Nettle: Vitamin Dose On Your Dinner Table, in a Cup of Tea & in Bathroom

It's hard to get rid of them where they grow, you can't easily pick them, nor they have beautiful flowers, yet there is something to love them for: the health benefits they give. 

My mom used to make nettle soup early on spring when nothing is out of the ground yet, except little nettle heads, and this still is my favorite soup - always the first vitamin boost in spring I get from nettles.They are natural vitamin packages where you can find vitamins K and B2, iron, proteins, potassium, ascorbic acid, carotin, lecithin, histamine and others, and besides that this combination of good things into nettles has antimicrobial activity.

Get to know 

Urtica Dioica

Names: common nettle, stinging nettle

Where to find? Naturally grows in Europe, North America, Asia and some northern parts in Africa. They grow in forests and gardens, you can find them in backyards and around farmsteads. 

How to harvest? If you want to use fresh, raw nettles in your food, the best time for harvesting them is early on spring when they are almost the first plants that get out of the ground after the snow melts. The best time to harvest leaves or tops of nettles is when the plant is in flowers - from June to October (depending on the area, weather and other factors).You can use fresh nettles getting them right from the wilderness on your plate, you can keep them frozen in a cold storage or dry them. Use gloves and scissors to collect nettles, because even young nettles are stinging. 

What for?

• Nettles are among the greatest blood cleansers, they also help to get rid of physical weakness, tiredness, avitaminosis, they are stimulant and restorative remedies. 
• They are used to strengthen hair and treat dandruff. 
• In folk medicine nettles are well known for treating rheumatism, arthritis, hemorrhage, kidney disorders, internal bleeding, joint pain  and cough. 
• Due to high iron content nettles are also recommended to pregnant women. It's also known to increase fertility in both genders and increase the amount of milk in breastfeeding women.
• And one more thing: this is one of the top herbs to use for weight loss!

How to use?

• Fresh baby nettles make great vitamin tea with deep green color for spring avitaminosis and blood cleansing. You can use also dried herbs for making tea.
• Nettle extracts and infusions can be added to bath water to tone up the entire body, it can also be added to shampoos or simply hair rinsing water to strengthen hair and make it more glossy or applied on skin to relieve joint and muscle pain. 
• Fresh (or frozen) nettle leaves are good for salad (especially baby nettles), soups and stews. If you want to cut or add fresh nettles to salad, pour hot water over them to make them gentle and remove virulence.
• You can also make healthy, vitamin packed puree and pesto from nettle leaves.

Want to know how to harvest and store stinging nettle and other wild herbs? Check this article: Guide To Harvesting Wild Herbs