Springing into Nettle Season

Sap flows, birds sing and the trees bud with the promise of growth renewed. This time of year brings with it so many joys, and for the herbalist it also brings the promise of wild foods. 

Nettle teaches us the valuable lesson not to judge a book by its cover. How often have we created an idea of this person or that situation, only to discover we were wrong? Nettles (Urtica dioica) may have a prickly reputation, but inside that hard-to-approach exterior is a nutrient-dense plant we should all take the time to get to know. 

The best time to harvest nettles for food is in the spring, before they start to flower. Later in its life cycle it has a potentially irritating amount of silica content, which is why we aim for those tender young plants. Now why would I want to risk being stung to harvest this plant when I could just buy greens from the grocery store you ask? Nettle boast extremely high levels of iron, calcium, potassium, silica and vitamins A, D and K. In fact, one cup of cooked nettles easily contains 10% of your daily iron and 35% of your daily calcium! 

Sauteed as a side, as a substitute for basil in pesto and as an egg replacer in homemade pasta and gnocchi, nettles may quickly become your favourite new food.

Correne Omland
Clinical Western Herbalist Spiraea Herbal Clinic + Apothecary
spiraeaherbs.ca
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