Stinging nettle is easily my all time favorite leafy green vegetable, both in the wild and in the garden!
 
Urtica Dioica begins producing fresh tender leaves in early April and can be harvested long after the first frost, even into January some years. With a small hoop cover they can be grown just about year round (in zone 7). They are nutritious, delicious, and incredibly prolific. The leaves can contain as much 33.6% protein by dry weight! They are loaded with vitamins a, c and k, and very mineral dense.
 
The stinging hairs may be irritating, but they also inject us with serotonin, histamine, tryptophan, secretin, choline, leukotriene and acetylcholine. In some schools of herbalism this effect is used to help ease inflammation and stiffness in a process known as urtication, where the herbalist will gently brush the affected area with fresh stinging nettles. Moreover, all parts of this plant from the roots to the seeds, have been utilized by herbal healers for thousands of years, for a wide range of maladies. If you wish to avoid the stinging hairs simply wear a pair of thick gardening gloves and a long sleeve sweater or thick shirt.
 
On top of all of this, stinging nettles can gather nutrients that other plants cannot, and as such it is listed as a powerful “dynamic accumulator” that builds soil incredibly quickly! This friend is even included in many of the classic biodynamic soil preparations. Not to mention its stalks make an incredibly soft fiber that is similar to linen and insulates when wet. 
 
 Whether you are an herbalist, a forest gardener, or just a person who loves cooked greens and pesto, stinging nettles deserve some space in most every garden! If you want to know more about nettles, check out this awesome video from one of our favorite youtube foragers, Adam Harritan: https://youtu.be/ANZ60K3h2ow
 
Plant comes as a 4-6" Bare Root.