- The stinging nettle is
one of the first plants that we would have been
introduced to in our lifetime. And as children, many of
us would have had a run in with this plant and
possibly it may have brought some tears too, but the
humble stinging nettle has some really beneficial properties. In this episode, I'm gonna take
you through some of the uses of stinging nettles so that
you look upon this weed in a totally different way. I'm Tony O'Neill and this
is Simplified Gardening where I show you how to
garden in a simpler way. If you want that perfect
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content just like this. You may have come across
stinging nettles in your garden or in the hedge rows when
you're on family walks. And even if you don't
know what this plant is, just a mere brush against it and you will know exactly
what this plant is. These are amazing plants,
they have loads of benefits, but they also have a
few disadvantages too. So before I go into the
usage for this plant, I'm gonna cover the disadvantages. Nettles have two distinct disadvantages and the first of these is that the sting. Now they have fine hairs
up and down the stems and on the leaves and
these are called trichombs. Now they're like hypodermic needles and they can pierce the skin very easily. Now these were developed by the plant to stop herbivores from eating them. They contain histamines,
acetylcholine, serotonin and formic acid, and it's the histamines that cause the initial
reactions when you're stung. You may have heard serotonin
being named the happy chemical, but in this instance,
it acts as an irritant and when you rub the infected area, it drives that into the skin further, causing it to itch and to swell up more. And then once you drive that in further, formic acids, which is
another part of the chemical of this concoction, actually
causes the burn of that sting. Now, as a child, you may have
had a parent grab handfuls of dock leaves and start
rubbing the infected area. Now there is scientific
evidence to back this data up because dock leaves, they
contain anti-histamines and rubbing anti-histamines
on the infected area can reduce the symptoms from the sting. And the second disadvantage to nettles is that they can become invasive. Not only do they have a root
system much like a fishing net that pushes out into all of the soils, but they also produce large
volumes of seed as well, and when these get taken off into the wind and touch moist soil, they
germinate almost instantly. We now know about the
disadvantages of this plant, but now let's take a look
at what it can do for us and the reason behind this
video in the first place. Stinging nettles, they
have loads of benefits for the gardener and some of those include that they can be turned
into a fertilizer first off. You can feed all of your plants with this and it's a free resource. The next next thing is that they have lots of health
benefits when consumed. They can be used in the
kitchen, and they bring in loads of beneficial insects into the garden. So let's take a look at some
of these in more detail. Nettles make the perfect
fertilizer in the garden because they contain
chlorophyll, nitrogen, potassium, iron, zinc,
magnesium, and even calcium. And on top of this they also contain vitamins A, B1, B5, C, D, E and K. And because of all of these vitamins and all the minerals that they contain, they make perfect feeds for the garden. To make feed from nettles, it's very easy. It's called a nettle tea and all you do is cut the leaves off the
nettles and you place them into a container, a bucket
that you jam the leaves into. And then you fill it to the surface with water and put a lid on it. And you put this by and leave
it for around six weeks, and the resulting liquid
is called nettle tea. Now, the reason you would
put this out of the way is because as nettles break
down, they absolutely stink. And this is a God-awful smell, so you wouldn't wanna use this for any of your indoor
plants, only use it outdoors. After four to six weeks,
the tea will be ready to use as a fertilizer for your plants at home. And I'm gonna give you
some tips now so that you get the very best results for your plants when you're using it as a fertilizer. Number one, when you're
collecting the leaves, before you add the water to make the tea, bruise those leaves because
this will greatly speed up the rotting down process. Number two, this is fantastic fertilizer for all plants that love nitrogen, so any leafy crops it can be used for, it's really, really good. When you're actually making
the fertilizer to water, this is number three tip,
then you should water it down about 10 parts to one part. So 10 parts water, one part tea. And the last tip I'm
going to give you here is if you're using it to water plants that either fruit or flower, then use them in the early stages of life because this is when they're putting out the greenery and everything else. But as soon as they start going
into flowering or fruiting, you wanna switch over to
a different type of feed that is high in pot ash,
something like comfrey. Nettles can be used in the kitchen, too. They make wonderful meals and drinks and all of those vitamins and minerals that we spoke about
earlier on in the video, well, now they're in your diet also so that can only be a good thing for you. Although not used so much
in the kitchen these days, they used to be very
popular in times gone past, right away back to ancient Roman times. And they're even used now on
everything from nettle gnocchi right away through to pizza toppings. And you can even make your own infusion and make your own green
teas to drink at home. And did you know that
nettles contain four times more vitamin C gram for
gram than oranges do? So if you're looking to
increase the uptake of vitamin C in your diet and you
wanna do it naturally, well, nettles are a good choice. And stinging nettles have been studied huge amounts over the last 10 years. A simple search on Google Scholar will show you study
after study after study about all the health benefits
that they've been able to associate to stinging nettles. And some of them are as follows: Number one, it can help to
control blood sugar levels. Number two, it also can
be used as a treatment for hay fever and help control
the symptoms of hay fever. Number three, it can also be used as a flush to clear out the urinary tract. Number four, it contains
anti-inflammatory properties so it can help with arthritis. And number five, it can help with goat, anemia, and tendonitis. Now I'm not saying that stinging nettles are a wonder plant, but
I do believe that nature has all the answers and
with all the studies that are being performed
and all the benefits that they are finding
around stinging nettles, then I think it's about
time that we as human beings cut this humble weed
a little bit of slack. Stinging nettles are also a favorite for beneficial insects in the garden and these are all predatory insects so they help control the pest species. So finding an area to grow these in your garden can really
make the difference to you and controlling the pest species. The more we can work with nature, the finer the balance that's achieved and the easier it is for the
gardener in the long haul. So it's really important to be able to bring in these insects. Now, a recent study
found in three test areas that areas that contained
nettles were much higher in beneficial insects and
that study went on to say that these beneficial insects, the highest numbers were
found June and July, which is perfect because
this is the exact time that the pest species
like aphids, mealybugs and whitefly, black fly, things like this, are at high numbers in the garden. And what actually brought
in the predatory species was the pollen and the
flowers of the nettles, so it's really important to have them and bring in the predatory
species to the garden. So you should consider
allowing the stinging nettles to flower, but a good tactic
would be to remove the flowers before it produces a seed head and this will then bring in
all those predatory insects. Now, the study then went
on to further elaborate on this a little, and they
tested three areas of nettles, approximately 300 square feet each. And in those areas, they
collected predatory insects, approximately two to 400 predatory insects per 300 square foot area. So it goes to show just how
many insects can be pulled into this area. Now, the types of insects that
were caught were lacewings, ladybird beetles, predatory
tree bugs, predaceous flies, braconid wasps, parasitic wasps and all sorts of native bees. Now we all know how many aphids that lacewings and ladybirds
can eat in one sitting, so by allowing yourself to
grow some nettles in the garden or even in a container can really help bring in these predatory insects, which will help you in the garden also. Now, who would have thought
that the humble stinging nettle we hated so much as kids
could be so beneficial to us? I think it's about time,
especially in this day and age, that we look about what
nature is trying to show us. If you found value in this
video, you can subscribe here, and if you wanna learn more ways in which to control the
pest species in your garden, then this is the next video
that you should watch. I'm Tony O'Neill. This is Simplified Garden where I show you how to
garden in a simpler way. Remember folks, you reap what you sow and I'll see you in the next one. Bye-bye.
