Spring is finally here. Wildflowers and weeds are popping up, and fruit trees are soon blossoming. Fertility, new beginnings and hope are being called in. We find ourselves reaching for more greens, juices and wild herbs that bring more vitality and energy. One of them is nettles, growing in abundance this season.
Nourishing Wild Spring Herbs - Nettles
Urtica Dioica
This medicinal weed grows wild all over the world, and has been used since ancient times as food, medicine and magic. Nettles favor forests, woodlands and moist soil. It often spreads in large clusters, each plant growing anywhere from 0,6 – 0,9 meters. Nettles are a true superfood, nutritive tonic and adaptogen. It is a nourishing herb full of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Very high in iron, magnesium, calcium, vitamin C, E, A, K and other vitamins that are easily absorbed and used by the body.
Plant Spirit Medicine
Nettles weaves us back to everything inside us and into the wild, vital, and free Earth. Nettles brings in deep grounding and releases tension from the physical and emotional body, allowing fear and tightness to dissolve. Nettles supports us in becoming more grounded and brings nourishment and Earth energy into the body.
Harvesting and using Nettles
Remember to harvest ethically. Nettles begin to sprout and show themselves in the early spring. You may start clipping their leaves in early spring, and remember not to cut down more than the top third or half of her stem. In this way you can get multiple harvests over the season. Once the plant has gone to flower, do not harvest the leaves anymore since they can become too drying for the body and begin to lose some medicinal properties. The older leaves also contain cystoliths which can be irritating for the kidneys.
Fresh Nettles can be blended with water in a blender and strained to make a fresh juice. Add a few leaves of nettles in one liter of water. Add a little lemon to make an energizing fresh green herbal water and enjoy cooling down under the spring sun.
Nourishing Spring Tea
This herbal tea is a perfect blend for introducing healing herbs in a delicious way. It is filled with minerals, enzymes and vitamins of the wild weeds. It gently supports cleansing the body from stagnation. Grounding to the nervous system and opening to the heart, mind and breath.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of dried nettles
- 1 tablespoon of dried out straw
- 2 tablespoons of dried peppermint
Directions
- Place all ingredients in a jar (1 L). Pour over hot water and close the lid. Let it infuse for at least 20 minutes.
- Strain and drink after 20 minutes or let the blend infuse overnight and drink the next morning.
Love,
Inika Superfoods