- The stinging nettle is one of the first plants
that we would have been introduced to in our lifetime.
And as children, many of us would have had a run in
with this plant and possibly it may have brought
some tears too, but the humble stinging nettle
has some really beneficial properties.
In this episode, I'm gonna take you through some of the uses
of stinging nettles so that you look upon this weed
in a totally different way.
I'm Tony O'Neill and this is Simplified Gardening
where I show you how to garden in a simpler way.
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You may have come across stinging nettles in your garden
or in the hedge rows when you're on family walks.
And even if you don't know what this plant is,
just a mere brush against it
and you will know exactly what this plant is.
These are amazing plants, they have loads of benefits,
but they also have a few disadvantages too.
So before I go into the usage for this plant,
I'm gonna cover the disadvantages.
Nettles have two distinct disadvantages
and the first of these is that the sting.
Now they have fine hairs up and down the stems
and on the leaves and these are called trichombs.
Now they're like hypodermic needles
and they can pierce the skin very easily.
Now these were developed by the plant
to stop herbivores from eating them.
They contain histamines, acetylcholine, serotonin
and formic acid, and it's the histamines
that cause the initial reactions when you're stung.
You may have heard serotonin being named the happy chemical,
but in this instance, it acts as an irritant
and when you rub the infected area,
it drives that into the skin further,
causing it to itch and to swell up more.
And then once you drive that in further,
formic acids, which is another part of the chemical
of this concoction, actually causes the burn of that sting.
Now, as a child, you may have had a parent grab handfuls
of dock leaves and start rubbing the infected area.
Now there is scientific evidence to back this data up
because dock leaves, they contain anti-histamines
and rubbing anti-histamines on the infected area
can reduce the symptoms from the sting.
And the second disadvantage to nettles
is that they can become invasive.
Not only do they have a root system much like a fishing net
that pushes out into all of the soils,
but they also produce large volumes of seed as well,
and when these get taken off into the wind
and touch moist soil, they germinate almost instantly.
We now know about the disadvantages of this plant,
but now let's take a look at what it can do for us
and the reason behind this video in the first place.
Stinging nettles, they have loads of benefits
for the gardener and some of those include
that they can be turned into a fertilizer first off.
You can feed all of your plants with this
and it's a free resource.
The next next thing is that they
have lots of health benefits when consumed.
They can be used in the kitchen, and they bring in loads
of beneficial insects into the garden.
So let's take a look at some of these in more detail.
Nettles make the perfect fertilizer in the garden
because they contain chlorophyll, nitrogen,
potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and even calcium.
And on top of this they also contain
vitamins A, B1, B5, C, D, E and K.
And because of all of these vitamins
and all the minerals that they contain,
they make perfect feeds for the garden.
To make feed from nettles, it's very easy.
It's called a nettle tea and all you do
is cut the leaves off the nettles and you place them
into a container, a bucket that you jam the leaves into.
And then you fill it to the surface
with water and put a lid on it.
And you put this by and leave it for around six weeks,
and the resulting liquid is called nettle tea.
Now, the reason you would put this out of the way
is because as nettles break down, they absolutely stink.
And this is a God-awful smell,
so you wouldn't wanna use this
for any of your indoor plants, only use it outdoors.
After four to six weeks, the tea will be ready to use
as a fertilizer for your plants at home.
And I'm gonna give you some tips now so that you
get the very best results for your plants
when you're using it as a fertilizer.
Number one, when you're collecting the leaves,
before you add the water to make the tea,
bruise those leaves because this will greatly speed up
the rotting down process.
Number two, this is fantastic fertilizer
for all plants that love nitrogen,
so any leafy crops it can be used for,
it's really, really good.
When you're actually making the fertilizer to water,
this is number three tip, then you should water it down
about 10 parts to one part.
So 10 parts water, one part tea.
And the last tip I'm going to give you here
is if you're using it to water plants
that either fruit or flower,
then use them in the early stages of life
because this is when they're putting out
the greenery and everything else.
But as soon as they start going into flowering or fruiting,
you wanna switch over to a different type of feed
that is high in pot ash, something like comfrey.
Nettles can be used in the kitchen, too.
They make wonderful meals and drinks
and all of those vitamins and minerals
that we spoke about earlier on in the video,
well, now they're in your diet also
so that can only be a good thing for you.
Although not used so much in the kitchen these days,
they used to be very popular in times gone past,
right away back to ancient Roman times.
And they're even used now on everything from nettle gnocchi
right away through to pizza toppings.
And you can even make your own infusion
and make your own green teas to drink at home.
And did you know that nettles contain four times
more vitamin C gram for gram than oranges do?
So if you're looking to increase the uptake of vitamin C
in your diet and you wanna do it naturally,
well, nettles are a good choice.
And stinging nettles have been studied
huge amounts over the last 10 years.
A simple search on Google Scholar
will show you study after study after study
about all the health benefits that they've been able
to associate to stinging nettles.
And some of them are as follows:
Number one, it can help to control blood sugar levels.
Number two, it also can be used as a treatment
for hay fever and help control the symptoms of hay fever.
Number three, it can also be used
as a flush to clear out the urinary tract.
Number four, it contains anti-inflammatory properties
so it can help with arthritis.
And number five, it can help with goat,
anemia, and tendonitis.
Now I'm not saying that stinging nettles
are a wonder plant, but I do believe that nature
has all the answers and with all the studies
that are being performed and all the benefits
that they are finding around stinging nettles,
then I think it's about time that we as human beings
cut this humble weed a little bit of slack.
Stinging nettles are also a favorite
for beneficial insects in the garden
and these are all predatory insects
so they help control the pest species.
So finding an area to grow these
in your garden can really make the difference to you
and controlling the pest species.
The more we can work with nature,
the finer the balance that's achieved
and the easier it is for the gardener in the long haul.
So it's really important
to be able to bring in these insects.
Now, a recent study found in three test areas
that areas that contained nettles were much higher
in beneficial insects and that study went on to say
that these beneficial insects,
the highest numbers were found June and July,
which is perfect because this is the exact time
that the pest species like aphids, mealybugs
and whitefly, black fly, things like this,
are at high numbers in the garden.
And what actually brought in the predatory species
was the pollen and the flowers of the nettles,
so it's really important to have them
and bring in the predatory species to the garden.
So you should consider allowing the stinging nettles
to flower, but a good tactic would be to remove the flowers
before it produces a seed head
and this will then bring in all those predatory insects.
Now, the study then went on to further elaborate
on this a little, and they tested three areas of nettles,
approximately 300 square feet each.
And in those areas, they collected predatory insects,
approximately two to 400 predatory insects
per 300 square foot area.
So it goes to show just how many insects can be pulled
into this area.
Now, the types of insects that were caught were lacewings,
ladybird beetles, predatory tree bugs, predaceous flies,
braconid wasps, parasitic wasps
and all sorts of native bees.
Now we all know how many aphids
that lacewings and ladybirds can eat in one sitting,
so by allowing yourself to grow some nettles in the garden
or even in a container can really help
bring in these predatory insects,
which will help you in the garden also.
Now, who would have thought that the humble stinging nettle
we hated so much as kids could be so beneficial to us?
I think it's about time, especially in this day and age,
that we look about what nature is trying to show us.
If you found value in this video, you can subscribe here,
and if you wanna learn more ways
in which to control the pest species in your garden,
then this is the next video that you should watch.
I'm Tony O'Neill.
This is Simplified Garden
where I show you how to garden in a simpler way.
Remember folks, you reap what you sow
and I'll see you in the next one.
Bye-bye.