Featured ingredient:
Along with our sweeter fruit ingredients, we used a more bitter herb to really enhance its flavor. Stinging nettle, rarely thought of as an herbal remedy, but really its healing properties are overwhelmingly abundant and have been documented for hundreds of years.
This nutrition packed herb is traditionally known as a “spring tonic”, being one of the earliest greens to bloom in spring. Stinging nettle has shown to be an asitingent, diuretic, heretic, anti-allerginic, antihistamine, and so so much more. The plant’s leaves may be used dried or fresh - its most common form being nettle tea.
Nettle is slow to metabolize and thus gently moves through the body, making it extremely beneficial to the kidneys as blood and intestinal purifier. Its significant ability to purify the blood also relies on its high content of vitamin A, C, K, and iron. Cool fact = dried nettles are nearly 40% protein! The leaves can also be used externally, as treatment to skin irritation like mouth infections, eczema, acne, and insect bites.
Nettle is a great healing alternative to women experiencing PSM or menopause, and historically has been used to help lactating women increase the flow of their breast milk.
In a month or so, nettle will be in abundance! And its exciting to think of all its potential just available in your own backyard. Be sure to check out this site on the proper procedures when harvesting and preparing nettle.
We just used dried nettle in our mead, cooked down over the stove with the other cherry and lemon peel ingredients. The nettle actually acts as a yeast "energizer" in a mead from the tannic acids. This helps speed up the fermentation process.