Herbs • Nettle

Nettle grows wild throughout Europe. Nettle yarn has been found in Bronze Age Danish burials.

Ancient Roman warriors in Britain are known to have rubbed nettle leaves on their hands to maintain normal blood circulation in cold and wet weather.

Medicinal use:

There is a proverb in Scotland: “Many beautiful maidens would not have descended into the earth before their time if they drank nettle tea in March and ate wormwood in May.”

Nettle is one of the most versatile and multipurpose plants in the herbalist’s arsenal. Although collecting it is indeed hellish torment, but it’s worth it.

Nettle grows in the nastiest, no longer suitable areas, and does not require any special care – even if you do not pay any attention to it, it will return on its own, year after year.

Harvest can be done twice a year. If you start cutting nettles more often, then in the end you will just exhaust them.

The tiny, needle-like hairs that cover the stalks of nettles contain formic acid, the same acid that ants inject when they bite. It is she who causes burning, triggering histamine reactions.

But if the nettle is dried or cooked, it will stop stinging. In general, stinging nettle brings warmth and dryness to any medicinal formulation and pairs surprisingly well with many other herbs.

Nettle is one of the few medicinal herbs from which juice is squeezed for drinking. But be careful – see that burning hairs do not get into the juice.

You will need a really high-quality juicer for greens, or the juice will have to be boiled – and in the latter case, you can just as well make a strong decoction from the leaves and stems, without fiddling with squeezing the juice.

Such a decoction stimulates blood circulation, lowers blood sugar levels, cleanses the body, reduces overall moisture and suppresses inflammation.

It is a mild diuretic. It tones the kidneys, removes uric acid from the body and is used in the treatment of arthritis and lupus.

Nettles appear to be able to convert waste products into protein, as evidenced by the fact that they themselves are surprisingly rich in protein, even though they grow in poor soils.

Thanks to this, it restores the functions of some organs. It is used as a remedy for impotence (stimulating the work of the testicles) and to stimulate the functions of the thyroid gland.

Nettle tea stops bleeding. For nosebleeds, simply soak a cotton ball in nettle tea and place it in your nostril. Nettle also helps with internal bleeding.

Nettle juice has all of these properties, which in addition acts as a tonic, rich in proteins and vitamins (it is often prescribed for anemia, diabetes and scurvy), and also helps with skin diseases such as eczema (especially on the hands).

Nursing mothers can take nettle juice to maintain lactation, and in the period after weaning the baby from the breast, lubricate the nipples with nettle gruel so that the milk disappears.

Mixed with honey and water, nettle juice can be drunk with asthma. From the same disease, smoking cigars made from dried nettle leaves helps. As a prophylactic, nettle juice reduces allergic reactions to plant pollen.

Fresh nettle restores skin circulation during hypothermia. Until recently, to stimulate the circulation, it was sometimes prescribed to burn or lash rheumatic joints with stalks of nettle.

This method is used to this day to restore skin nerve endings after spinal injuries. In addition, nettle compresses can be used for tendonitis and inflammation of the joints.

Nettle gruel is an excellent remedy for burns, even deep ones: it significantly speeds up healing.

Household Application:

A greenish-yellow dye is prepared from the whole plant. It can also be soaked, processed and spun like linen.

In Germany, such processed nettles are called Nessel-Garn (“nettle yarn”) and they make ropes and paper from it. Nettle is more difficult to harvest, but produces finer fibers than hemp and is almost as good as cotton.

When mixed with 25% cotton, it makes an excellent garment fabric. They say that velveteen plush from it is even better than from cotton.

The astringent young leaves can be used in facial poultices, bath mixes, and hair products.

Nettle roots contain silicon, which is why they have long been used as a remedy for hair loss and dandruff.

Nettle is a highly nutritious feed for livestock and poultry. It can be harvested twice a year – cut and dried like hay.

When dried, it no longer stings. Thanks to the addition of nettle to the diet, chickens begin to lay better, and dairy cattle give more milk.

Culinary Application:

Nettles can be eaten in the same way as mustard greens or spinach. After heat treatment, it stops stinging.

It is said that the best French chefs know dozens of different recipes with young nettle greens. In many European countries, nettles were planted under glass jars as edible spring greens.

As a spring tonic, boil and eat the tops of plants no more than 8 inches (about 20 cm) high: they are especially rich in iron and vitamins.

The fallen stems should not be eaten: the concentration of formic acid in them is higher, and they taste
too grainy and not so pleasant. But it is quite possible to collect and dry them for medicinal purposes.