Survival and weeds, what do they have in common?
Even if you aren’t in an environment where you need to protect yourself physically or caught in a disaster, a simple walk in the forest and lead to the need to know some simple bush medicine, remedies or food.
One of the more common weeds you will come across in the bush is stinging nettle. They have a multitude of medicinal and edible uses. You just have to know how to prepare them. We are so used to finding our food on the supermarket shelf, we just in danger of losing all skills to survival.
We are one of the first generations that cannot recognize food when we walk over it in nature. Sad but true, and with the amount of disasters occurring around the planet, wouldn’t you like to know the basics to survive!
Survival can be fun.
Lets face it we all like something for free and there’s no greater thrill than coming across something in the forest you know is edible. Stinging nettle is known for its calcium and fiber, but with awareness growing these days around the value of green leafy veggies in your diet, bring it on.
You wont be able to find these little beauties in your local supermarket, although some farmers markets are starting to stock weed salad mixes that sometimes include stinging nettle.
If you are going foraging for Stinging nettle. You will need thick gloves and tongs. A sharp knife can make a difference as well. (Any one worth their salt with an understanding of survival has a good knife in their pack!)
Blanch the leaves as soon as possible as boiled leaves can no longer sting you. Once boiled, you can make tea, stock, add the leaves to stew. Some folk even make Beer from stinging nettle.
There are many therapeutic uses of stinging nettle so if you are keen on learning how to be self sufficient, how to survive or just to educate yourself and future generations click on the link below to find out more.
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