{"id":161,"date":"2023-03-22T19:57:30","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T19:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/?p=161"},"modified":"2023-03-22T19:57:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T19:57:30","slug":"enjoy-the-delicious-wild-nettle-plant-epictactical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/?p=161","title":{"rendered":"ENJOY THE DELICIOUS WILD NETTLE PLANT: \u2013 EpicTactical"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ENJOY THE DELICIOUS \u00a0WILD NETTLE PLANT:<\/b><\/p>\n

An excellent food, medicine, and fibre source <\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0By Christopher Nyerges<\/p>\n

[Nyerges is the author of \u201cGuide to Wild Foods,\u201d \u201cHow to Survive Anywhere,\u201d \u201cForaging California\u201d and others. \u00a0He has led Wild Food Outings since 1974, and he lectures and writes on natural sciences and ethno-botany widely. His website is www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.Nyerges.com<\/a>, or he can be reached at School of Self-Reliance, Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041]<\/i><\/p>\n

With this year\u2019s rains, there has been an \u00a0abundance of \u00a0the nettles plant, among many other common wild herbs.<\/p>\n

Though widely regarded as a \u201cnuisance plant,\u201d indigenous peoples of California commonly used the native nettle plant for food.\u00a0 It was one of the favorite foods of Barbara Drake, a Tongva elder. (The Tongva are the indigenous people of the greater Los Angeles County area). \u00a0\u201cI love to cook with nettles,\u201d said Drake, who was renowned for her nettle and sunflower seed soup, which she would make and serve at large gatherings.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Adrian Gaytan sells nettles (\u201chortiga\u201d in Spanish) at farmers markets.<\/p>\n

Drake\u2019s students always loved her nettle soups, which were also nutritionally-based.\u00a0 \u00a0According to the USDA\u2019s Composition of Foods<\/u>, 100 grams of nettle contains 6,500 I.U. of Vitamin A, and 76 mg. of Vitamin C. \u00a0This amount contains 481 mg. of calcium, 71 mg. of phosphorus, and 334 mg. of potassium. This amount also contains 5.5 grams of protein, a lot for greens, though not complete protein.Writing in the book that she co-authored, \u201cCooking the Native Way,\u201d Drake describes her famous nettle soup.\u00a0 \u201cAlways use gloves or tongs when handling fresh nettle,\u201d advises Drake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a soup pot, sautee 3 minced garlic cloves, and one diced medium onion in 3 tablespoons of olive oil.\u00a0 Add two quarts of broth or water (low sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth), and two cups of raw, unsalted shelled sunflower seeds.\u00a0 Add an herb bundle (three-inch sprig of thyme, sage, rosemary, and one bay leaf).\u00a0 Simmer for 20 minutes until the sunflower seeds soften. Add two handfuls of fresh nettles (or one cup dried), and simmer for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.\u00a0 Remove the herb bundle and serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A view of the stinging nettle plant.<\/p>\n

Most people who enjoy nettles cook the greens in some variation of the Drake recipe, often simply boiling and serving with butter.\u00a0 In many of the records of the depravities of WWII, survivors speak of food shortages, and how nettles were commonly used to make meals.\u00a0 Europeans who lived through WWII, such as the esteemed botanist Dr. Leonid Enari, have reported that people survived the hardships of World War II by eating wild nettles and cattails.<\/p>\n

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Nettle leaves cooked like spinach at a camp.<\/p>\n

David Moerman, in his classic \u201cNative American Ethnobotany,\u201d catalogs the many food, medicinal, and utilitarian uses of both the native and the introduced nettle plant by Native Americans. \u00a0Nearly all the groups he profiles have used the nettle greens for food, once cooked.\u00a0Most have also used the fibre of the mature stalks for basketry, mats, and cordage.\u00a0 And a surprisingly large number of tribes used the fresh nettle to swat on the skin, as a temporary relief to the pain of rheumatism.<\/p>\n

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioeca) is a fairly common plant throughout most of North America, which originated in Europe and is now widely found in the wild and in back yards.\u00a0 Native nettles (Urtica holosericea), also called \u201ccreek nettle,\u201d is a taller and more robust plant than the European variety, though the European nettle is far more widespread. \u00a0\u00a0Both can be used in all the ways described here.<\/p>\n

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Student Ryan examines the \u201cstingers\u201d on the nettle plant.<\/p>\n

The reason why so many people dislike \u201cstinging\u201d nettles is because when you brush up against it, you break off the tips of tiny hollow needles that are filled with formic acid, and you get a stinging reaction.<\/p>\n

Nicholas Hummingbird, of Chumash-Cahuilla roots, talks about his first experience with nettle in \u201cThe Ethnobotany Project.\u201d\u00a0 He says, \u201cI\u2019ll never forget the first time I accidentally touched (nettle).\u00a0 Man, did I hurt! But you know what I found out?\u00a0 You take a mugwort leaf and you rub it on the sting, and it takes it away.\u201d\u00a0 According to herbalists, you can remove the sting of nettles by rubbing the skin\u00a0 with many herbs including mugwort,\u00a0 chickweed, curly dock, or even wild grasses.<\/p>\n

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Stinging nettles that have been washed, de-stemmed, and made ready for soup.<\/p>\n

Herbalist Michael Moore, author of Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West<\/u>, describes nettles as a diuretic and astringent, and he advises the tea for use in cases of internal bleeding.\u00a0 Nettle tea is used by herbalists for common allergies, such as those which result from being around excessive pollen in the spring and summer.\u00a0 There is widespread anecdotal evidence that suggests Nettle tea is useful for allergies.<\/p>\n

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A drying rack is one of the ways to dry nettles for future use.<\/p>\n

According to Enrique Villasenor, co-author of \u201cHealing with Medicinal Plants of the West\u201d with Dr. James Adams, \u201cA healthy prostate is critical for all men, especially as we age. BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia)\u00a0is a common disease in 90% of men over 60. \u00a0Research shows 50% of men between the ages of 51 to 60, \u00a0and 90% of men over 80, have been diagnosed with BPH. \u00a0Nettle is the most commonly used herbal remedy because of its anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and anti-viral effects. It also helps enhance and regulate the immune system.\u00a0 Nettle helps relieve the symptoms of BPH because it contains compounds such as phytosterols, lignans, \u00a0and polysaccharides.\u00a0 Phytosterols help you manage blood cholesterol levels.\u00a0 Lignans possess a steroid-like chemical structure. Polysaccharides stimulate your body to produce anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-viral activities. Some research also indicates that Nettle may be useful in fighting HIV infections, herpes, and hepatitis viruses.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A view of stinging nettles in the field.<\/p>\n

In general, nettles are found growing in the wild near streams, in moist soil, in rich soil, and often near raspberries and blackberry vines.\u00a0 And in the urban areas, it seems to grow everywhere: along roads, in fields, backyards, gardens, and even in the cracks of urban sidewalks.\u00a0 Although gardeners and city workers weed-whack this herb into oblivion every spring, health enthusiasts go to places like Whole Foods and pay $10 a box for the very same \u201cnuisance weeds\u201d that were probably growing in their own backyards.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ENJOY THE DELICIOUS \u00a0WILD NETTLE PLANT: An excellent food, medicine, and fibre source \u00a0By Christopher Nyerges [Nyerges is the author of \u201cGuide to Wild Foods,\u201d \u201cHow to Survive Anywhere,\u201d \u201cForaging California\u201d and others. \u00a0He has led Wild Food Outings since 1974, and he lectures and writes on natural sciences and ethno-botany widely. His website is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-survival"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163,"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions\/163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knifevoyager.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}