be wet to make them pliable.

Take one length and fold it in half. Hold it at the bend and place the nettle over your thigh and roll it towards your knee with your other hand, continue until it is all twisted, then I just tie off the end. It should stay twisted. If you need to extend the length, I just add another piece on which you roll into the other piece.

The string is strong and does look like twine.

Hope this makes sense, I will try & find some we have done and send it to you or give it you when we catch up if that helps.

[4pygmies]

Hmmm, thanks Myrtle - I shall definitely be trying this. It would please me mightily to find such a good use for all the MILES of nettles I have. Thanks sugar!

[goth]

If you rub yourself with a bunch of nettles [on the affected areas], it relieves arthritic pain

We make nettle beer too. The kids love it and it doesn't last long in our house. The recipe involves nettles, yeast, sugar, water and oranges. I'll have to dig out the recipe

Only one downside, and that is, when you open a fresh bottle, most of it escapes in froth...and it just doesn't stop!

It helps to chill the beer before opening though.

[bogmyrtle]

goth said:

If you rub yourself with a bunch of nettles [on the affected areas], it relieves arthritic pain

We make nettle beer too. The kids love it and it doesn't last long in our house. The recipe involves nettles, yeast, sugar, water and oranges. I'll have to dig out the recipe

Only one downside, and that is, when you open a fresh bottle, most of it escapes in froth...and it just doesn't stop!

It helps to chill the beer before opening though.

I've heard that they are good for arthritis as well Goth.

The recipe we use is HFW's.

Do you ever get a difference in the colour of different batches? I only ask because one year, we used exactly the same recipe but a couple of weeks apart, one was a lot darker than the other. We mentioned it to a friend on a food course who had brought his with him and he had found the same. The only explanation he came up with was the one day was sunny and the other cloudy and it had been raining earlier.

[bogmyrtle]

4pygmies said:

Hmmm, thanks Myrtle - I shall definitely be trying this. It would please me mightily to find such a good use for all the MILES of nettles I have. Thanks sugar!

Great to get your own back on them! ;D

[goth]

bogmyrtle said:

Do you ever get a difference in the colour of different batches? I only ask because one year, we used exactly the same recipe but a couple of weeks apart, one was a lot darker than the other. We mentioned it to a friend on a food course who had brought his with him and he had found the same. The only explanation he came up with was the one day was sunny and the other cloudy and it had been raining earlier.

I can't say I've noticed Myrtle

Perhaps you use slightly different quantities of leaves each time you make it?

When you're measuring in colanderfulls/handfulls/whatever, you're bound to get slightly different amounts each time.

The more leaves you use, the darker the beer?

Also, you may be using more mature leaves as apposed to young shoots?

Your fermentation time may also differ slightly on occasions. A few extra days may result in a darker beer.

[bogmyrtle]

goth said:

bogmyrtle said:

Do you ever get a difference in the colour of different batches? I only ask because one year, we used exactly the same recipe but a couple of weeks apart, one was a lot darker than the other. We mentioned it to a friend on a food course who had brought his with him and he had found the same. The only explanation he came up with was the one day was sunny and the other cloudy and it had been raining earlier.

I can't say I've noticed Myrtle

Perhaps you use slightly different quantities of leaves each time you make it?

When you're measuring in colanderfulls/handfulls/whatever, you're bound to get slightly different amounts each time.

The more leaves you use, the darker the beer?

Also, you may be using more mature leaves as apposed to young shoots?

Your fermentation time may also differ slightly on occasions. A few extra days may result in a darker beer.

As long as it tastes good we'll drink it

[goth]

bogmyrtle said:

As long as it tastes good we'll drink it

Exactly!

[canarycreeper]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but nettle slurry is a good all-purpose liquid plant feed. I fill 2-litre milk plastic milk bottles with nettles (tips or young ones), fill up with water and leave a couple of weeks. I dilute the resulting (stinking) brew 1:10 with water and use it on potted plants indoors and outdoors ... also use it when watering in cuttings to give them a bit of a head-start. .... cheers ...

[Sweetleaf]

canarycreeper said:

Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but nettle slurry is a good all-purpose liquid plant feed. I fill 2-litre milk plastic milk bottles with nettles (tips or young ones), fill up with water and leave a couple of weeks. I dilute the resulting (stinking) brew 1:10 with water and use it on potted plants indoors and outdoors ... also use it when watering in cuttings to give them a bit of a head-start. .... cheers ...

Excellent idea, I have just been pushing them into one of my water barrels, it would be nice not to have to smell it all the time, milk bottles it is then! ;D

[bogmyrtle]

canarycreeper said:

Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but nettle slurry is a good all-purpose liquid plant feed. I fill 2-litre milk plastic milk bottles with nettles (tips or young ones), fill up with water and leave a couple of weeks. I dilute the resulting (stinking) brew 1:10 with water and use it on potted plants indoors and outdoors ... also use it when watering in cuttings to give them a bit of a head-start. .... cheers ...

Thanks canarycreeper, didn't know that but will give it a try.

They are more use to us than we realise and the butterflies like them!