Nettle Power is a colourful guide to the healing and culinary uses of the protein-packed plant that is beloved by foragers and herbalists. Keep stinging nettle away from pets as they are toxic – learn more on how to make your garden safe for pets.
Learn how to be a sustainable forager. Remember that nettles are not just for us, but also for wildlife, so only take what you need and never pick until baby ladybirds (which look like baby alligators) have grown and flown. Nettles also provide food for small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies.
This book is a fascinating armchair exploration through the uses of nettles in food, medicine and fibre throughout history, by both European and Native Americans. It has been used to soothe the skin, strengthen bones, cure hair loss, restore the nervous system and more. The plant’s sting is easily neutralised by blanching.
Stinging nettles are commonly found in English gardens, hedgerows, fields and forests, preferring damp and fertile ground and lovers by caterpillars and butterflies, and ladybirds also feast on aphids that live there. Apparently it’s a myth that applying dock leaves neutralises the sting of a nettle, as sap from dock leaves are also acidic. But dock leaves are food for small copper butterflies, so it’s important to look after them.
Author Brigitte Mars is a medical herbalist and has written books on natural first aid and the wonders of dandelions. A founding member of the American Herbalists Guild, she has been teaching for over 50 years.
Coraline Skincare makes a lovely bar of nettle & calendula soap (for 3 months up) that was created by a couple who wished to find a bar of soap that did not irritate the skin of their young daughter, who had many sensitivities when being born with Down Syndrome. This vegan soap (with no palm oil) is unscented and ideal for itchy inflamed skin.
