“Tender-handed, stroke a nettle,

And it stings you for your pains.

Grasp it like a man of mettle,

And it soft as silk remains.” –Aaron Hill (1685-1750)

Nettle’s strong defenses incite fear in the uninitiated.
But to those who seek and find value in the marginal, she’s abundant, generous and reliable.
Beneficial to soil, plants, animals, and people.
Sure, she can take over, but you may find that you don’t mind.
Because her functions are stacked.
Let me count the ways:

Soil: Nettles can be used in your composting process. Try growing a patch right next to your compost heap, where it will benefit from the extra moisture and nitrogen from the compost. By chopping and adding the stalks directly to your compost heap you’ll speed up the decomposition. High nitrogen content makes them a natural compost activator. Mix them in with a wide range of drier ingredients with a higher carbon like leaves, cardboard and prunings.

You can also chop and drop nettles to lay around larger plants or shrubby fruits, where they will serve as a valuable mulch.

Plants: As a companion plant, nettle increases the oil content of many herbs, helps vegetables grow more vigorously and helps plants become more resistant to pests. Nettles also attract beneficial insects. They are the food plant of choice for a range of caterpillar and butterfly species. Ladybugs and aphids, too. Which means you can grow them as a decoy crop near susceptible plants in hopes that the aphids will prefer the nettles.

To use nettles as a garden fertilizer for your plants, chop and add nettles to a bucket of water, cover, and let it steep. Add one part of your nettle tea to ten parts water. Because it’s rich in nitrogen, this is particularly useful for leafy vegetables like kale, chard and spinach.

Alternately, a leaf extract can be used directly against all sorts of fungal diseases and pests, including aphids. To make, steep nettles in water and spray the pests with the undiluted ‘broth’. Bugs will be deterred by the solution while plant cells will be strengthened by it.

Animals: Chickens love to eat nettles and aren’t at all bothered by the stingers. Not only do they keep your flock in good health and help laying performance, the lutein content which will increase the yellow pigment in the yolk. Our goats will happily graze on nettle, when they’re allowed. Even the dogs and cats get dried, ground nettle sprinkled on their wet food or baked into treats. Finally, once the plants flower and produce seeds, they become magnets for lots of seed-eating birds.

People: Nettle is an edible green, rich in iron, protein, dietary fiber, natural essential oils (particularly linolenic acid), lycopene, vitamins (particularly A, C and K), and minerals. The leaves will have the best flavor in cooking if they are harvested before the plant flowers. After this, the leaves become tough and stringy. The leaves of stinging nettle can be used in the same way—and in the same recipes—as you would use cooked spinach. They’ll give a nutrient boost to your smoothies, and nettle teas and infusions are deeply nourishing and can be consumed daily or used as a hair rinse. To capture nettle’s medicinal properties, we make nettle tincture and keep it in the kitchen apothecary.

It’s also a fantastic fiber plant, making it an important part of our crop plan. Our resident fiber artist, Wren, is looking forward to experimenting with nettle and mixing with with alpaca for extra strength and bulk. And if that’s not enough, it’s a natural dye for fabrics, yarns, eggs and more.

To Gather & Preserve
Nettles are fairly easy to identify in the wild due to the stinging hairs on the underside of the leaves. They grow near rivers and streams. There are several local lookalikes, including hedge nettle. But if it doesn’t have stingers, it’s not stinging nettle. To harvest, wear gloves and use scissors. Get them before they go to seed. Bundle and hang upside to dry year for year round use. The stingers will disappear with scalding.

To Grow Your Own
if you’re feeling inspired to grow nettle in your own garden, we’ve got starts available for purchase in our nursery. Choose a spot that gets plenty of water and maybe some dappled shade, emulating its forest habitat. They don’t really thrive in pots, but they love the understory and make a great ground cover for out of the way areas.