Bolster Your Immune with Nettles

The larger plant is stinging nettle, the medium size flower is dead nettle and the tiny flowers are chickweed.

Nettles for your healthy balance

A woman's herb but beneficial for everyone.

With this latest development in the far East, we become ever vigilant to kick up our immune systems in as many ways as possible and as much as possible. One way of doing this is wildcrafting nettles, those prickly lush, green little plants that pop up in streamsides and wet lowlands at this time of year.

DELICIOUS POTHERB: This plant is able to bolster your immune in a multitude of ways. Eat the first crop fresh, steamed, baked or hit with a good soak of scalding water.Replace spinach, asparagus, brocolli in your dishes. Dried, crushed in the palms of your hands, they can be sprinkled into sauces, batters and scrambles, smoothies and frozen treats. Loaded with minerals, iron and vitamins, they are only ingestible if picked before flower buds appear, afterwards, they contain a caustic chemical that acts like fibreglass in the kidneys/liver. A powerful healer. A delicioius potherb in the spring.

TONIC TEA: Make a tea of 5 or so leaves per pot, or suit to taste. I prefer it weak and like it in my water. I keep a cold water bottle of nettle tea in my pack as I travel. Unsweetened, its refreshing and the water bottle doesn't get sour as it does with sugared drinks.

PAIN RELIEF: Another use for nettles is pain relief. It is Goddess's gift to joint, ligament pain. Brush affected area (or in the region avoiding open wounds) with fresh leaves (this can be done ANY time of year) and let the little bites do their mojo. GUARANTEED to eradicate pain.

INTENTIONAL HARVESTING: Remember that nettles are a green goddess sacrament and are very aware of intention. If you pick them with a sense of greed and are not paying attention in a sacred way, she will let you know and create the reaction she is famous for. If you pick them with reverence and wisdom, you may get an initial 'inoculation' when she playfully nips you on a uncovered wrist or ankle, but you will remain remarkably sting free. I have found nettle patches and not had gloves and used a plastic bag to pick as well as one of my socks to protect me from the spines.

WHERE TO FIND NETTLES: Find nettles in lowlying, wet open areas. They like damaged soil and are good at restoring the nitrogen balance. I have posted in Craigslist to discover nettle patches in the past with relative success.

HOW TO PICK: To pick, pinch stem below the third set of leaves and break free. Don't tug on the plant as the root mass is very delicate and you will pick up the whole plant. It will reroot quickly if you do it, however, just break free the part you want to keep and carry on. This doesn't domesticate in spite of my attempts. When the plants are just 6-10 inches is the optimum time to pick them. The purpler the bud is, the better. Susun Weed says that there is a two moon window for picking nettles, which extends March/April in most areas.  A caustic chemical is present in the plant once it has fruited and it is strongly recommended that you do not ingest nettles picked after you start seeing the flowers. People with kidney ailments are susceptible to massive back aches when this is disregarded and ingestion could be harmful.

HOW MUCH IS A YEAR'S WORTH FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR? This is a time when you need nettles and they are free. There is about a 6 week window that they are available in any given area, for food or ingestion. To add to liniments, the active ingredients must come from plants picked before blooming. For external application, use fresh. Dry them easily in paper bags, tossing the tops every day until they are completely dry, which takes about a week. (Ovenmitts work in a pinch) When faced with challenges like the recent reports of radiation coming our way, we need a strong thyroid but also a strong immune system. Nettles will do that for us. Two grocery bags of nettles is enough for a family of 4 for an entire year with enough for the odd gift to friends.

NETTLES ARE BEAUTIFUL, FREE AND AVAILABLE NOW IN MOST AREAS TILL EARLY APRIL. GET THEM WHILE THEY'RE YOUNG.