Gone Foraging - Nettles
Have you seen the price of spinach! We still have a few green lumps kicking around in the freezer, but we're in the hungry gap when it comes to the fresh stuff.
Not to worry, just in time, there are wild plants springing to life which we can use instead. A walk on a cold sunny day can be combined with foraging for nettles - just remember to wear gloves and take scissors and a bag.
By happy accident, we do have a small crop of nettles on the allotment which would yield some slim pickings - as an addition to an omelette perhaps. I think we'll leave that patch for the insects and find a bigger source elsewhere.
When foraging for nettles in the wild, take just the very new bright green tips (the top four leaves) - and only harvest from one stem in ten. This is the golden rule of foraging and ensures that plants don't get too depleted. By leaving the plant healthy and happy this year you ensure it will still be there to harvest from next year!
So... Nettles? Brilliant source of iron and all-round good-for-you plant. Just don't add it raw to salads. Boil the leaves briefly or add directly to stock. Use as you would spinach or any other wilted greens - great with eggs, pasta, stir-fry, risotto and in soups. If you make your own bread, try adding some chopped, cooked nettles to the dough. If the nettles are plentiful you could pick enough to make tea or beer from them.
If you have a poly-tunnel, and have been organised enough, you may be lucky enough to be harvesting spinach now. The rest of us will make do with nettle tips from now until May.
Not to worry, just in time, there are wild plants springing to life which we can use instead. A walk on a cold sunny day can be combined with foraging for nettles - just remember to wear gloves and take scissors and a bag.
By happy accident, we do have a small crop of nettles on the allotment which would yield some slim pickings - as an addition to an omelette perhaps. I think we'll leave that patch for the insects and find a bigger source elsewhere.
When foraging for nettles in the wild, take just the very new bright green tips (the top four leaves) - and only harvest from one stem in ten. This is the golden rule of foraging and ensures that plants don't get too depleted. By leaving the plant healthy and happy this year you ensure it will still be there to harvest from next year!
So... Nettles? Brilliant source of iron and all-round good-for-you plant. Just don't add it raw to salads. Boil the leaves briefly or add directly to stock. Use as you would spinach or any other wilted greens - great with eggs, pasta, stir-fry, risotto and in soups. If you make your own bread, try adding some chopped, cooked nettles to the dough. If the nettles are plentiful you could pick enough to make tea or beer from them.
If you have a poly-tunnel, and have been organised enough, you may be lucky enough to be harvesting spinach now. The rest of us will make do with nettle tips from now until May.
Submitted by Tigger
Also see here for Isabelle's blog last year on making organic fertiliser from nettle brew.
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