I’ve only added a few things to the Page due to health issues, next post will appear in a couple of weeks.

I’m beginning to suspect that the info about saving stalks for a year is incorrect. Looking through an old booklet suggests that “people of old” processed their nettles in the fall. I’ll try to write a summary and translate it because there is a lot of interesting information in there, including a few chuckles:

In Swedish from Carl von Linné 1749: “Nätslor voro här plåckade till grönkål, såsom det allmänt sker i Sverige om vårtiden, så længe denna nätsla är späd och ännu ej en fingers lång… Somliga lägga till denna sin nätsle-kål bladen av ängelöken eller körfvel, at kålen må få en angenämare smak; andra bruka plåcka bladerna af sqvaller-kål … och åtskilliga andra växter, utan åtskillnad, hvarigenom ofta händer, at folket, som äta kålen blifva vimmerkantiga.”

Quick translation: “Nettles were then picked for spring greens, as is the custom in Sweden, as long as the nettle is freshly sprouted and not yet as long as a finger. Some supplement their nettle “cabbage” with field garlic or cow parsley to make it taste better; others use the leaves from goutweed and various other plants, without discernment, the result of which often being that people who eat the soup become rather giddy.”

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