Did you know that nettles are useful?

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Bill P

Inactive
Thanks Deb.

I have a ton of these growing in the back yard. They grow to about 3-4feet and have huge pinkish blooms.

Now I know whatto do with them - thanks.
 
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goatlady2

Deceased
Lamb's quarters are wonderful stir fried or raw in a salad also. Dandilion flowers make a nice golden wine, young leaves are good cooked. Dandilion root well dried and ground has been used many places as a coffee substitute.
 
F

Freeholdfarm

Inactive
If anyone has nettles on their place (or knows where there are some) I would really like to have some seeds. I'll pay postage. There used to be a lot of nettle patches around where we moved from, on the Oregon Coast, but haven't seen any there in a long time. Couldn't find any near where we used to live in NH, either.

Kathleen
 
Libertarian

Libertarian

Deceased
Freeholdfarm said:
If anyone has nettles on their place (or knows where there are some) I would really like to have some seeds. I'll pay postage. There used to be a lot of nettle patches around where we moved from, on the Oregon Coast, but haven't seen any there in a long time. Couldn't find any near where we used to live in NH, either.

Kathleen
Click to expand...

Your neighbors will love you. Nettles spread like, well.... weeds. :lol:
 
D

Deb Mc

Veteran Member
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spinner

Veteran Member
Kathleen,

Some of the seed companies sell stinging nettle seeds. Richter's and Fedco (only in the early spring) are two of them. You could probably find more if you searched Google. I have also purchased dried nettles from www.herbalcom.com when I didn't have any growing. This is a great company that I recommend for quality, price and service. They have an amazing selection!

Hi Deb, how are you doing with the spinning? Maybe we need a thread for that?

spinner
 
Vicki

Vicki

Girls With Guns Member
I love nettles, especially in tea. Once stung by it, you will never forget what it looks like. Steaming the young plant for 20 minutes removes the sting or drying it for 3 days or so works the same. I used to order it dried or go to my old house further in the country to gather some but we have a friend who we get horse manure from for our garden and last year I had nettles springing up all over my garden. I transplanted it to the edge of the woods and I have a real nice patch growing there now. If you want to wait Kathleen, I will send you some seed when it's mature. It still amazes me that horses and cows can eat it fresh. lol

Vicki
 
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Deb Mc

Veteran Member
Hi Spinner! How are you?

I've been REALLY busy around the homestead, so I've not had as much time to spin as I'd like. Still there is some very neat fibre just begging to be spun, so once the other projects are done, it's back to spinning for me! :)

Thanks for the link, btw! I need to see if there are any nettles on the property, otherwise, I'll need to buy some seed for my medicinal herb garden.


Btw, all, here's a website that offers stinging nettle (and other Biblical food) seeds for sale. (I've never bought from them, so I can't vouch for them, but they seem to be legit.)


http://www.boldweb.com/greenweb/jesus.html


Best wishes all! :)
 
F

Freeholdfarm

Inactive
Libertarian, actually in the dry climate we are in now, I'll have to water my nettle patch just to keep it alive. Not much danger of it spreading, :lol:

Thanks to those who suggested sources for nettle seeds. They are such useful plants in spite of the sting that I really want to have a patch here where I have ready access.

Kathleen
 
Tweakette

Tweakette

Irrelevant
Kathleen, our property is covered with nettles. They're all around the base of my fruit trees - drive me crazy! I'm constantly getting zapped by them.

I'll save some seeds when they flower, if I can get ahold of them. I've never collected seeds from them - we have so many I'm usually more interested in eradicating them rather than propogating them!

PM me later in the summer to remind me and I'll go out and look for them. I could maybe ship live plants but they're already starting to get tall.

Tweak
 
Vicki

Vicki

Girls With Guns Member
>>Kathleen, our property is covered with nettles. They're all around the base of my fruit trees - drive me crazy! I'm constantly getting zapped by them.

I'll save some seeds when they flower, if I can get ahold of them. I've never collected seeds from them - we have so many I'm usually more interested in eradicating them rather than propogating them! <<

Nettles is going for $14.00 a pound dried Tweak. Maybe you should consider learning how to harvest and dry them properly and sell them to health food stores. It's a thought! ;) Here's one place I buy from and if you scroll down you will see the price on the nettles. They sell ounces to a couple of pounds.

Vicki

http://www.jeansgreens.com/Catalog/Herb list.htm
 
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spinner

Veteran Member
Dried nettles are $4.50/lb on herbalcom. They aren't organic, but I have been pleased with the quality in the past.

spinner
 
Vicki

Vicki

Girls With Guns Member
Well that's an interesting site spinner. Thank you for the tip! I grow my own but need to buy sometimes. They do offer a huge variety. I like that they do craft items as well.

Vicki
 
S

spinner

Veteran Member
You are welcome, Vicki. I grow my own , too, but sometimes I just run out or things don't grow as well one year as another.

I buy spices from them that I can't grow such as cinnamon and cloves and I have always been pleased.

I am glad that it was helpful.

spinner
 
Kimber

Kimber

Membership Revoked
On a somewhat related note to nettles and other disfavored greenery,

My wife absolutely loves Poison Ivy. Seriously. Apparently, after you pick it (carefully) and boil it, it makes a nice soup. I've never had the guts to go anywhere near the stuff. She swears that it makes a wonderful soup with no adverse reactions AFTER its been turned into a soup.

Please don't try the above without additional research, however. It hasn't seemed to cause her any ill health, but she may just be weird. And, she's Russian, so this could be some type of sneaky plot.

David
 
LeafyForest

LeafyForest

Veteran Member
Nettles brings back many memories off childhood - of itchy red spots and of my dad picking the new growth and boiling them and eating them as a second vegetable. Think I'll still pass on that one!!!

Enjoyed reading the sites listed - thanks. Got them bookmarked. Learn something new every day!!! :)
 
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