Nettles are so well known that they need no description; they can be found by feeling, in the darkest night.
-Nicholas Culpeper
Cursed for its nasty sting, nettles can take some getting used to, but knowing how to harvest and handle this spicy herb is worth the effort!
The nettle is native to North America, Europe and Asia and is found in all temperate regions of the world and is naturalized in most areas including Australia and New Zealand.
Nettles are extremely useful. In addition to being a great tonic and having many medicinal uses, it can be eaten (the sting goes away when cooked) and its stems can be turned into fiber to make rope, yarn and paper!
Nettles grow skillfully in wild places. Look for it in the woods, near riverbanks, roadsides, edges of fields, waste ground (it likes to grow over septic fields), meadows and anywhere where nitrogen levels are high in the soil.
Let us now carefully examine a nettle plant. Experience will teach you how to handle this herb without protection, but if you are new to nettles you may want to put on a pair of thin gardening gloves to protect yourself from its sting. Those who have a relationship with Nettles’ medicine honor its sting and accept that a few stings are worth it.
Look closely at its stem, it is not perfectly round, but appears as if four thin stems are placed together, for its stem is a rounded square with four notches in the center of each side. This stem is covered with fine hairs or stings that contain formic acid, serotonin and histamine.
Be careful when touching its leaves, they contain stingers on the undersides and on the stems. The leaf looks rough because the veins are sunken into it.
A word about its sting: I have noticed that it does not like to sting when touched. Instead, like stingers, the fine hairs wait until they are crushed before their acid is released. When I harvest nettles, I don’t get stung much anymore, because I’ve learned that as long as I don’t go against him, he won’t sting me. It’s similar to running your hand over a long-furred stuffed animal. As long as you stroke it in the direction the hair lies, it will remain smooth. But if you go the other way, the hairs stick out in all directions. The same goes for nettles. If you hold one of its leaves while harvesting, or touch the stem while handling it, you have very little chance of being stung. Try this at your own risk, but remember: even the sting has healing benefits!
All parts of nettles are useful medicinally, although usually only the tender tops and leaves are used. However, there are great medicines in its roots and seeds and they should be considered medicine too.
As food, the tender buds are harvested in the spring, then fried or boiled (keeping the water for drinking for its mineral content) or chopped and added to soups, stews and casseroles.
Why all the fuss about eating a plant that clearly doesn’t want to be eaten, considering its sting can stay with you for the rest of the day? Because Nettle is one of the most nourishing and toning herbs, it has an extremely high content of calcium, chlorophyll, chromium, magnesium and zinc, rich in cobalt, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, protein, B2 (riboflavin), selenium, silicon, B1 (thiamine), vitamins A and C. It contains moderate amounts of iron, Be (niacin) and tin and traces of aluminum.
Medicinally, nettle is used as a nourishing adrenal tonic, alternative, antiallergenic, anticatarrhal, antihistamine, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antirheumatic, antiscorbutic, antiseptic, antilithic, astringent, blood tonic, carminative, cholagogue, circulatory stimulant, decongestant, purgative, diuretic. , expectorant, febrifuge, galactagogue, hemostatic, hypoglycemic, renal tonic, lithotriptic, mucolytic, nervine, nutritive, parturient, pectoral, tonic, hemostatic and uterine tonic. In addition, the seed is considered adaptogenic, anthelmintic, antiseptic, endocrine tonic, rejuvenating, thyroid tonic, troforestorative and vermifuge. The root is also considered a prostate and tonic, especially for the prostate.
Nettles have an affinity with the kidneys, liver and muscles. As a diuretic, it really gets fluids moving. Many cases have been reported of restoring the kidneys and preventing or eliminating the need for dialysis through the use of generous amounts of daily infusions. Herbalists Matthew Wood and David Winston speak about such cases. As a lithotriptic, Nettle helps dissolve and remove urinary and gallbladder stones and gravel. Alternatively, cleansing the kidneys and liver also has a cleansing effect on the blood.
The roots are specific to prostate problems. According to David Winston in his book Saw Palmetto for men and women, “Nettle root inhibits the breakdown of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone. The mechanism for this is believed to be inhibition of both 5-alpha reductase and aromatase.” He recommends combining nettle root with equal parts saw palmetto (Serenoa relents), Collinsonia (Collinsonia canadensis) and White Sage (Salvia apiana) for benign prostatic hyperplasia.
In the spring, after a heavy rain, you will find the roots nestled under the emerging plants. They often send out long runners that can be easily teased off the ground. This is a great way to practice crowd control in your nettle patch, thinning them out and preventing them from spreading too far into the rest of the garden.
According to Matthew Wood, nettle is ‘one of the most useful plants in the pharmacopoeia’. He states that nettles act on all constitutional types, from nourishing and nourishing to desensitizing against allergens to helping remove excess stagnation in the body, including water and mucus.
If you or someone you know suffers from allergies, drinking daily nettle infusions can be very helpful in helping your body overcome these allergies.
Nettles contain histamine and help the body’s mucous membrane become less sensitive to allergens.
Although it may seem strange, the sting of nettles is actually quite healing. I used to suffer from arthritis in my fingers, but after running my knuckles with Nettles every time the pain arose, I managed to heal myself and haven’t had it for over 5 years now.
Nettles are quite rubefacient and cause circulation and redness on any part of the skin it touches. Increased circulation is useful for diabetics. Nettles also provide blood circulation in the peripheral blood vessels, along with its diuretic properties to help lower high blood pressure.
For nursing mothers, Nettle is a galactagogue, helping to increase milk flow. Some sources state that it actually regulates the current, increasing or decreasing it as necessary.
Pregnant women and others suffering from anemia will find Nettles useful as it is high in iron and chlorophyll.
If you suffer from asthma, make sure you have plenty of nettles on hand! The tincture is great to have on hand for acute attacks, while taking daily infusions over time can help build your lungs to help repair and heal lung tissue. Deep penetrating steam with nettles can help bring out mucus and congestion, making it a useful expectorant during illness.
As Nettles tries to destroy these allergens (proteins) from the body, it works well with the liver to break down these proteins and remove them from the body, keeping the kidneys functioning properly.
Although it may seem strange, the sting of nettles is actually quite healing. I used to suffer from arthritis in my fingers, but after running my knuckles with Nettles every time the pain arose, I managed to heal myself and haven’t had it for over 5 years now.
Nettles are quite rubefacient and cause circulation and redness on any part of the skin it touches. Increased circulation is useful for diabetics. Nettles also provide blood circulation in the peripheral blood vessels, along with its diuretic properties to help lower high blood pressure.
For nursing mothers, Nettle is a galactagogue, helping to increase milk flow. Some sources state that it actually regulates the current, increasing or decreasing it as necessary.
Pregnant women and others suffering from anemia will find Nettles useful as it is high in iron and chlorophyll.
If you suffer from asthma, make sure you have plenty of nettles on hand! The tincture is great to have on hand for acute attacks, while taking daily infusions over time can help build your lungs to help repair and heal lung tissue. Deep penetrating steam with nettles can help bring out mucus and congestion, making it a useful expectorant during illness.
Want to know more about Nettles? There are different ways to learn! You can purchase the Nettles ebook from my store, or if you want additional curriculum and video lessons, you can join Herb Club for just $10 a month where you get 7 video lessons and 4 curriculum levels plus bonus coloring pages.