Nettles

A quick word on springtime delicacies! Nettles are my favorite plant to forage for as spring shuffles greenly across Idaho. After nettles, I love to hunt for wild asparagus but we can talk more about that another time.

Nettles can be found along waterways, swamps, sloughs, ditches and ponds — they like sunshine and damp soil. You can also find nettles for sale in local food co-operatives (though rarely in big box grocery stores) if you are living deep in an urban jungle and can’t get out of the city to forage. Nettles can also be added to your garden space but they can really take off and be rather unruly so choose a location for your nettle patch with some foresight. I do like to tell folks that if they are aiming to forage for food to try to stay away from roads or any place people might be spraying herbicides for weeds or invasive plants. Since our farm is located on the bank of the Snake River next to an enormous swath of public land, I simply walk out the front door here with the dogs and down to the water where the nettle patches are abundant and I take what I need from day to day. Every time I take the dogs out for a morning stroll I grab some fresh nettles, especially this time of year when the leaves are young and tender. Once the weather begins to heat up I pick bigger batches of leaves and freeze them to use at a later date.

I love to add nettle to everything in the springtime — soup, salads, stirfrys, smoothies — because it’s a powerful plant, rich in vitamins A,C,K and some B vitamins, loaded with minerals, fats and ALL the essential amino acids and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Do not eat nettles raw. Always give them at least a light sautee before you eat them or add them to meals or smoothies.

Nettles can also be brewed as a tea that reminds me a bit of raspberry leaf tea which is one of my favorite afternoon sips.

Are there any nettle experts out there? Tell us what you know!