04/23/2026
Stinging Nettle. Burn w**d. Itch w**d. If you have it in your garden, you KNOW it, this is not a subtle plant. Urtica dioica is the fancy Latin name for this one, and we have all said swear words after encountering it's stinging presence amongst our flowers and vegetables, where it loves to grow. But good golly it's such a great plant to have! The young leaves are so nutritious, containing a variety of vitamins, minerals and ALL of the essential amino acids that make a complete protein.....pretty rare in the plant world. Nettle root is used medicinally, and the seeds are fun to harvest and use in home made seasoning mixes for a nutrient boost. Since it comes up so early in the spring, Stinging Nettle tea and infusion makes a good Spring Tonic, flushing our cells with fresh green goodness after our long winter. You can cook those leaves like spinach, too, and eat them with butter and salt, or put them in soups, stews and hot dishes. I like to dry the leaves, powder them in the blender and keep them in a shaker jar for a quick nutrient boost to pretty much any dish I'm cooking.
