One of the best things about May is stinging nettles. Yes, the famous sting means it takes a bit of courage to make friends with them, but once you do, these “weeds” have a reputation of curing whatever ails. Aches and pains, coughs, colds, fatigue (lots of Vitamin C, iron and magnesium) diarrhea, arthritis… You can make herbal tea, “decoctions” (brews), lotions, soups, vegetable platters (blanched in boiling water just long enough to neutralize the stinging whiskers, trickle olive oil: sweet, and better than spinach!)… Or ferment it in buckets of rain water and make the awful/wonderful “purin d’ortilles” (smells nauseating, really) to help your vegetables grow and fight off disease and predators without chemicals. A neighbor making organic wine is coming over this afternoon to pick 10 square meters of ours – he has run out – so he can spray it on his vineyard. In the meantime I’m concocting “ortille and mint” tea with honey to fix up the aching shoulder I wrenched helping the man move a “small tank” in the winery.
The slope just above the river is a nettles paradise in spring since the man began cutting down the ronces (prickly brambles) many years ago. His aim was to encourage more tree growth so the root system would help prevent erosion. (15 years ago he liberated a baby oak from the thorn bushes, and now it is 25 feet tall!) Since then he’s been the liberating agent for more oaks, acacias, and even a couple of wild walnut and hazel nut trees.
But best of all, we now have a carpet of nettles just begging to be picked. So pretty it’s easy to forget your gloves!
