View Full Version : Stinging nettle
Stinging nettle is a plant hikers should know. Because of its many attributes, a thread about it is tough to assign to a particular WhiteBlaze forum. It may be best placed where I've put it because for most hikers it is a plant to avoid.
On the other hand, under the right conditions it is an edible plant and even a medicinal plant, but few hikers use it for those purposes.
Click on stinging nettle (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=URDI) to view the USDA Plants Database profile for Urtica dioica L.
sasquatch2014
10-11-2008, 19:32
I have hear a bunch about the tea but not sure how to go about making it. Having had experiences with the sting aspect of this plant it has my respect so not real eager to just explore and figure it out on my own.
Information about medicinal use of stinging nettle is provided by University of Maryland Medical Center here (http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/stinging-nettle-000275.htm).
Readers interested in learning more about natural remedies may wish to purchase or borrow a copy of The Green Pharmacy by James A. Duke, Ph.D.
Growing up along the Scioto River in Ohio my brother and I often encountered Stinging Nettles in the river bottoms and they can leave a nasty welt to some who are allergic to the poison as we were. But as Nature offends it also provides and we would immediately search the creek banks for a plant we knew as Water Horsetail, a short green bamboo looking plant that is almost always found near the nettles. We would pull a handfull of the Horstail and twist it in our hands to extract the clear juices of the plant and rub the stuff on our stings. The relief is almost instantanious and the welts will soon disappear. We learned this trick from an old farmer who lived in the area who was full of folklore. I wish he was still around. Here's a depiction of the Horsetail. http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~vam/treeimages/horsetail.jpg
actually in Europe it is on the menu: sups, stews... i ate the sup many times when i was a teen it was made from young plants, yogurt,,sour cream...i just remember it smells goood and is tasty mmmmmm, flowers are dried and the tea is awesome ,it is said the sting from the leaves is good for arthritis and rheumatism
I've never eaten stinging nettle, but I'm told it's very good and rich in a variety of vitamins. You do have to harvest it at the right time of year however.
With regard to hiking through nettles I've learned that if you brush against them when they and your clothing are very wet that the toxins will go right thru your clothing. The effect is not like brushing against them with bare skin. You'll be walking along when all of a sudden you realize that your legs are burning and covered with a bright red rash. I don't recall being stung thru my clothing when both the plants and clothes were dry.
Tipi Walter
10-12-2008, 12:13
I started eating nettle back in the early 1980s and on my last backpacking trip during Septermber '08 I ate up a bunch to augment my mac and cheese. Just boiled it up with the noodles and extended my twindling foot supply(by Day 11 I was nearly out of food, had to beg some granola bars from a group of fellow backpackers). I always take dried nettle leaves out with me too for hot tea with honey.
The nettle-as-food has a long history and is most remarkable in the life story of a Tibetan yogi named Milarepa, who lived in mountain caves his whole life and meditated on life's illusions. When he infrequently came out of the mountains he told his students where to find three things: A cave for shelter, free flowing water, and a patch of nettles. They say his body turned a green hue from eating so much nettle.
One time he felt he was too attached to his water pot which he used to boil up his nettles. So during a hike one day he tripped and his pot fell to the ground and broke apart and the green lining inside the pot(built up by so much nettle cooking), pulled apart from the pot and continued to roll down the hill. When he saw the lining rolling, he figured he was way too attached to the pot and was glad to be shut of it.
Strategic
10-12-2008, 12:20
It's also a good idea to remember that along the AT a good plant grows that is also a remedy for nettle stings: Broad-leaved Dock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumex). Crush the leaves and rub them on the stung patch of skin. Like the horsetail remedy above, it works almost instantly, and docks and nettles grow in the same soils and conditions.
Thank you for all the wonderful posts. I am glad I began this thread.:)
Like the horsetail remedy above, it works almost instantly, and docks and nettles grow in the same soils and conditions.
Interesting how that works, isn't it? I am always able to find jewelweed when I desire it. Does anyone know if jewelweed is of any use in alleviating nettle's sting?
Readers interested in learning more about natural remedies may wish to purchase or borrow a copy of The Green Pharmacy by James A. Duke, Ph.D.
It was there I first learned freeze-dried stinging nettle is recommended for allergic rhinitis. I have used it along with other herbal remedies and dietary modifications leading up to and through ragweed pollen season and have obtained considerable relief.
I don't know what prompted me to forgo portions of what has worked in the past this year, but I may need to consider resuming my old program. Spending ragweed season deep in the Maine woods where the season's shorter and there's less pollen has helped too.
Waterfall
10-12-2008, 15:01
Stinging nettle is yummy. I first learned about eating it a few years ago and usually have some with dinner whenever I'm hiking in the spring. Cooking it (obviously) takes the stingies out. Here's a photo of a trailside meal featuring steamed nettles: http://asortofnotebook.blogspot.com/2005/06/dinner.html
Ziggy Trek
10-15-2008, 21:11
Everybody says it tastes good. But what does it actually taste like? I've read it's a substitute for boiled spinach. Is that close? I love spinach.
Everybody says it tastes good. But what does it actually taste like? I've read it's a substitute for boiled spinach. Is that close? I love spinach.
spinach,salad,broccoli and sour weed all together
Ziggy Trek
10-16-2008, 09:24
spinach,salad,broccoli and sour weed all together
Definitely want to try that, thanks!