Harvesting Nettles

Two of my favorite wild harvested edibles are cattails and stinging nettles, both which are picked in different seasons from each other and really give me something to look forward to in February(nettles) and june(cattails)


Every February we get our scissors and plastic bags ready and we go to our favorite patch of spring nettles.
First, you don't want to eat nettles after they flower.
So early spring is when they first shoot up with the most tender, nutritious leaves.
You'll want to harvest the ones that are under knee length.


You will use you scissors to cut off the top of the plant (new leaf cluster) carefully use your scissors to pick it up and put it into your bag.


Then trim the other leaves off with your scissors and pick them up carefully with scissors and put them in the bag...leave the last 2 inches of stalk with leaves still on it.


Once you get a bag or two fulls of leaves and crowns. You will have more than enough for a family of 4 or more...


I then take them home and fill a large bowl with water and (do this in batches)
Ill take a couple tongs full of leaves and submerge them and agitate them a tad to clean them, then put them in the pot you will be using to boil them in....


Keep doing this until all your leaves are in your pot...


Fill your pot with water and boil for 10-20 mins until wilted and as tender as you desire...


Strain and season with butter, salt and pepper......


(Yes, you can still see the stinging bristles but they don't sting and wont bother you once they are wilted.....)




This is a picture of my pot full of nettles before smashed down and water added

 I chopped a complete stalk off, about 2 inches above the ground to adequately show the process in pictures (this is the crown of the plant which you would snip off from the stalk of the plant while still upright

 Bag full of nettles, makes for happy bellies

 Here are the chopped off tender leaves of a stalk ready to be put into the bag carefully

 My scissors are marked as a guide to show you, take leaves above it and the crown, leave everything below

 A beautiful new shoot

 Ive only been stung twice in my life by nettles, once as a child while helping my parents harvest them and once as an adult....If you happen to have this occur...find the closest plantain plant and pick a leaf...mash, rub, bend, rip it and make a mess of it until it begins to let its liquids run and rub it all over...it will help bring relief....

Lavender blueberry pancakes

This is how finely chopped you should cut your lavender flowers....you can see the size difference from the tiny dried flowers in the back and the finely chopped in the middle

 The final product

 The blueberries will mostly shrink and pop while cooking, its alright if they are sticking out and not completely smothered in batter

1 cup of flour
Couple pinches of pink Himalayan salt (or salt)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
Mix dry ingredients together well

Chop 1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender flowers
Chop until it is powdery and ground

Add to dry ingredients

In a different bowl
Beat 1 egg
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

Mix together and add to dry ingredients, mix all together well

Then add approx. 1 cup frozen blueberries and mix well with spoon until your batter turns a faint blue tone.

Lightly oil your skillet and preheat skillet to med. temperature

When it is hot, add your batter and cook until dark golden and flip for a dark golden tone on opposite side..

No butter or syrup...

Just dust the tops liberally with powdered organic sugar (if it isn't organic, the cornstarch will be gmo)

Walnut Meat Tacos

We have two huge walnut tree's on our property, so we use a lot of walnuts all year long. Here is one of my absolute favorite recipes.

You take raw walnuts. I use one quart size bag full for a family of 5 people.

Heat up a can of organic refried beans on your stovetop.

Then I take my walnuts and put them in a food processor and blend until it turns the consistency of ground beef.. Then add about  1/2 teaspoon of cumin and salt and pepper...mix  well with spoon.


add walnuts to beans....then add to your taco shells and garnish.