‘Nettles ,Nicolas Culpepper(the 17th century herbalist, botanist, physician and astrologer,) is quoted as saying , may be found by feeling for them in the darkest night"
Usually makeing appearance from March onwards but can apperar earlier if mild weather permitts. Best to wait until there is abundant growth to start harvesting so from late March until they start flowering from late May. So once the plants have started flowering they produce cystoliths which are like microscopic rods of calcium carbonate and these can interfere with kidney function. So there is wisdom in the old belief that nettles should not be touched once Bealtaine has passed. However you can get fresh nettle growth again later in the year towards the end of the summer and throughout the autumn months. The herbalist Judith hood reccomends eating nettles in the spring time and then drying them for tea later in the year.
Nettles have their own particular flavour which I can only describe as a rich creamy greenness. Once the fear of being stung has been over come then their uses are unlimited. People often compare them to spinach but I think not and that they have a more intense flavour that oddly reminded me of milk and I imagine this has somthing to do with the high calcium content of the plant.Eating them feels like you are really doing your self a favour.
You can go down the traditional root and prepare a soup with them I have been looking at a lot of recipes for nettle soup in Ireland and although they do vary somewhat from contemporary takes which include all sorts to very basic old fashioned a lot of them do tend to include nettle, butter, oats and milk.
The more you look on line the more information about the nutritional value of nettles I uncover with some herbalists using the word miracleous when describing their potent ability. In traditional Chinese medicine they are included in a range of herbs that are traditionally used in springtime to tonify the kidneys and herbs. They in particular tonify Jing which is stored in the kidneys. There is no easy translation of Jing but it is associated with our adrenal l system. It also gives us the ability to move through the different stages of life fro infancy to old age. Nourishing and nurturing the Jing is an essential key to maintaining good health.
Spring is a time for fasting and cleansing as well as for nourishing and toning the liver an d the kidneys. Chinese medicine puts much emphasis on this but here in Ireland I see much parallels with this and lent with the giving upon sugar and fats and although the origins and traditions of this are very much more blurred then the directly accessible wisdom of the eastern tradition. I can however draw parallels between the traditions of abstinence and in the western christian belief system and the tcm cleansing spring period.
Nettle is widley seen as a traditional spring tonic and taken by people as a antidote to winter and depleted systems.
Using fresh nettles directly on the skin for rheumatic pain is called Urtication
According to Mrs Grieve’s Herbal the juice of the nettle is a great antidote to their sting
Superstitions and folklore are still strong in rural parts of Ireland. It fascinates me as to how much good common sense there is in. Lives governed and punctuated by adherence to significance and meaning in. A different kind of connection to the natural world, one of both reverance and respect and a different understanding. A systematic movement with the natural evolving seasons and rhythmic connection.