Stinging Nettle Uses

How do you process stinging nettle and what do you use it for? I’ve made so thread from it but that’s about it.

So far I have made tea with it, both to add to my dogs' food as well as for me and my family, and I also use it to make compost tea.

Stinging nettle is a medicinal herb and there are so many different ways to use it.

Here are some recipes:

https://permies.com/t/54971/kitchen/sourdough-stinging-nettle-pesto-bread

https://permies.com/t/119475/kitchen/Stinging-Nettle-Pineapple-Smoothies

https://permies.com/t/13686/kitchen/Harvest-stinging-nettle-delicious-green


Here is one for pain:

https://permies.com/t/118174/kitchen/stinging-nettle-pain-relief


These all have nettles mentioned in them:

https://permies.com/t/52035/kitchen/Nettle-allergies

https://permies.com/t/88768/kitchen/Nettle-Leaves-Salve-younger-leaves

https://permies.com/t/86431/kitchen/Severe-Seasonal-Allergies

https://permies.com/t/86422/kitchen/high-blood-pressure-herbs

https://permies.com/t/55406/kitchen/Desperate-allergy-relief

https://permies.com/t/124976/kitchen/ve-Cold-favourite-remedy-tincture

https://permies.com/t/133775/kitchen/Foraged-Herbs-Urinary-Tract-Kidney

I have begun making nettle beer with them. Real easy.
in fact i am drinking some right now!


Alot of the suggested threads above will give you many answers :D

Of course it's an excellent edible green leafy vegetable.

In winter when there aren't a lot of fresh vegetables available where I live, I like to throw some into any soup or stew type of thing.

I happened on a fun use that became very popular with my colleagues here. I make a popcorn topping by powdering local nettles, my own dill, local dried chives, and salt in the blender. Sticks nicely to buttered popcorn and makes a vibrant dark green. Yum!

jordan barton wrote:I have begun making nettle beer with them.

How easy is it, I've always wanted to try that?

Stinging Nettle is one of those really good biodynamic brews for soil improvement.  A tea made in a big bucket over several days, stirring a few times a day, gets a tea (which can be diluted)  to be poured into a compost pile or around plants to enhance the soil critters.

I would caution anyone who hasn't tried eating a wild green to try it in small amounts first.  I have a book called Wildcrafting Cocktails, and was eager to try the wild fennel pesto....about 2 AM I got heartburn like I've never had before, even though I didn't use much and it was mixed in with parsley.  Maybe I should have boiled it first, but I am not eager to try it again.

There are other types of herbs that can be used to make biodynamic brews, but sometimes honeybees go crazy for them and will be drawn to the liquid and drown, or force their way under the lid of the container they are brewing in and not be able to get out.  This happened to me with thistle tea, they acted like it was heroin, wouldn't leave the open container where they could stand on the leaves.  So those types of brews I make in a shed with a very tightly closed door.

I eat nettles and drink them as an infusion. I always feel more energized and healthy when I eat and drink nettle. So nourishing and nutritious!

An herbalist friend told me about using it for arthritis, joint pain and some other inflammatory conditions of the musculoskeletal system. The method might sound crazy, but it has worked wonders for me. You find a live nettle and sting the affected area with it. I have an issue with my thumb that sometimes makes it totally unusable due to the pain (de quervain's tenosynovitis). I find that when I nettle my hand, it stops hurting for days, sometimes weeks and I am able to regain my range of motion and full use of the hand. Not a bad trade off for the few minutes of discomfort the nettle causes. I get bummed out in winter when I can't avail myself of this treatment.
I can't recall the reason it works right now. I believe it increases circulation to the area, among other things.

Sam Langley wrote:

jordan barton wrote:I have begun making nettle beer with them.

How easy is it, I've always wanted to try that?

Very easy. Essentially it is. Making a very strong nettle tea and adding cane sugar and yeast. Along with whatever else you would like. I have added lemon juice, ginger, mugwort.

Nettle Beer Recipe

Stinging nettle root and leaf are used to treat enlarged prostate, common in men over 50.

You can also use nettle leaves for the treatment of eczema.
Make an infusion from the leaves, let it cool, soak a cotton ball in the infusion, and spread on the affected areas.
Repeat this treatment 2-3 times a day for a week.

Heather Olivia wrote:

An herbalist friend told me about using it for arthritis, joint pain and some other inflammatory conditions of the musculoskeletal system. The method might sound crazy, but it has worked wonders for me. You find a live nettle and sting the affected area with it. I have an issue with my thumb that sometimes makes it totally unusable due to the pain (de quervain's tenosynovitis). I find that when I nettle my hand, it stops hurting for days, sometimes weeks and I am able to regain my range of motion and full use of the hand. Not a bad trade off for the few minutes of discomfort the nettle causes. .

This is what my mother in law kept insisting to me for my arthritic joints. I wish it worked for me, but it doesn't at all, lol. Instead I just get puffy rashes from the nettle that last for 2-4 days, and my fingers still swell and crick.

I know nettle tea is good-for-health, but I dont find it tasty myself, so do not drink it.

Nettle beer might be worth a shot though. My father in law was asking me again on the weekend what he could do with the massive patch of stinging nettle that his wife has cultivated. He would like to rip it out, and to be honest I feel bad for him, lol, it's quite painful to get around it! Maybe I can sell him on making some beer with it. :)

Heather Olivia wrote:I eat nettles and drink them as an infusion. I always feel more energized and healthy when I eat and drink nettle. So nourishing and nutritious!

An herbalist friend told me about using it for arthritis, joint pain and some other inflammatory conditions of the musculoskeletal system. The method might sound crazy, but it has worked wonders for me. You find a live nettle and sting the affected area with it. I have an issue with my thumb that sometimes makes it totally unusable due to the pain (de quervain's tenosynovitis). I find that when I nettle my hand, it stops hurting for days, sometimes weeks and I am able to regain my range of motion and full use of the hand. Not a bad trade off for the few minutes of discomfort the nettle causes. I get bummed out in winter when I can't avail myself of this treatment.
I can't recall the reason it works right now. I believe it increases circulation to the area, among other things.

I drink nettle as part of my daily regimen, and while I don't think about how much it helps me, every day - I *know* when I've missed it. I've not been able to find it growing, locally, but I'm always on the lookout. I'd live to try it, for my arthritis!

Absolutely CAN be eaten. https://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Stinging-Nettles

Nettles like danelions have gotten a bad rap...I've also heard you can eat the spring new growth without having to do the blanching method from the above link.

Plus I love the idea of using the "blanching" water as part of a soup stock.

  I eat tons of nettle leaves in spring.  To harvest I like to use a colander with a handle and scissors.  Using the colander to catch the trimmings, I will try to cut just the top few leaves and top node with as little stem as possible.  

    I have a little “trick move” where I open the scissors wide, straddle the stem below the area I want, then slide the scissors up to make an almost bouquet of the plant material I want, and snip! This saves me from snipping the leaves from the stem in the kitchen, and getting stung.  

    Once in the kitchen I like to use nettle like spinach or kale.  I’ll cook the whole leaves a bit to take the sting out, then chop as needed.  Nettle Sagg Paneer is my go to recipe.  Nettle does not cook into anything I’d call smooth like spinach, but the texture is not bad either.