"I Burn"

Last year we had a small patch of nettles growing up on the fell behind the house, so I cleared around it and cut back the brambles which grow everywhere here. This year the patch has expanded beautifully. We love nettles for their young tops and fresh green leaves - these are rich in vitamin C, minerals, including iron, and protein, and can be eaten as a spring vegetable, steamed, or added to soups and stews. We like them in pasta and potato dishes.
 
More importantly however, nettles are a valuable source of food and habitation for more than 40 species of insect here, including the caterpillars of several butterflies such as the Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Here in Britain the loss of wildflowers and wild meadows is a considerable threat to the welfare of many pollinating insects, which of course effects the entire ecosystem - including the health of orchards, gardens and farms everywhere. All are connnected. I try to think about this when I'm 'weeding'. Though I want my own crops to do well and to flourish, I practice permaculture principles, which to me is a new name for old wisdom, and leave masses of space for wild plants to flourish. I don't 'tidy' too much, and hope that wildlife will also thrive in the spaces that I'm choosing to garden. 

I came across my first common toad in the garden a few nights ago, and today, a common frog!

*

A few facts about Stinging or Common Nettles (Urtica dioica):

Their generic name 'Urtica' stems from the Latin 'uro', meaning "I burn" or 'urere', "to burn."

Their common name 'nettle' stems from the Anglo-Saxon 'noedle', meaning 'needle', which may refer either to the fine stinging hairs found upon the stems and leaves or to its use in making cordage or thread, which was once a widespread practice in western Europe.

Hedgerow plants near our house, including Nettles, Herb robert, Cleavers and Tormentil

A small excerpt from A History of Herbal Plants by Richard Le Strange:

"The stem fibre of the plant was also spun coarse or fine and woven into  rough or fine cloths, sailcloth, sacking and table linen, or was spun into rope or twine for fishing nets. A green colouring matter extracted from the leaves was once a popular wool dye, while the roots boiled with salt or alum yielded a beautiful yellow, for use on yarn... 

The dried herb... makes excellent fodder, increasing egg and milk yields. Chopped up fresh it was at one time added to feed, to make the animals' coats and eyes shine."

Medicinally nettles have a wealth of applications. They are astringent, diuretic and tonic. They support and strengthen, cleanse and purify our whole body. They are considered a specific for skin conditions, especially eczema in all of its forms. The aerial parts of the herb are used, collected when the flowers are in bloom.

As well as all of this, in late summer nettles produce huge quantities of seed, providing a valuable source of food for many of our seed eating birds. 

Such an incredibly productive and generous plant - it's time to head out and weed the nettle beds...