Does anyone grow stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)? I’m thinking about planting some next year in containers, mostly for fertilizer but I would also like to drink some tea just to see if it helps my allergies at all. Any tips, observations, opinions?
Does anyone grow stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)? I’m thinking about planting some next year in containers, mostly for fertilizer but I would also like to drink some tea just to see if it helps my allergies at all. Any tips, observations, opinions?
They don’t help with allergies, unfortunately (that’s just pseudoscience bunk), other than in the general ways that nutrients can be helpful to being healthy - but the claims about histamine are magical thinking.
Nettles are a perennial, you don’t need to let them go to seed - it’s only disadvantageous to do so, since as they flower they form cystoliths in their leaves, which will hurt your kidneys (you can still harvest them but you have to ferment them to make them safe to eat at that point).
Nettles are pretty tasty, more strongly flavored than spinach, though.