Stinging Nettle

What’s happening on Mist Mountain?  A Walk Around in April, a very unpredictable month.

I was going to write about the salmon berries which grow all around the  edges here and the first of the berries to leaf out in our jungle of forest even before the mountain blackberry  and the thimbleberries, although I do notice the elderberries are ahead and starting to flower this year.

Then I saw the beginning starts around the pond of the dreaded stinging nettles. While highly prized for its medicinal properties, if you have not been taught how to harvest them avoid them.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center  “Stinging nettle has been used for hundreds of years to treat painful muscles and joints, eczema, arthritis, gout, and anemia. Today, many people use it to treat urinary problems during the early stages of an enlarged prostate …. It is also used for urinary tract infections, hay fever (allergic rhinitis), or in compresses or creams for treating joint pain, sprains and strains, tendonitis, and insect bites.”

Dictionary.com says, ”

I say, “My spinning group even tried them for dyeing some of our yarn.  I wasn’t impressed with its mucky diluted mustard color but others described it as muted and lovely.  All in the perception, I guess.  All I can say, is its “bite” is not worth the pain and its color is not worth the effort, In my Opinion.  ”