Talking about greens... how about Stinging Nettle?

[Guest guest]

I´ve heard that nettles can be cooked like spinach.. with little water in a

pan..

It´s the cooking that destroys the nasty chemical that stings, it HAS to be

cooked.. I´ve also heard of nettle soup..

I think you are supposed to preferably use the young bits not the old fat

stringy stems.. but then it depends, maybe they could be blended in a soup

anyway..

I have lots of nettles in my wild garden here at the moment but somehow can´t

quite bring myself to try them.. I can´t get rid of the illogical vision of

choking on them LOL if anyone tries them before I do, let me know what they are

like and if I should too!

Louisa

 

 

 

 

I know Stinging Nettle can be used as a spring green but has

anyone in here ever tried it? How did you fix it?

 

Giselle

 

[Guest guest]

I've never cooked and eaten it, but I have retted and spun it. I was trying

to make a nettle cloth handkerchief. It's a bast fiber like hemp or linen,

that means one uses the stalk for spinnable fiber. Alas, it didn't spin up

as fine as I wanted it to - but that was with my old wheel, I bet it would

on my new one (better ratios). That said, I would only use the leaves, not

the stalk, 'cause that's the part that people use for fiber (cloth) and I

can't say that would be particularly good eats.

 

Tameson in NH

[Guest guest]

I have used nettles medicinally--I have made tea and tinctures out of the. One

of the important issues about them is to harvest them in the spring before they

flower--once they flower, they may develope certain chemicals that can be hard

on your kidneys..

 

Yes, you cook the young leaves and stems like spinach or chard. I often just

buy them dried @ the herb store or my local Coop and add them to soups and stews

to increase the nutritional value of the dish.

 

Kathleen

 

I know Stinging Nettle can be used as a spring green but has anyone in here ever

tried it?