I recently found a website showing the Earth’s progression of green as seen from above. In the time lapse, you could see the seasons emerge. Luckily, spring moves a little slower than other seasons, allowing us to appreciate the changes and shifts, creating new things to enjoy and leaving others to anticipate.
Spring is early this year. I was excited to see the blueberry flowers emerge in fairytale splendor, gradually joined by the leaves. The leaves budded and emerged on the tall stalks of the salmonberry with the dazzle of the pink flower following in its wake.
This is the time of the year that I take walks in my favorite foraging spots. I look to the hillsides and check in on avalanche conditions before venturing out to look for my favorite first season food: the nettle.
Armed with gloves that cover my wrists and scissors, I have been collecting nettles for a few weeks now. Right now the stalks have a deep, purplish tinge to the dark green leaves, but as they develop, the dark colors will fade to a brighter shade of green.
The nettle has a distinctive look with fine-toothed leaves similar to those found on an alder, but rounder and more heart shaped. They form in pairs, separated by an inch of stalk with the next set of leaves paired opposite to the next set. The leaves are tightly closed together at the top, where it’s growing. The leaves are soft to the touch and you can see the fine hairs on the back side and on the stalk, which are the part that produces the stinging sensation.
You can pick the top portion of the nettles, the closed leaf bud and the first set of leaves. They can be harvested up to the point they begin to form the flower cluster. Some people continue to pick past this point, but others feel that picking nettles after they begin the reproductive process is harmful to the urinary tract. There is also a bitterness to the leaves at that point, which decreases their value as an edible. Like any gardener knows, if you keep cutting back leafy greens, you slow the process by which they bolt and go to seed.
Nettles have a flavor similar to spinach, but stronger and more intense than any greens that we buy in the stores. Heat rids the nettle of its sting. You’ll need to keep your gloves on as you handle the freshly picked nettles. You can add them to a pan of water and cook it for a minute, but I prefer to steam it. Drying is another method to preserve it, and it makes a nice tea.
Use the nettle as you would use spinach. My favorite is a nettle pesto that I put over pasta, using it as a vegetable dip or putting it on top of focaccia. My next big cooking project is to make some salsa di noci over ravioli stuffed with nettle leaves. I had this dish in Italy last summer, and its earthiness reminded me of warm spring days picking the first nettles of the season.
As a side note, Cooperative Extension is hosting monthly foraging opportunities in Juneau beginning on April 30. If you are like me and feel more comfortable being with someone who knows what to look for and what to do with wild edibles, this might be a good opportunity for you. For more information, contact sarah.lewis@alaska.edu or call 463-3280×1.
• Corinne Conlon is a freelance writer based out of Juneau. She can be reached at dirtgirlgardening@gmail.com.
