Why Are People So Interested in Stinging Nettle? - ID, Harvest, Edible and Medicinal Uses and More!

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Stinging Nettle - Urtica dioica
Stinging nettle is a wild edible and medicinal plant that a lot of people are very interested to forage for and use. Personally I'm pretty stoked about this plant! Stinging nettle is a wild edible plant that is very nutritious and it is also a wild medicinal plant that is used to treat a lot of ailments. This video covers identification of stinging nettle, edible uses, medicinal uses, harvesting, and I even discuss transplanting and growing stinging nettle in my garden.
Here's the Kelowna Forager on Instagram
/ kelownaforager
Please consume wild plants at your own risk! Consult multiple reliable sources before consuming any wild plants! This video is for information and entertainment only!
References
De La Foret; Han, Emily. Wild Remedies: How to Froage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. Hay House, Inc. 2020.
Gray, Beverley. The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North. Aroma Borealis Press. 2011.
Kloos, Scott. Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants. Timber Press, Inc. 2017
MacKinnon, A. Edible and Medicinal Plants of Canada. Lone Pine Media Productions (BC) Ltd. 2014.
Parish, R.; Coupe, R.; and Lloyd, D. Plants of the Inland Northwest and Southern Interior British Columbia. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing. 2018
Turner, N. J. Food Plants of Interior First Peoples. Royal BC Museum. 2007
Wiles, Briana. Mountain States Medicinal Plants. Timber Press Inc. 2018.

[@celestelee8425]

I’ve made a tasty watercress & nettle soup from harvested nettle. Tea too!

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Nice! That sounds good!

[@strongcoffeenana4123]

Gonna try to get some thanks

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Good luck! Thank you, too!

[@bug934]

I love your presentations. Photography is wonderful. I take screen shots to help me identify plants later. Your knowledge is very helpful. Big thumbs up 👍

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Thank you so much! That's really nice of you to say that!

[@PreppingWithSarge]

Tis the season for the super plants!

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

It sure is! Thanks!

[@mudbuds1161]

Still too scared to touch it. 😅

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Fair enough! Haha!

[@GrannyandHen]

I bought liquid from piping rock that you add a dropper full to water and dried cut and sifted leaves from star west botanicals. We brew the leaves and make tea and eat the spent leaves in scrambled eggs. My husband is a mill worker always on his feet, he says it made his leg cramps go away :-)

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

That's awesome! I also found that it would relieve a lot of my muscle cramps. Thank you!

[@kimberlytillson2457]

There should be jewel weed somewhere around them. Crush and rub into area that has been "stung" by stinging nettle. This would be good info to share with this!

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Thank you for sharing it here!

[@SimplerTimesHomestead]

This is a great video. Thank you! Are there any deadly lookalikes to singing nettle?

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Thank you! There are quite a few plants that I think look similar, but I can't think of any that are deadly. Stinging nettle is kinda the dangerous one that people usually look out for, haha! Sorry, I hope that helps!

[@doraettafinley9855]

Stinging Nettle is now part of my holistic journey. Trying my hand at growing it. Thanks for sharing this information.

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

You're welcome! I hope it helped!

[@angelicafreund8551]

Best information ever about not using the leaves after flowering. And yes.. I do not shy away from getting stung a little bit..all helpful. In fact rubbing the leaves on sore swollen joints really does work for me. Once I had a minor hive like reaction which was no problem..but husband had a severe case which lasted for a couple of days..even though he used it before with no issue. So one must proceed carefully.

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Great comment! Lots of good info there. Thank you!

[@daveallen9921]

I was looking for a natural replacement for pharmacy drugs to help with allergies. Looks like I found it! It grows in southern Ontario and I will be harvesting some soon.Thank you very much.

[@angelicafreund8551]

I've been using nettle for a few years now for allergies. Haven't taken an antihistamine since. It is wonderful ❤❤

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

You're welcome! Thank you, too!

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

That's excellent you've had improvements! Great to get off the antihistamines!

[@00soulfree]

We did get some from Rocky Ford Creek & they grow easily after a bit of transplanting slump -

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Nice! Ours appear to have survived the transplant! I'm looking forward to seeing how they do next spring!

[@00soulfree]

Love nettles! We drink it every morning - after listening here, I'll start putting in our Sun tea -

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

We drink it a lot, too!

[@dallen4482]

Do you use fresh or dried leaves for your tea? I meant to bring gardening gloves to harvest some… the strings were noticeable for a couple days but not much worse than a mosquito bite.

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Yeah, I don't think the stings are so bad. If it's in season, we'll use some fresh leaves. Typically, we use dried leaves.

[@emmalee478]

Do you think the stings hurt less now?

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

I do. I feel like they hurt less and the effects are gone more quickly now. Thanks for asking!

[@victoriaroe8977]

I LOVE using it when I have a migraine or severe muscle strain. I pack as many potent nettles as I can and sting the area inflamed. I repack as needed. It brings great relief to the migraine and muscle tension. Thank you for all you do for us.❤

[@nenamisabell6595]

I just started learning about Nettle this year.... I took lots of notes from your video. Thank you! I'm going to transplant some too. 🥰

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Great! I'm glad it helped! Good luck with the transplant!

[@Youdontknowmeson1324]

There is a lot of subspecies of stinging nettle urticaria dioca European kind , Asians kinds and others. There is also is other urtica species like the rare Majorca nettle native to islands near Spain.

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Yes, there are. Thank you for adding that!

[@lrrerh8090]

I had a major score this year… a bunch of nettles came up in my yard this year. My wife almost chopped them down before I was able to tell her what a treasure she found.

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Nice! You can have your own patch now!

[@Seek_Him]

Helps with allergies Helps Arthritis Builds Blood Gout Purifier Blood

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

Yes! Thank you!

[@Seek_Him]

I often wondered what it looks like, Thank You

[@OkanaganGardenerandForager]

You're welcome! I hope you have a good idea what it looks like now. Thank you, too!