a month with nettle
I’ve yearned for summer through a wet May, grey June, damp early July. Blue sky, expansiveness, desire… bursting into fierce heat, humidity treacle thick, 33 degrees in our attic bedroom at night, Lughnasadh August dazzling. And the want fulfilled — I find myself nettled, prickly and unsettled, yearning for autumn…
This cusp month of August — heat then rain, has been my month with nettle. It’s a plant (and food) with one of the widest ranges of benefits for a plethora of conditions and constitutions. And it’s a plant we learn to recognise and avoid early in life. We learn it in tandem with dock or plantain, so we can reach for leaves that will soothe its stings.
In Spring I made nettle soup, a nettle iron tonic, nettle cake from the strained leftovers. This month I gathered seeds from the garden’s abundance of nettles. Full of linoleic and linolenic acids, that are vital for making omega 3 and omega 6. Wonderful in teas or sprinkled on salads or in soups or dressings. They have a crunch and a slight saltiness.
Eat them fresh, dry them to add to meals earlier in the day. Although these tiny powerhouses work on the adrenals and are an excellent tonic for fatigue, soothing exhaustion or stress, they are also stimulating. Not for sticky evenings when you want to sleep.
I infused seeds in oil that delighted that I could finally macerate herbs in the sun. Dried seeds are best as the fresh have too much water which may cause botulism in the oil, but you can dry your own. Fill your kilner jar between a third to a half with dried seeds, top up with oil and leave it in the sun for 2-4 weeks. Jojoba oil is good on all skin types or you can use almond or olive oil. It’s a lovely oil to use in a salve for joint or muscle pain, made with shea butter and beeswax with added essential oils such as black pepper, helichrysum, ginger, wintergreen… (the choice of essential oils depends on the person, the condition and particular sensitivities so it can be a good idea to chat to a herbalist).
Spending the month with a herb that we all know so well is interesting. I’m often struck in relationships by how difficult we can find it to perceive change in those we think we know by heart.
A few years ago (well, actually over a decade!) I was hosting a launch for an accomplished and vital poets. It was also a celebration for Ruth’s 90th birthday. We were promoting her latest brilliant poetry collection alongside a biography exploring her work. There was a lively Q&A between as well as the poetry reading. Afterwards, many of Ruth’s adult grandchildren told me how extraordinary it was to see their ‘granny’ in such a different light. They knew she wrote poetry but had no idea that she was so highly thought-of, such a beacon of skill and intelligence.
If we remain open, we can always discover new things about those we think we know. And a month with nettle has been a month of discovery.
I came to nettle with so many facts in my head. The leaves, which are are nutritious in spring or dried, are astringent for the gut. They clears congestion, helps with catarrh, bronchitis, coughs and sinusitis. They have strong antihistamine action.
Nettle has an affinity with the kidneys, helping to clean the blood. It’s a diuretic, relieving fluid retention, so helpful with cystitis, urethritis and incontinence. And it aids the excretion of uric acid, which is beneficial for gout and arthritis.
Amongst nettles’ many actions, it helps with inflammation, including in peptic ulcers and acid reflux. And it calms diarrhoea and gastritis. And nettle is also an excellent tonic for anaemia, and an immunity-boost after illness. Its anti-inflammatory actions assist with conditions like acne, eczema, urticaria, and psoriasis. And the juice or an infusion treats wounds, haemorrhoids, burns, staunches bleeding.
Nettle also has strong associations with the female reproductive system. It helps regulate periods and stimulate milk production in lactation. And it reduces heavy bleeding, providing protection from anaemia, being rich in iron and vitamin C.
And I could go on…
For all her fieriness and her sharp boundaries, nettle is a generous plant. But what would she say to me in this sticky month of harvests?
On the beginning of August I hosted a workshop for a wonderful gathering of writers. We explored what it might mean to ‘gather listen tender’. The final exercises was a response to two images — one of them of a frog. Accompanied by text about how frogs have incredibly sensitive skin. It took me back to being a child who was too ‘thin-skinned’, too ‘sensitive’.
After the class, I spent some time with nettle and continued the writing. The seed tincture is warming and earthy. It took me to heart and body. Nettle opened a space to listen to my sensitive skin. We don’t have to be stung by nettle to be injected with her goodness and generosity. But if we are, we will know that her many gifts are balanced by her strong boundaries.
What elements do you find yourself drawn to?
Air is my home — so often I’m in my head. ‘Away with the fairies’ is another childhood label. And I’m drawn to water — its flow and emotion. I want to be drawn to earth, to be more grounded. But fire? I love the energy, but am less comfortable with its fierceness.
Nettle is a herb of Mars. Anger isn’t my medium. I was more adept at righteous indignation in my youth. Injustice and inequity still rattle me, but evoke more sorrow than fury as I age. I’m in a long conversation with someone I love about the use of violence in change. There is so much violence done in our names — genocide paid for with our taxes, slavery maintained by what we consume daily… I want to eschew violence, but to exist as someone who is not impoverished is to be implicated in systems of violence.
How do we live with the way the world works and go on creating?
How do we feel the suffering of the world with our sensitive skins but not become overwhelmed?
There is no help in wallowing in guilt — an indulgence that changes nothing. We do the good that we can — small acts of transformation and resistance. And we take care of the selves that do what good we can in the world, savouring delight and joy where it flourishes.
There’s a time to sting and a time to nourish, nettle sings. She is all fire, and yet internally nettle cools —cleansing the blood, soothing the adrenals, lowering stress, bringing peace where allergies flare hot. She brings pause and coolness when we are prickling with heat, physical or emotional, nurturing immunity. Nettle soothes fever, the perfect herb for summer humidity, for heavy heat. In folklore she dispels darkness.
The more time I spent with nettle, the more at ease I felt with my own contradictions. We contain multitudes, Walt Whitman tells us. And this is true in the sense of our connection to all life, but also in the sense that we are complex and full of paradoxes. Nettle stings will make the skin burn with fury, but she cools blood and fever. She’s a herb of fiery, warring Mars who calms the nervous system.
What are your contradictions and can you find peace with them?
Over this month she has given me a strong sense that it’s fine to live in my sensitive skin, to wander into airy trances, to flow with feelings. But she also nettles me to not be afraid of heat and fire in the right places, to look to my boundaries, to listen to my body. Do you hear your heart when it whispers, ‘enough’?
Nettle didn’t tell me to harden my sensitive skin, but simply to recognise when it needs some protection.
What might nettle whisper to you?
Recipes with nettle
Digestivitiea
Equal parts:
Oregano
nettle
peppermint
chamomile
yarrow
fennel
Feel free to use whichever of these herbs you have to hand or can easily source. A soothing blend for the digestion.
Flexibilitea
This is a lovely tea for digestive issues, including when there is psycho-spiritual component or any fatigue. The nettle here soothes the nervous system and is an adrenal restorative. Fennel is a lovely aromatic for relieving colicky pains and gas.Calendula soothes both the gut and emotions. Hawthorn promotes circulation, calms the heart (physically and emotionally) and is another goog herb for boundaries. Ground ivy is an aromatic bitter that is anti-inflammatory and supports the digestion the joints as well as the nervous system. And rose nurtures heart and soul whilst also guarding our boundaries and cooling and calming gut and heart.
Use equal parts:
Nettle
Fennel
Calendula
Hawthorn
Ground ivy
And a handful of rose (or a pinch for individual cups) — petals or buds.
Tonic nettle vinegar
Vinegars are easy to make and you can use fresh or dried herbs.You can do a mixture of herbs — at this time of year, sage, thyme, rosemary and nettle is a wonderful combination, full of immunity boosting aromatics. Or make a simple nettle seed vinegar.
Fill your kilner jar to a third – half full and top up with organic apple cider vinegar, preferably one with mother if possible. Store in a cool,dark place for 2-4 weeks, strain and put into a sterilised bottle.
Vinegars are good to use on salads, in dressings, in soups and sauces.