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John Lewis-Stempel's avatar

They are excellent fertilizer! Now going to chop them in gnocchi - TY for that :)

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Ryan B. Anderson's avatar

Check out this post. Notice anything in the picture? Just a giant patch of wood nettle. Same sting, same taste, same benefits!

https://oldhollowtree.substack.com/p/that-old-wheel-keeps-turning

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Ruth Bradshaw's avatar

Glad you mentioned the butterflies too. Another great reason for valuing nettles.

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LF's avatar

I love nettles! My neighbour doesn't understand why I let them grow against the back of the house. I use them mostly in pasta / malfatti. Will try the beer! Thanks for sharing

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Peter's avatar

I'm curious where you found the ancient pudding recipe.

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John Lewis-Stempel's avatar

Prehistoric Cooking, Jacqui Wood (Tempus, 2002); but repeated often on internet eg https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/sep/14/britishidentity.lifeandhealth

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Peter's avatar

Wonderful, thanks!

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Diana Strinati Baur's avatar

Thank you for this wonderful article! I fell in love with nettles as food in Italy. One of our local restaurants made ravioli di ortica with fresh tomato sauce. It was a revelation. I now make my own version with ramps. Now I live in Southern Germany and we have so many nettles. I just wilt them in olive oil and salt, or chop them into gnocchi. They also make an excellent fertilizer for tomatos! It's wonderful that you are celebrating this beautiful and most nutritious plant. 🧡

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