Free food if you can get it: Nettles

A move to the country after years of living within the confines of city and suburbs opened the door once again to nature. The sort of nature enjoyed as a child;wondrous, marvelous, full of miracles and worlds within worlds. Making sense again of the natural world led us try try planting vegetables and herbs we had previously not tried, and the resultant success and failures enabled us to make the best of our new situation. 


When some plants did really well and tasted so good, it made one wonder why these were not available at the shops. The surmise was they did not travel well or did not last long enough to be commercially viable.  It also meant looking at other plants that were documented as being edible but were not available even as seed. Many weeds fall into that group. 
The good thing about weeds is they are free.Whilst in some countries these plants may be cherished, here in Australia they are considered the feral gatecrashers to the garden party. Yet many are good eating, often have medicinal qualities and other valuable attributes overlooked in the modern blinkered convenience rules world. Remember the word weed is a human concoction to describe a plant that grows where it is not intended. It says nothing of the value of the plant itself. Therefore we have the wonderful quandary for frugality in that weeds are free and have no value and yet they  are very valuable.

Urtica dioica,, the stinging nettle

Lets take a look at nettles. In some areas these are common in other areas not so. From the literature nettles have traditionally been used as food, to make tea,  to make paper, cloth and  ropes, to make fish nets, used  as an expectorant, as a diuretic, in wound treatment, treatment of gout, as a laxative, treatment of prostate cancer, treatment of hepatitis and gall bladder inflammation, treatment of worms and the important one, to make BEER. You can still buy beer made from nettles in the North of England.
 Nettles are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, manganese, silica, sodium, sulphur and tannin. Vitamin C, beta carotene and the rest of the B group of vitamins are also in high concentrations.
Nettles tend to grow in soil rich in phosphates and nitrogen and are often associated with clay or compacted soil. Nettles can therefore tell you something about the quality of the ground. Whilst they are considered a weed, they do not grow easily everywhere.

The oddest use is in the treatment of severe arthritis where the patient has his or her skin flayed with the nettle. This increases circulation, and stimulates the lymphatic system, the nerves and muscles. As one author noted, it may be the pain of the nettles that takes away the pain of the arthritis! The leaves as you may unfortunately know produce an unpleasant stinging sensation which can be reduced by rubbing a dock or plantain leaf on the zone, or heating the area. The sting is caused by small hairs containing formic acid or methanoic acid which spike and irritate the skin. However, I cannot see a nettle clinic opening any time soon.

The formic or methanoic acid is neutralised by heat and drying so dried nettle or cooked nettle contains no danger. The leaves need to be dropped into boiling water for thirty seconds. 

Nettles boast a very high amount of protein compared to other plants given at a rate of 10%.

To use to eat:

Use only the young leaves. The older leaves feel develop a grittiness caused by cells that are an irritant to the kidneys.

You can use nettle leaves anywhere you would use spinach. Simply add the balanced leaves to salads. They are great steamed with beans and rice. Add them to soups. You can make a nettle soup with nettles, onion and potato with some stock and maybe a pinch of nutmeg They can be added to celery, zucchini etc to fill out the meal. To make beer, you can find plenty of recipes on the net.

Other uses:

If you can’t bring yourself to eat them, they are very rich in nitrogen and make a great addition to the compost heap or to make a green nutrient rich tea with which to feed your plants. Remember to remove any flowers and seeds if you do not want to spread the nettle. Nettles prefer to grow in rich soil that is not acidic.

Wear gloves to collect nettles although it is said if you grasp the nettle firmly by bare hand, the hairs are broken and cannot puncture the skin. I have yet to confirm this last observation!

"Frugality is the quality of being frugal, sparing, thrifty, prudent or economical in the consumption of consumable resources such as food, time or money, and avoiding waste, lavishness or extravagance."

Well that is what Wikipedia says about the subject. Everybody has a basic sense of frugality. It usually has other guises like being poor, not having any money or time,having no options, often having no hope. 

For me I know the word well from a lifetime of parents who  "went through the war", "who did without", " turn that light off" "close that door you're letting heat in ( or out)", "only put as much water in the kettle as will make your cup of tea, we do not want to waste power." There is a long list.

I also know it from not coming from wealth, not having money grow on trees and now the looming archways of retirement just over the next hill. A pension is designed to help you through the golden years not pave the streets.

There is also the added impetus of treading lightly on this earth. Frugality is a part of making the most of every thing we have to ensure we consume less, waste less and live as close to the life thread which is life itself, pure and simple.

To make frugal living easy or at least pave the way to make it an easier option, it is important to know things. Knowledge is power and whilst there is a bounty of information out there, it is not all knowledge. 

Some may take the oath of frugality and turn it into a faith or religion.The approach I use and hope to share is to use frugality as a cloak to throw around one's shoulders to use as required and where possible. 

There are many areas where a less expensive option, or an option that uses less time or energy could be employed. As food is the fuel of our existence, we shall start with food. To start with a bang we shall begin with the ultimate in frugality, the free stuff. Free food sounds too good to be true but I can assure you whilst it might be difficult to exist entirely with free food, there are plenty of options for bulking out what you buy from the shops.