Photo by lacatholique.

It’s finally properly farmers market season again, which makes any food lover happy – the first produce of spring show up as asparagus, spring onions, radishes, and various leafy greens. For those who show up early at the market, strawberries can often be found. But what about nettles? Often found at farmers markets this time of the year, they’re not perhaps the type of produce that one anticipates like the first year’s tomatoes. But, if you’re looking for something out of the ordinary this spring, pick up some nettles.

So, what are nettles? A leafy green plant that you can easily find growing outside of the farmers market, this vegetable that is described as subtle to somewhat seaweed like, is somewhere in between an herb and a true green. Beware, as you’ll likely find stinging nettles, which have tiny hairs on their leaves, known as trichomes that sting. It’s a good idea to wear gloves when handling them.

Nettles are best utilized in nettle soup. A perfect spring dish, nettle soup adds in some potatoes for heft, onions and garlic for flavor, and maybe some cream for richness. If you’re feeling especially adventurous, try brewing nettle beer – which is mildly alcoholic and tastes something like ginger beer. Bonus is that nettles are very good for you, chock full of vitamins and minerals. Nettles are often found in medicinal uses, such as relieving arthritis or hay fever.

If you’re unable to find them at the market, you can pick your own wild. Word to the wise, avoid nettles that grow too close to a road, pick the tops of young plants – ones that have not yet flowered, and you rinse them well before cooking.