are they edible

[bookwormom]

we have an obnoxious weed growing everywhere with sharp stickers. Here they call it bull nettles. Husband did not know it and left a stand of it when he mowed because it had such pretty flowers. well, I just noticed it and the pretty flowers are like miniature green tomatoes at present. I almost passed out. I know it is a nightshade. My question, does anyone know if they are edible? the plant is not in my two books of local flora and I have no idea what it's real name is.
anyone know if is annual or perannual. Well, I am sure you all have got stung pulling it out. I can not allow it to get to seed and would hate to have to pick a bunch of poisonous berries. Especially since nothing edible grew this year.

[CarolAnn]

First of all, please don't eat anything if you're not sure what it is! :o

Next, I don't think a true nettle has thorns. They're kind of hairy - that's where the stinging poison is. You can eat nettles, but frankly, I don't think they're worth the trouble. To me, a plant needs to be delicious to be worth possibly getting "stung" by it! (I get a rash from tomato leaves, and that is enough to make me leave tomatoes alone unless they're already cooked!)

If you suspect the plant is a nightshade, I believe I'd make sure to get it pulled out and not allowed to reseed.

Have you had any of this rain? If so, you might consider a fall garden; there are lots of short season plants that you can still grow and enjoy this year if your early garden didn't make it!

Here are some nettle links! Maybe you can idenitfy your plant by the pictures.

http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant31.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nettle
http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/okwild/bull.html

[AlchemyAcres]

Sounds like the plant that's more commonly called horse nettle....and, yeah, it's a nightshade and extremely toxic.....I've seen it in barnyards around here.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_nettle

~Martin

[bookwormom]

thanks Martin, that is the one. sigh, all those berries and none good to eat. I was hoping since tomatoes and potatoes are nightshades they would have some merit. But I am glad to see they are still green and I will take the lawnmower to the spot rather than hand picking them.

Thanks Carol Ann. I knew it was not a real nettle and don't know why it is called one.

[MadTripper]

I see them around once in a while also. Never thought about eating them but I'm not much of a tomato fan as long as they are in raw form.
As far as nettles go. You are supposed to boil them to remove the poison. I'm not sure about ways of eating them but I know they are a member of the hemp family and you can weave the stems into ropes.

[bookwormom]

thanks for your concern Carol Ann, but don't worry, I would not eat them, that's why I asked you guys first. I know it is not a real nettle and I guess it is called one because it hurts you. I am one of those nuts that sowed real nettles (Urtica dioicus) and though it is not exactly pretty and stings like the dickens and if you pick it against the grain, I still love it. such a beneficial plant. there is no poison in it Mad tripper, you could eat it raw. It has a very high protein content for a plant . I would not want to eat it every day, but after winter, a mess of nettles satisfies a craving for green. (No matter how much broccoli I froze).

[MadTripper]

The susbstance in stinging nettles, which are common to my area, is considered a toxin. *Toxins are considered to be a poison so herein lies my explanation. *I realize that most people associate death or extreme sickness with poisons however this isn't always the case. *

Additionally, the stinging nettles around here leave little bumps on your skin that itch. *You can mix some baking soda and water together as a paste and apply to the affected area which helps things.

So this is where my statement comes from. *I haven't tried eating them raw and I'm not sure I will anytime soon.

How do you prepare them? You said eat raw but I just couldn't imagine that although I guess the leaves don't have as many pricklies on them as the stems. Additionally, if they are high in protein, would they be good to plant near my chicken run?

Tripper

[bookwormom]

I don't eat them raw either, I just mentioned that to point out that they are safe any way. And you are right, the stingers do contain some toxic substance, enough to sting. Nettle stings are supposed to be good for rheumatic conditions. In Russia they take a bundle of nettles and swipe themselves with it. Yes, I remember unbleached nettle cloth, used to be used for diapers, too, but never heard of rope being made of it.
You can cook nettles in a little water, then make a rue and add the cooking water and some milk or cream, the chopped nettles and salt, pepper, garlic or nutmeg. that is how we cook them and like them. very good is to take a skillet with very little fat and roast them until the leaves are dry and brittle. Obviously you only put enough in the pan as can be dry roasted at a time. The leaves can be dried for tea, in Europe you can buy it everywhere as it is quite popular. I still have some but I really do not care much for it. What I need to do again is make a garden potion out of it. fill a barrel with nettles and cover with water, put on a lid and let set for several weeks. stir once in awhile. Be warned, it stinks terribly. Plants like it, really gives them a boost. you have to dilute it like manure tea. It is supposed to keep bugs off, too. I need to try out next season and see what happens. especially with those squash bugs.
The seeds are very nutritious and can be sprinkled on food.
In Europe nettles are also used in cheesemaking for flavoring, like pimento cheese there is nettle cheese. It is not bad. My friends here say they have nettles growing along the creek, and they are nettles and they do sting, but they are not urtica dioica.
Oh, I had them growing in the chicken run and the chickens do not bother them, they grew big and tall. however you can dry them and crumble them and add to feed. We always cut fresh nettles and chopped them fine for the goslings. they devoured them. But a goose is not going to eat leaves off a nettle plant either. The only animals that eat nettles fresh off the bush are caterpillars.

[Deberosa]

I've had nettles cooked in salt water like spinach and then sprinkled with nutmeg. They were really good! It takes some work to get them into the pot without getting stung though!

[MadTripper]

So do you pluck the leaves or just add the stems and all when you cook them like that?

[Deberosa]

It was the leaves. I remember it distinctly because it was near Sisters in Oregon on a homestead overlooking the Roque River. I would visit a retired couple who lived in a house that was sort of started by an architect and never finished. It was built to look like the Three Sisters Mountains in the distance. What that meant was that nothing was square and very few walls exactly matched up. One time a skunk came to visit through the crack behind the woodstove. Frank was a retired Princeton Topology professor and Victory a retired librarian. He cooked and served many of the plants in the surrounding country and got me interested in the practice. As we walked along the butte he took off his sweatshirt and cut nettle leaves and wrapped them in his shirt to take home. Victoria then cooked them up for breakfast. It was wonderful and made for a wonderful memory. There was something refreshing about the mornings in that part of the world, anyone from that area probably knows what I mean.

That all was almost 30 years ago so they are certainly long gone, but what a wonderful way to retire!

How's that for getting off track? ;-)

[AlchemyAcres]

In Europe nettles are also used in cheesemaking for flavoring......

That's a new one...I've never heard of nettles being used as a cheese flavoring....a vegetable rennet used in cheesemaking, yeah, but never a flavoring.....
Nettles is an amazing and semi-'sacred' plant....a gazillion uses......nettles is the plant that kept many alive during the Irish potato famine.....


~Martin

[idris]

And don't forget to try it out for fibre and for dye.