Spiky leaves of nettles are just beginning to emerge between the greens of arugula and kale. It is a miracle of nature's timing that fresh nettles appear just as the wind blows pollen off the fruit blossoms of spring. Nettle (Urtica dioica) posses antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties that make it one of the best remedies for hay fever found in nature's apothecary.
For this reason, and many more, I harvest nettles to dry and some to eat fresh this week.
When I first started out in farming I remember mistaking the plant for mint and grabbing a big handful of nettles and holding it up to my face. I was met with a face-full of stings that last for hours as well as an unforgettable lesson to take more time to identify herbs before using, or even smelling.
This mistake was actually a preview at one of the uses of this multiply beneficial herbs. Years later when my travels took me to South America, I witnessed women intentionally stinging themselves with nettles in order to combat cold symptoms as well as heating the body up from constantly feeling cold in the high altitudes of the Andes.
Personally I love to drinking infusions of fresh or dried nettles to hold off urinary tract complaints or prevent overreactions to airborne pollen. The fresh leaves are delicious chopped up and added to our nightly bone broth or included in a herbal pesto with other fresh herbs of the season.
Nettles destined for a recipe are picked fresh for the broth or sauce I am making. The majority of my nettles harvest are dried in a little herb dryer along with whatever else is in season. This day I share a colorful array of herbs I collected in the garden and around the land: orange peel, cut up nettle leaves and some stems, and calendula flowers.
From nettle's native lands of Europe, to the fields of the farms I volunteered in my younger years in west coast USA, and now to my current garden in South America, this herb has been with humans and me for quite a while and continues to teach and share medicine with us.