RARITYSEpic
Stinging Nettle
Urtica dioica
The Roadside Pharmacy
HEALTH
POTENTIAL
Stinging nettle is one of Europe's most useful wild plants, but it asks to be handled properly. The young leaf is food and mineral-rich tea. The root belongs to a different medicinal tradition, mostly around prostate and urinary use. The stem can make fibre. The whole patch feeds insects, improves garden fertility, and gives the grower one of the easiest free plant feeds available.
The Rooms
THE GIFTSBody, kitchen, material, living world — what the plant gives.
LAYERSThe biography — past, present, future.
GOLD MINEThe action ladder — free moves to deeper plays.
- Wear gloves when harvesting fresh nettle.
- Pick from clean places only.
- Avoid roadsides, sprayed edges, industrial ground, and places where dogs pass often.
- Use young tops for food.
- Cook, dry, crush, or blend before eating to remove the sting.
- Do not eat old tough stems.
- If you react strongly to nettle or use nettle extracts daily, treat it like a supplement.