Spring Nettles!

Nettles symbolise spring. They are one of the first wild winter dormant plants to pop up at the beginning of the year. I harvested nettles for first time this year today. It is incredible to see the difference in our bioregion, compared to Victoria's. Nettles were large enough to harvest at least a week ago in Victoria. At OUR Ecovillage we are farther north as well as living on Baldy Mountain.

My Neighbours have a beautiful property, part forest part field. They were giving me a tour of their land and commented on the nettles taking over their grassy areas. It is difficult for them because the nettles kept on coming back and their sheep will not eat them.
I passed onto them that goats love to eat nettles if they are chopped down in the summer and sit in the sun in a few days. Once the sting disappears the goats go wild for the fresh, tasty, nutritious nettles! I suggested they try the same with the sheep, once the nettles grow tall and before they go to seed.

We got into a fantastic conversation about eating nettles. How they are like mother's milk, because they provide so many of the nutrients that our bodies need. With bags in our hands we walked around the property and harvested. If you are respectful of the nettles (Urtica Dioca) you can harvest with bare hands. And they do not sting. It is an amazing process to harvest them simply with scissors. You can always use gloves, if you want.

They are a plant of abundance. When you harvest the top third leaves and stalk of a nettle plant, it grows back two heads instead of one. There for you can harvest from every plant you see (As long as it is at last 3 inches tall). By harvesting responsibly and giving time for the plant to grow before reharvesting you are increasing the amount of nettles available for other people and animals to eat.

We brought the nettles to the kitchen and rinsed them in a bowl. I am careful not to touch them as i tossed them around under the tap. Then i placed the young nettles in a pot with a small amount of water and steamed them for about eight minutes, until they looked like steamed spinach. We put butter on them today, but they taste best on their own.

Mmmmm! I would rather eat nettles than anything else in the world!
Thankyou nettles for your abundance and your wild connection to the new growth of spring....