The seeds are not stingy, but the rest of the plant is, so we recommend donning a pair of gloves when picking and processing nettle seeds. We would generally recommend picking from the top ⅓ of the plant, where the seeds and nutrients are most abundant, also leaving plenty of opportunity for for regrowth and the plant’s survival. You know the seeds are ready to pick when the long seed bundles droop towards the stem.
#Seed to stem instagra full#
Both plants are edible, but when it comes to harvesting the seeds, make sure you pick from female plants as their seeds are full of nutritional goodness.
The female plants are distinguished by their slightly frosty appearance and droopiness of the flowers. The male plants produce pollen to fertilise the female, which in turn produces the seeds. Check out our Instagram Reel which may help identify them! When Nettles go to flower, all the energy and goodness goes into producing the flower and seeds, and the leaves go all tough and stringy, you’ll notice they don’t look quite so vibrant! At this point, we stop picking the leaves, and turn our attentions towards foraging for nettle seeds.Īs the plant is dioecious, only half the plants will carry the seeds (the female). Nettle seeds grow in tiny geometric clusters on thin threads along the stem, after the plant has flowered. The leaves are covered in fine hairs that break easily on contact, releasing formic acid which irritates our skin.
Nettles grow up to 5 feet tall and have opposing green leaves, which are coarsely toothed, oval, pointed on the ends, and can be several inches long.
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