(lively music) (gentle music) - We are standing by the nettle plant.

The scientific name, which of course I can't pronounce.

But it means to burn.

But the nettle plant is either completely loved and adored, or it's one people don't wanna get close to at all.

I am encouraging you to get to know this nettle plant, get close to it.

You will get food, you will get medicine, vitamins, minerals.

Why people don't particularly love the nettle plant or get to know it, is because again, that scientific name meaning to burn.

But if you know how to handle the plant, it will not burn or sting you at all.

Now the reason people say it stings, is because the underside of the leaves and the stem have all kinds of little, teeny, tiny hairlike structures that are actually like hollow needles.

There's a few different things in there.

One of them is folic acid.

So when you break the tip of the stem, it does kind of inject that just under your skin, which will give you swelling, welts, maybe some rashes, and that itchy, burny feeling.

But that doesn't have to happen.

There's a plant that naturally just happens to grow nearby the nettle plant, which I find amazing.

It is burdock.

And the greens of the burdock plant will actually alleviate some of that stinging, or swelling.

So if you handle the nettle plant, and you just go in an upward fashion, all those little stingy bits are not stinging me at all.

(gentle music) I encourage everybody, do a simple search on the stinging nettle plant.

You're gonna get lists of medicinal uses and histories.

Same with the nutritional.

What I find it super useful for, I have been anemic in my life and I placed on iron pills.

Well years later now, I've done research and I consume an awful lot of nettles, because they are one of the most iron-rich plants on the planet.

I also have allergies.

And they are fantastic in helping to treat like the symptoms of allergies.

You can make a nettle tea, or you could even just bring some water to a boil and inhale the nettle plant.

One of the most nutrient-rich plants literally on the entire planet.

Helps with so many different, different things.

(gentle music) If you're into making natural plant dyes, nettle plants at different stages will give you different colored dyes.

I personally love to harvest nettles also for eating when they're younger, maybe one-to-two inches.

And their leaves look a little bit purple, which when you go to create the dye, you're gonna get kind of a rich, purple-y, pinky shade of dye.

As they grow like these here, it's gonna be more in the green and gold area.

(gentle music) And something that I recently learned from one of my friends who is very interested in just outdoor skills, taught me how to make cordage from the nettle plant.

It's simple, it is time-consuming.

This is kind of what a finished nettle cordage rope looks like.

It's very strong and you can use it just like you would any other kind of rope.

(gentle music) So I'm gonna take this, I'm gonna set it on a hard surface.

I'm also gonna remove the leaves.

And I'm just basically going to pulverize, gently though, the whole stem.

And it's gonna turn kind of moist and kind of stringy.

Give it a good gentle mashing.

And when you feel like you've got it where the skin, the outer skin easily separates, you're just going to peel those outer layers.

And that will give you pieces then that look like this.

And then you can start braiding.

(bright music) Something else, too, I would like to say about the nettle plant... All of the nutrients create antioxidants in your body.

And that's gonna help fight against all sorts of free radicals that we take in.

And it's also, helps with healthy blood sugar and healthy blood pressure levels.

And it tastes very, very, very good.

Also people wonder, "How can I cook with these wild things?"

There's, I call them dumping grounds.

But maybe that doesn't sound so appealing.

Omelets are a great way to throw any variety of wild greens and utilize.

Soups are a fantastic way.

Also just mixed wild green salads.

The nettle plant, you will wanna boil down a little bit.

But it has the flavor of spinach, it's very, very good.

But mixed wild green salads, an easy way to kind of balance all the different flavors coming at you is with feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.

So a little tip for you.

(gentle music) I hope you get to love the nettle plant and utilize it as much as I do.

(upbeat music)