This past winter my wife and youngest son both had a cold twice.My oldest son and mother(Who is 87 and lives with us)each had it once.A very bad flu,virus,cold which lasted for about a month worked it's way through my workplace.
I got sick 0 times.A few times I thought I felt it coming on and increased my intake of Nettle tea and it quickly subsided.
Nettle tea helps keep the immune system in top form.It doesn't give a big boost like Echinacea it just keeps it at a high level.
Maybe one day they will listen!
Nettles..Oh yes those dang stinging nettles!
How do you make nettle tea? There's a bout of cold/flu running through my work place I'd rather avoid if possible...
A teaspoon per cup.Let it steep ten minutes,sweeten to your liking and enjoy.I like to sweeten with honey since it also is very good for you unless you are diabetic then you may want to try stevia.Stevia is a very easy plant to grow.Unfortunately it does have the same unpleasant after taste as artificial sweeteners but it is all natural.
I drink one cup a day but if you are battling a cold/flu try two to three cups a day.
Fresh nettle leaves?
I'm sorry I didn't specify.That's one teaspoon dried cut leaf.
ahhh..thank you!!
Off to hang some nettle to dry along with the cat nip(for the cats)
Fresh can also be used just increase the amount and WEAR GLOVES!
Actually, Nettle doesn't bother me...Mom is always calling me to pull any she finds since I never get even the slightest rash/itch/discomfort.
Ahh,another lucky one.It only stings me occasionally.I thought I was a freak!Glad to know I am not alone.(Well I may still be a freak but that's one off the list of reasons)
LOL!!!
Glad to hear I'm not alone too. I consider myself lucky. I'm not bothered by mosquitoes either ^_^
I seem to be immune to poison oak and ivy, but on the other hand I get Scotch broom pollen on me and I break out in a rash. Scotch broom is more common than poison oak or ivy here. If anyone else is around the mosquitoes seem to leave me alone, fleas too, but they will attack me if there is no other food.
We make herbal iced tea in the summer and it consists of dried nettle, oatstraw and spearmint. You get lots of minerals and some vitamins (which helps boost that immune system) and the nettles works as an antihistimine. It's delicious.
How do you germinate seed and grow nettle? I've got one plant...seems to be spreading just a little, so it may be 2 plants. But I'd like to start some from seed. Oh, and has anyone used nettle seed for any medicinal purpose?
Linda, your one plant which may be two will certainly spread with underground runners into many plants soon. I've not grown nettle from seed, so can't help you there. Do a search for nettle seed and uses with kidney disease. David Winston uses it as such.
Oh yeah, if you rub yellow dock (Rumex crispus) leaf on nettle sting, it will take the sting out. "Nettle in, dock out." My kids used this all the time when we lived in England and the neighborhood play area was ringed by stinging nettle.
Where did you live in England, and why did you come back here!? Sorry, if I could take my pets and family, and be allowed to, I'd move there in a second.
okay... I'm a newbie here... but I have a question.
there are these poinker weed things that grow in our back yard and DH calls them nettles... but I'm not sure if thats the real name...or the name he made up for them.
are there different kinds of nettles? can someone post a pix?
Here ya go:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1958/
zhinu, we lived in England for 4 years. My DH was in the Air Force for 20 years. We lived in East Anglia, near Cambridge. We really did love England, but 4 years was long enough. DH is now a civilian and we absolutely LOVE where we live now - the northern Catskills of NY state.
Whatever makes you happy! I did two trips to the UK each for about a month. I love it there. My B.A. is in UK history.
Thanks for the info! I want lots of nettle. As long as I remember where it is, I don't think I'll have a problem. No children are around here. Actually, living in Texas and being really into native plants, I'm already used to being careful around plants with thorns. This isn't much different.
ooh, those are definitely the same nettles that are growing in my yard.
thanks for the thread.. I never knew they were a 'good' bad weed!
A very good weed! And I'm tired to buying the tea bags. Look it up on the Plants for a Future site. zhinu, do you use that site? I think maybe it's British, if I'm not mistaken. I also use plantains, which are very good for you. I'm growing Buck's Horn Plantain and Ribgrass Plantain in pots...very good in salads or just to nibble on.
LindaTX8 - No, I don't think I have that one.
Check it out, then: http://www.pfaf.org/index.php
That looks quite cool. I'm trying to get through here, but I'll look at it later.
Isnt nettle used in cosmetics also? Seems like I had lotion at one time (mostly sold in those walk in tanning bed places ) that listed that as one of the ingredients. I wish I could still find it. Body Drench or something like that.
I dont think I have anything that stings in all my weeds.
I loved going to the UK and Ireland. We stayed near Wimbleton, but in two weeks, we traveled all over but not Cambridge :( My favorite place was Windsor Castle...oh man, their gardens! I should scan those pictures. I loved that we walked or rode a bus almost everywhere! and Everyone did it. and then came home and got back in our cars to drive down the street. lol. Then I worked in Dublin for a total of 23 days..two trips but we only had two afternoons of sightseeing. LOL the first and last day we were there. they worked us to the bone.
Stinging nettle is also a delicious cooked vegetable. It's great with pasta too.
Quoting:
Winter nettle and chestnut risotto
Ingredients
2 pints nettles (measured when picked), loosely packed
8 tbsp unsalted butter
approx. 1 litre vegetable or light chicken stock
2 shallots, finely diced
fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, bay)
200g/7¼oz arborio rice
250ml/8¾fl oz dry white wine
230g/8oz peeled chestnuts, chopped in half
lemon juice
2oz fresh parmesan, finely grated, to serve
Method
1. Wash the nettles in a large bowl, allowing any debris to drop to the bottom. Pick out any thick or tough stems. Do not be concerned that the washing water is peaty brown, this is normal.
2. To cook the nettles, heat one tablespoon of butter in a large pan over a high heat and drop in the leaves. Allow them to wilt and cook until they are tender.
3. Strain through a sieve, catching any liquid in a bowl. Squeeze the nettles and remove to a board, chopping them roughly. Set aside in a cool place while you make the risotto.
4. Heat the stock in a pan. Melt half the remaining butter in a large heavy pan, adding the shallots and stirring to soften them. Add two bay leaves and a teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme. Cook the shallots until they are tender and clear, then add the rice, stirring to allow all of the rice to be coated with some of the fat.
5. Add the wine and stir. While the wine is being absorbed, turn the heat to a medium simmer. Add ladlefuls of stock - two at first, and allow each addition to be absorbed. When two thirds of the stock is absorbed, add the chopped nettles and allow them to continue cooking in the rice. At this stage, add the chestnuts - they will break down slightly in the pan.
6. When most of the stock is absorbed, check the rice - it ought to be just cooked, the sauce still emulsified. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Add the remaining butter and the parmesan, and serve with a sprinkle of lemon juice and a little freshly chopped parsley.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/winternettleandchest_73076.shtml
Quoting:
GNOCCHI WITH PESTO D'ORTICA (Gnocchi with stinging Nettle pesto)
150g Fresh, boiled nettle leaves (to make Pesto d'ortica)
600g Potatoes
4 Sun-dried tomatoes
50g pistachio nuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
200g Wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon of sea salt.
Boil potatoes, cut into pieces and pass them through a vegetable filter. Paste in the flour until well mixed, then separate the mixture into thumb-size lumps, or "gnocchi", cover them in sieved flour and leave them to sit for an hour or so.
In the meantime blend the tomatoes with the cooked nettle leaves, pistachio's and oil until creamy.
Drop the gnocchi into boiling, salted water and when they rise to the surface they are cooked.
Add the mixture to the gnocchi, decorate with a few pistachio nuts and enjoy with any red wine that you can find in the house...
http://www.lifeinitaly.com/garden/stinging-nettle.asp
Quoting:
Nettle Soup
1 lb. fresh nettles
1/2 lb. russet potatoes, diced
1 leek, white part only
3 1/4 tsp butter
1 3/4 cup water
1/3 cup cream
To make the potato soup:
In small pan, add the butter and sweat leeks until soft. Add potato and water, and cook until soft (falling apart). Use blender and pass through a strainer. Return to pan. Add cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Return to blender. Strain again. Chill.
Blanch the raw nettles (leaf and thin stems only) until tender. Blend in a mixer until smooth. Pass through fine strainer. Chill.
Combine potato soup and chilled nettle puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat and thin with water or cream if necessary.
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/ingredients-herbs/seasonal-recipe-nettle-soup-048064
garden mermaid, I've made nettle soup numerous times and it is delicious. We add dulse flakes as well. But, the nettle and chestnut risotto sounds heavenly! Never would have thought of that combo. Thanks!
Glad you liked the recipes. Try the nettle pesto too. It's good on regular pasta as well as gnocchi.
I get a lot of flack for the growing a stinging nettle plant in the community garden. It's well labled and off the beaten track. The only way a visitor can get stung is if they are walking *in* the terraced planter. We've eaten nettle as a spring vegetable my whole life. We dry the leaves for tea, make nettle elixir to spray on the crops and occasionally use it for dye. It's such a delicious and useful plant.
dvhsr62 - Would you repost this thread with MED: at the beginning so it will be a vote for a medical plant forum?
I've made nettle spanikopita too. Drink tons of nettles tea. I've made chickweed pesto, sage pesto, tarragon pesto, etc., but not nettles pesto. What was I thinking? :-)
zhinu, how does one "repost" a thread? We've have a number of threads on the herb forum that contain a mention of the common medicinal uses of the plant.
What I did was started a new thread with MED: at the beginning, put the link to the old one and summarized the important points from the last one. Here is the one I reposted http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/883788/ If it was my thread I'd do a "this thread is continued here" deal.
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