Stinging Nettle, tips and cooking

Mature stinging nettle plants (known as Hortie in French) and historically known as "the bad plant" around our place!

Before moving here, I had had limited encounters with stinging nettle (une hortie), which grows in fertile and moist soil. Ray and I both unsuspectedly grabbed handfuls while weed pulling and learned our lesson quickly. If you brush against it the wrong way, it stings you with its hollow stingers. The stinging sensation can last for hours and even cause blisters. We didn't know what it was, exactly, so we simply called it 'the bad plant", a name that has stuck. Over time I learned some tips to coexist with stinging nettle, and recently I have come to appreciate this plant for cooking. 

Tips for handling stinging nettle

A few years ago I noticed that if you pick stinging nettle with an upward motion, it doesn't sting you. I still prefer to use gloves, just in case, but once in a while I'll pull one out by the base of the stem. Its hairs are angled upwards so when you pick it up with an upward motion, you crush the hairs towards the stem, instead of embedding them into your skin. 

The second tip I learned during a foraging workshop is that plantain is a good antidote to stinging nettle. As soon as you feel the burn of stinging nettle, chew a few plantain leaves and then spit them out and apply them to the burn. It will neutralize the burn quickly, and prevent it from itching for hours afterwards and from causing a blister. We have lots of plantain around, so I have used the trick a few times including on my little nephew who hasn't yet learned the lessons of "the bad plant". 

Plantain is recognizable by its broad leaves. At our place it grows on the driveway and in the lawn.

Cooking with stinging nettle

People use stinging nettle in various recipes including pesto, soup, and cheesemaking. I haven't used it in all these ways but I love this stinging nettle soup recipe that I just made for the first time. I think it'll be something we make often in the spring, when there isn't much in the garden yet but the stinging nettles have popped up, and before it gets too hot. It was a perfect treat on a rainy day.

A big bowl of tender stinging nettle leaves

Stinging nettle soup (top) as part of a delicious July supper. Lots of greens at this time of year!