| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| cab |
In Praise of Stinging Nettles!Excellent new article by our very own un-stung hero Gil:http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Finding_Food/In_Praise_of_Stinging_Nettles/ Well worth a gander, I think. |
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| judith |
Re: In Praise of Stinging Nettles!
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| Lozzie |
Inspirational stuff. We have a patch growing near an untended plot on out allotments that I might have a go at tomorrow. Surprise my guests when they come for lunch! 
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| Treacodactyl |
A great article for a very useful plant and I hope it encourages a few people to try them for the first time this year. If you get stung then it shows you've got the right plant.
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| dpack |
good in mixture | ||||
| gil |
Re: In Praise of Stinging Nettles!
Cheers, guys. But un-stung ? You're talking about the idiot who wears stout gloves to gather nettles , but decided to clear last year's debris from some of the nettle beds wearing a pair of fingerless woolly ones. My hands were burning or tingling the whole evening after.
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| cab |
Re: In Praise of Stinging Nettles!Do you not find that nettle rash starts some time in March or April and goes on till some time in December when you stop foraging? Or am I just really careless? |
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| gil |
I don't get the rash, just the tingle. | ||||
| gingerwelly |
I went to jersey last year and met a lady who made cabbage bread ...loaf of bread with cabbage around it (cabbage leaves are use to line the tin and pull over the top before been baked ) realy nice tastes fresh and "green" wellshe said that during the war they used nettles rather than the cabbage....she made a loaf with the nettles while i was there ,and i thought it tasted better than the cabbage..very nice with soup | ||||
| gil |
That sounds wonderful. Were the nettles in the bread, or just used to wrap it ? |
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| gingerwelly |
there were a few in the bread ..but most of them were used as a wrap they "steam" the bread with their taste. |
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| Jonnyboy |
Excellent article, the best way to show our appreciation is to get picking!!
Some pics would help when your out an about or back in the kitchen, I'll certainly try to get some. |
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| mochyn |
I'm sure I've heard that nettle stings are good for dheumaticy joints. Anyone else heard this, before I go an plunge my hands into the newly emerged shoots while shouting "Aaaaagh ya b*g**rs" repeatedly? | ||||
| gil |
Yes, I've heard that.... [consults copy of Bartram's Encyclopaedia of Herbal Medicine].... 'antirheumatic', though it doesn't specify internal or external application ! All very well if getting stung by accident turns out to have beneficial side-effects, but I wouldn't fancy doing it deliberately. Also a rich source of calcium and silica (as well as iron, chlorophyll and vitamin C). |
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| dpack |
yarg ? cheese ?
is ok |
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| Fee |
Excellent article, Gil!
I'll be trying some nettle wine this year for sure, apparently nettles are good for fertility in women (according to my Mother-in-Law) too, so I was trying to think of something to make with it...perhaps nettle 'wine' isn't quite what the MIL had in mind, might make some teas and soups too
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| Treacodactyl |
Not if you both roll into them while, erm, well you know, while out in the open.
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| Fee |
Hey, you never know...hmm, maybe not
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| gil |
well, I expect the iron and calcium would be useful when you were pregnant. |
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| Bugs |
We did nettle tagliatelle last night  I followed a recipe for spinach pasta but doing it right would have involved weighing stinging nettles which is not wise when you're as clumsy as me. So I cooked the nettles, when they were cool I choped them up finely and squeezed out as much water as possible (took out any slightly larger stems. Added them to the dough as instructed, and kneaded together. It's all speckly and not very impressive to begin with but 5/6 runs through the lowest setting on the pasta machine and it looked very professional.
I think it could have done with more nettles in for next time, but I was very impressed and it looked really pretty. Since you couldn't actually taste anything this might be a good thing to offer to the less convinced dinner guest. |