I burn for the nettle!

I have a big garden and the herbs grow there for free, so you can help yourself from nature. They have a great variety of flavours and more ingredients than cultivated herbs or everything you can buy on the market or in the supermarket. Wild herbs are practically always in season; you can harvest and process them from spring until frost. I grow frangipane, chickweed, yarrow, ribwort, goutweed and nettle.

No fear of nettles

I burn for the stinging nettle! On the one hand, it has a great healing effect: it purifies the blood, has a detoxifying, diuretic and antibacterial effect and generally supports the immune system. On the other hand, the nettle contains many nutrients. It contains iron, silica, vitamins (A, C and E) as well as potassium and magnesium.

The nettle itself has a long culinary tradition. Even in the Middle Ages, people knew about its taste and effect. The best time to dry the nettle is in spring, but it can be harvested and eaten all year round until frost - whether raw or cooked. It is suitable for a pesto, blanched in a salad or for soups.

Most people are afraid of nettles because they "burn" their hands when they harvest them. It is less bad if you touch the stem from the bottom up, because the nettles grow in that direction. However, I recommend gloves and scissors and, as with all wild herbs, only cut off the top third. These shoots are the youngest and therefore less bitter. To process them, pour hot water over the nettle or roll over the leaves with a rolling pin so that these small nettle vessels are destroyed.

Beware of confusion

We can eat a lot of our greens. Nevertheless, there are some rules to follow. Don't pick anything where dogs are walking, roads are busy or fields are fertilised or sprayed. Go further into nature but don't pick anything that you don't recognise one hundred percent. There are herbs that look very similar. A typical example is wild garlic and lily of the valley or meadow saffron, which can cause severe poisoning. The distinction is quite simple: bear's garlic smells like garlic when crushed, but if it doesn't - hands off!

Herbs that you want to eat as vegetables should always be used fresh. Dried herbs, on the other hand, are suitable for tea or as a spice.