My goodness! Look at those spikes! Stinging nettle is a plant that is unforgettable, especially if you meet it while skinny dipping. I haven’t, but… it would leave an impression, I’m sure! I actually have tried several times to grow it without success.

This is more what it looks like when you see it growing. Those lovely spikes are hollow silica fibers that inject histamines, acetylcholine, and serotonin into the flesh it brushes against. This can cause an irritation – ‘nettle dermatitis’ – that looks like slightly raised blisters. Sounds bad, right? Not always. Urtication, or essentially beating your skin with raw nettles, is a way of treating pain from arthritis. The histamine from the ‘sting’ draws inflammatory markers away from what is hurting. If you have heard of using bee stings for arthritis pain, this would be in the same category.

Nettle also makes for a really delicious COOKED green (cooking inactivates the stinging) that is high in calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron. Nettle tea provides many of the same benefits and is very nourishing to all body systems. The cooked greens taste a bit like spinach; the tea tastes like grass to me.

Nettle has been used for malnutrition (due to all the nutrients above and because it is not hard on the stomach), hay fever, coughs (it dries things up), gout, arthritis, and muscle spasms. It is an herbal powerhouse.

Nettle is one of the most drying herbs, though. If you consistently drink nettle tea, you will notice your skin getting dry, your mouth getting dry, even your hair and nails being affected. Nettle is still an amazing remedy – you just need to offset the dryness by adding another herb like marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) or rose (Rosa canina) or sweeten it with honey.

If you are harvesting nettle yourself, there are a couple precautions to take: one, wear gloves. Two: Harvest before the plant flowers. Nettle harvested after flowering can cause some irritation to the urinary system.

The root of Urtica can also be used – it is used more as a styptic or for urinary issues like BPH.

One of the main reasons I use nettle is because it is an antilithic – meaning it breaks down stones or deposits. I have found it is really helpful with the arthritis I have in my knees and jaw.

I actually like nettle in all its forms – tea, greens, and urtication (yes, people do tend to think you are a little odd if you rub it against your skin – until they find out why). Most of nettle’s constituents are water soluble, so tea is better than tincture for this plant.

So – if you plan on skinny dipping over Memorial Day, just watch for nettles. Harvest first, swim later!