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I'll
never forget my first experience with Stinging Nettles. I was down on my hands
and knees one spring tracking a Pacific Blacktail deer. I had followed the young
doe for about 100 yards through some high open ground and then it had cut into a
low area that was overgrown with blackberry vines and willows and lots of ferns. Determined to learn more of
this stately creature, I followed on all fours. I didn't get too far on the
trail when I started to get stung on my hands. The farther I traveled, the more
I got stung. In no time my hands burned so bad that I backed out of the trail
and left the deer alone. Now, I wondered, what the heck was making my hands bum
so bad. I got back on my hands and knees and searched the ground. All I could
see were a whole mess of little green plants about an inch high. At the time I
had no idea what they were, but I wasn't about to pick one to go home and try to
identify it in light of how bad my hands were still burning.
The memory of my burning hands
stuck with me for the next few weeks until I had time to grab a field guide and
go back to the place where I had gotten stung. When I arrived, I noticed that
these plants that were about an inch high were now about 8 inches high. They
were developing nice big leaves and I thought 1 should have a good shot at
figuring out what this feisty plant was. So I started flipping, and flopping,
and flipping pages, until lo and behold, I came across this picture that sure
looked like the plant growing in front of me. I read the description: "The
stinging hairs make this a difficult group to mistake. Erect, usually unbranched
weeds with paired toothed leaves." That sure sounded and looked like the
plant growing in front of me. Lots of little hairs (that I wasn't about to touch
again), paired, toothed leaves. Yes, this plant, I declared, is Stinging
Nettle!!
I then started to study nettles in earnest. All the books were
full of medicinal and utilitarian uses for the plant. I read how they were full
of vitamin C and A, how they have acetylcholine and choline in
them, both of which are deficient in Alzheimer's patients. I found out that
nettles are a great blood tonic and cleanser, I read how they are being studied
for their effect on kidney ailments, prostate cancer, gall bladder problems,
arthritis relief, and hepatitis.
I discovered that nettles were once grown as a
fibre plant in Europe, and they contain about 15% fibre by weight that can be
processed into a soft, flexible textile said to feel much like silk. I then read
how these plants made great cordage. Good for rope or any other thing that
requires a strong cordage material.
All this information was really exciting and
good information, but it didn't answer the one burning question in my mind. Does
it taste good?? Well, for that, I went back to my field guides. Sure enough,
according to Peterson's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants
and Tom Brown's Field to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants, Nettles are
good to eat!! When I read that, I was sold.
I began to experiment with cooking with
nettles. I tried them young, old, big, small, dried, and fresh. In the course of
about three years, I had harvested a lot of nettles and had become a lot more
friendly with the prickly plant. I hadn't really realized how friendly we had
become until one fall, after the first frost, I was gathering needles for
cordage and a fellow with his dog comes walking down a little used trail and
spies me in the middle of a giant nettle patch with nothing but a pair of shorts
on. He (and his big dog) looked at me kind of funny and he says, "Son, do
you know your standing naked in the middle of a patch of thistle??" With a
grin, I said, "Actually, I'm standing naked in the middle of a patch of
Stinging Nettles." He didn't see my humour and stomped off with his dog
eyeing me up more like dinner than like some funny guy in a thistle patch (I now
carry doggie treats when I go hunting the wild nettle).
Since my passion is
cooking, I ended up eating lots of nettles. I tried them boiled like spinach and
they were good. I made nettle soup and it was better. Then I stumbled upon my
favourite to date, Stinging Nettle Lasagne. It makes the lasagne taste great with
the slight bitterness of the young nettles and I feel great eating it knowing how
many great vitamins and minerals are in the nettles.
Lasagne is also a good way to
ease into eating wild edibles. Having them mixed into a very common dish can be
a great way to introduce nettles to a squeamish child, or dubious partner that
doesn't have a great deal of confidence in eating stuff that can't be found in
the supermarket. Start slow with recipes like the one following and work up to
eating wild edibles on a more regular basis. With spring on the way, there will
be ample opportunity to sample a great deal of luscious greenery. Have fun, and
remember, don't eat anything you cannot positively identify. |
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Saute onion, celery and garlic in 1/2 cup oil until onions become
translucent. Add ground beef and brown breaking apart with fork. Drain and chop whole
tomatoes. Add mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste. Add 1 tsp. salt
oregano, basil and thyme and simmer for 15 minutes. Combine egg, cottage cheese,
parmesan
cheese, the last tablespoon of oil and I tsp. of salt. Mix together in a bowl. While sauce
is cooking, blanche nettles for 5 minutes until nettles are wilted. In a 9 by 13 inch pan,
begin with a layer of noodles on the bottom. Add a layer of tomato sauce, more noodles,
then the cottage cheese mixture. Finish with the last layer of noodles, the grated cheese
and a light sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Cover and bake at 350- for 25 minutes. Uncover
and continue to bake until cheese is bubbly and brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 15
minutes before serving. Enjoy!!
From True Tracks, Spring 1999, published by the Tracker
School.
There's more articles from True Tracks on the
Tracker Trail
website. |
