Nettles and more Nettles

On Wednesday, April 19th, I drove to Newburgh, NY, to visit my friend Nancy MacNamara of Honey Locust Farm House. She grows beautiful organic greens for many of the New York City restaurant chefs. She also specializes in growing wild greens that are edible. Nancy invited me to come pick some Nettles so that I could brew some and go on a Nettle Fast for a couple of days. This is a terrific thing to do in the Spring. Nettles contain an enormous amount of minerals, lots of calcium too. I am drinking a lot of Nettle Tea today and tomorrow in order to drop off some ‘winter weight.’ I also discovered that making a soup with about half Nettle broth and vegetable and chicken broth is very nice and tasty.

When picking Nettles wear rubber gloves as the underside of the leaves and the stem are very prickly. Once you put the nettles into a pot and cook them, the prickly quality disappears and you can drink the tea, or cook nettles like spinach. Nancy said she made Empanadas with Nettles and Venison. (I’m waiting for the recipe.) Picking the fresh tops is recommended and the plant continues its growth undisturbed. Watch out if you want to plant them in your garden, as they are invasive.

(There are tales of the famous Tibetan Yogi saint Milarepa who ate nothing but Nettles while in meditation retreat for several years. He turned a rather wondrous shade of green. If you want to read about him, pick up a copy of The Rain of Wisdom, Shambhala Publications.)