[inishindie]

It's nettle time again...

The first delicious and nutritious crop of the year.

NETTLE SOUP
Don't worry - they don't sting when cooked! Nettles are very nutrient rich and of course - free! Don't gather them beside a busy road where they will have been contaminated by traffic fumes. If you keep cutting them from springtime you get a regular supply of fresh leaves, though they can get a bit insect infested during the summer....

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of vegetable margarine or oil
2 tablespoons of white flour
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped (optional)
Freshly picked and washed young nettles (several good handfuls - picked with gloves and caution!)
2 cups soya milk.
1 cup water or stock
salt and pepper to taste

Fry the onion and garlic in the oil or margarine for a few minutes then stir in the nettles (no need to chop or remove stalks) until they soften. Stir in the flour and gradually add the soya milk and water or stock, stirring all the time. Add seasonings and liquidise. Delicious.

Ian

[rosiemoo]

Hello,
this is my first post to this site. At this moment I am in Tucson, AZ in the US. But on Wednesday morning I will be in Clare. Yeah! And I am looking forward to my crop of nettles.

I love making fresh pasta, so I use fresh nettles, blanched, finely chopped and added to the flour and egg mix for fresh pasta. Then I blanch more nettles, chop fine, saute a bit of shallot , add ricotta cheese and freshly grated parmesan and stuff the rolled fresh pasta with the nettle and cheese. A bit of work, but well worth it. Can't buy nettle pasta at Supervalue!

[inishindie]

Yum Yum..........I'm off to the kitchen............

[inishindie]

Hi

I hope everyone is out in the sunshine on this lovely bank holiday - collecting the first crop of nettles for a delicious soup......

[Liparis]

What sunshine! it's pouring with rain here
Bill.

[spider]

nettles hell , Just finished this evening clearing nettle roots out of some ground,They have the damdest root ever .Dont care if i never see another one

[inishindie]

It might not be long before you can start to sell nettles.....

The Department of the environment have given a grant of €743,000 to test out the nettle fibres to see how they stand up as clothing.

Students in England have come up with this novel way of proving that the material is versatile.

As yet the conclusion is that clothes made from the plant are a bit itchy to wear but the students are finding plenty of other ways to exploit the versatility of the plant fibres. They are testing how strong the fabric is on cushion covers and curtains and they are also thinking of making hardwearing uniforms, which need to be tough and durable.

Nettles used as clothing and fabric isn’t a new idea by all means. Hundreds of years ago nettles and flax hemp were commonly used for clothing but their popularity dwindled when cotton became widely used in the 17th century. One reason for the renewed interest in this method of manufacturing is because of the growing fears of a worldwide shortage of cotton. Countries such as China and India are using more and more cotton in their products. Cotton tends to be difficult to grow and needs good quality land a warm climate and fertile soil.
Land such as this is being exploited more and more for intensive farming food production. Nettles on the other hand will grow well in cool damp climates like ours.

There may come a time in the not too distant future where the fields of Ireland will be harvesting nettles to clothe the world...

Cheers

Ian

[Garlicbreath]

What a brilliant idea. I can stop doing any hard work and have a valuable crop in a few years!!