Does anyone grow stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)? I’m thinking about planting some next year in containers, mostly for fertilizer but I would also like to drink some tea just to see if it helps my allergies at all. Any tips, observations, opinions?
Yes!
I started by purchasing nettle tea, then started harvesting from random wild patches, and have now started growing it (but haven’t harvested any yet).
From personal experience, I find nettle tea great for hayfever. In peak pollen season, mid-summer, when it’s really bad, I still need medication but in spring and autumn when things are ramping up or dying down I just use nettle tea. So it works, but can’t fully replace modern medicine.
It’s a rather plain flavour, not delicious but not nasty either. A plain enjoyable brew. I find a cup in the morning is usually enough, but sometimes a second one in the afternoon is needed.
I wear gloves like this when harvesting and act with confidence. Stinging nettles sting if you brush them lightly but if you grasp them hard you crush the stingers and prevent yourself getting stung. So be confident, do not hesitate, grab them hard. I then just use scissor or secateurs to cut leaves (or cut a stem and pick the leaves off later).
To prep it for tea:
- Clean with water to remove any dirt or bugs
- Set an oven on low (50*C on mine) - or use a dehydrator
- Spread the leaves across a baking tray
- Bake in the oven, I don’t have a set time for this, just check regularly until leaves are dry, crispy, and crumbly. Ensure there is NO moisture left in the leaves. Again, NO MOISTURE! Moisture can cause mould when stored.
- Remove from the oven, leave to cool
- Crush either with your hands (the stings should be destroyed by now) or using a pestle and mortar
- Store in a clean glass jar with an air tight lid
To make tea:
- Use either a tea strainer, tiny sieve, or small pieces of cheesecloth (to make reusable teabags)
- Place about 1tbsp of crushed tea leaves (no need to measure, just grab with your fingers and put roughly that amount in)
- Leave to steep for 5-15 mins
- Drink, and enjoy!
Pro-tip: I use both a tiny sieve and a cheesecloth to ensure no “bits” get through and settle at the bottom, but it’s not necessary, just personal preference.
Good luck, and I hope this helps settle any stingy eyes or runny noses!
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, consume nettle tea at your own risk, blah blah blah.
Oh my god! It’s the person I was hoping for. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You definitely answered a few questions I had (drying, storing, prep) and you organized it very well for me.
I’m a complete random here, don’t know anything about gardening or anything similar. But isn’t nettle weed? Where I live it grows everywhere.
About eating it: those who are extremely poor sometimes add it to the soup. It doesn’t have any nutritional value or taste but it is free, green and might have some vitamins.
Soup made primarily on nettles is actually really nice.
It allegedly has incredible nutritional value with the dioica type argued to be a superfood. Vitamins A, B, C and K. Calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and a lot of other very beneficial nutrients.
I’m told for optimum flavor and benefit, you have to harvest it early in spring when the leaves are still actively growing and well before flowers develop. Additionally, harvesting only the top (4) leaf segments for consumption gives you the ‘prime rib’ of the plant while leaving the lower portion to survive to flower and reseed itself. Harvesting it young, it will not be stringy from woody growth, and will still contain all of the stored energy for upcoming fruit production. Once cooked, the formic acid in the trichomes (toxin and stinger) is destroyed and it can be consumed. It can replace spinach in just about any recipe. It supposedly has a nutty flavor. I’m not after it for flavor. I dislike spinach.
It also has histamine receptor blocking properties, allegedly providing relief to hay fever. I don’t know of anyone personally to ask if it’s true, but there are many people promoting them now. Frankly, every year older I get, the worse my allergies get. If it does help, it’s worth it to me. If it does nothing, I’m no worse off than I was.
There are even other alleged health benefits as well. Blood pressure, thyroid, liver, prostate effects. None of it I could confirm or deny. I’m just after allergy relief.
You can buy stinging nettle tea online before you commit to growing it. It didn’t help me at all (histamine intolerance).
I grew up with a bunch of it around naturally, it seemed most prevalent near marshy areas in fairly sandy soil. So maybe acidic conditions, high moisture, sandy soil?
We would pull it up with thick gloves and long sleeves.
I learned how to handle it without gloves when I was young. It was customary at every camping trip to pick some and put it into someone else’s sleeping bag on the sly. Hilarious fun.
And my opinion, wood nettle is way more armed than stinging.
Considering most people are desperately trying to get rid if them; shouldn’t be too hard. The like shade or half-shade and tolerate/like moist ground.
Yeah, I hear the root systems have some personality, hence I’m thinking containers. I was told good drainage and high nitrogen soil are key. They’ll take full sun to partial shade, though too much shade makes them grow too tall and they usually fall over.
The cucumbers really, REALLY, seemed to like the nettle fertilizer. It was quite impressive. They’d been doing well considering the over abundance of rain we’ve had, but that stuff really kicked it into gear. I was so impressed with the results that I think I’m going to try the medicinal tea.
If anyone got them in the Pittsburgh area, I’ll come out to cut them down for you. I’m heading out again today to forage for seeds. If any kind soul has some extra seeds to part with I’d be grateful. A lot of places are sold out until fall.
Yeah, they’re not easy to get rid off.
grow wood nettle instead, it’s slower growing, less weedy, and much tastier
Stinging nettle originated in Europe while wood nettle originated in North America. The stinging variety is a much older breed with a much increased potency. Having said that, I do keep finding tons of wood nettle on my excursions. Stinging nettle remains elusive.
The plan would be to plant in early spring, harvest tops in a few weeks with the remainder going to fertilizer. Rinse and repeat until it gets too hot. Eventually I would have to let one go to seed to replenish stock.
As I said below, I don’t care for spinach so I’m betting I find them both to taste like cuck. But it would be nice if the allergies relent.
They don’t help with allergies, unfortunately (that’s just pseudoscience bunk), other than in the general ways that nutrients can be helpful to being healthy - but the claims about histamine are magical thinking.
Nettles are a perennial, you don’t need to let them go to seed - it’s only disadvantageous to do so, since as they flower they form cystoliths in their leaves, which will hurt your kidneys (you can still harvest them but you have to ferment them to make them safe to eat at that point).
Nettles are pretty tasty, more strongly flavored than spinach, though.
Growing up with the little bastards I wish you luck…
for allergies source local (within 10 mi) honey and take a tea/tablespoon every day
Tried a daily spoonful honey a few times in my life. Didn’t help my allergies either time. I tried it a second time as a digestion aid, but didn’t notice much difference either.
It’s delicious though. I was told that eating the honeycomb is the best way to go if you want health benefits, but I dislike the texture.
