Bet your local coffee shop doesn’t have this nutritious, delicious latté flavour on its menu — at least not yet!
Right now, stinging nettle is at its prime for harvesting (although you’ll want to wear gloves!) Far from being an annoying weed, stinging nettle is rich in calcium, Vitamin A and C, and plant protein.
> Check out Leigh Joseph’s recipe for Stinging Nettle Latté!
The stinging part of the nettle disappears when it is juiced, cooked or dried.
Stinging nettle makes a great vegetable, a nutritious juice to add to smoothies or soups, and a mild herb or tea that can be blended with other herbs to add a boost of nutrition.
It can also be blanched and frozen like spinach.
To dry it, cut at the base of the stem, bundle several stems together, and hang upside down. When dry, remove the leaves into a mason jar. They can be crushed later or ground into a powder in a coffee grinder.
Stinging nettle is best picked when under a foot high and there is still a purplish tinge to the leaves. Definitely pick before it flowers.
> Read more about stinging nettle
Here are some great recipes made with stinging nettle:
> Stinging Nettle Birch Tip Latté
> Nettle Fireweed Shoot Spanakopita with Spruce Tip Infused Butter
