In praise of nettles

Last Saturday, I paid my first visit to the rather lovely and very friendly Green Lens Studio in Atterbury Road for a cookery lesson with a difference.

We were all there to learn how to make things out of that most maligned of weeds, the nettle. Pesto and pate, curry and soup washed down with nettle tea all made for a very delicious lunch.

The session was run by Phil Mason, Gemma Harris and Urban Harvest who are out to rediscover the lost arts of foraging and wild food.  

The mighty nettle is both versatile and found in abundance. Not only can it be eaten in a variety of ways, including raw (although there is a trick to it, do not try at home without the special lesson from Phil first) but it also makes an excellent material for weaving; a trick our ancestors from Anglo-Saxon to the early 20th century (soldiers' greatcoats were made from nettle) knew but that we somehow 'forgot'. Gemma would like to run another session later on in the year when the nettles are suitable for turning into 'string' on crafting with nettles, so watch out for that.

More nettle wisdom can be found at the Urban Harvest wiki

Further wild food and foraging events can be found here

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