12.02.09
Taking the Sting Out
When I was a kid growing up in Pond, Missouri… what? You’ve never heard of Pond, Missouri?
It’s right between Grover and Glencoe. Newcomers call it Wildwood.
Anyway, as an eight-year-old, I was a newcomer myself, a transplanted native from the ”tough streets” of Creve Coeur. So when I was set free in Wildwood on 40 acres of farmland, I was somewhat amazed by the amount and variety of wild plants. It was quite a change from my suburban background where the list of wild plants was grass… ok, that was it. And the one plant that really got my attention was stinging nettle.
Stinging nettle is remarkably common anywhere there are creeks, and we had one that ran right through the middle of our farm. It’s not a plant easily ignored or missed. It is waist high (or better), has big green leaves, a square stem… oh, and covered with little hairs that ooze with a burning toxin.
Plants that attack are a long way from the lush lawns of Creve Coeur where my biggest horticultural adventure had been an encounter with Rainbow Swiss Chard at the corner Tom Boy grocery store.
So the area arond the creek on our Pond farm took on a sort of “no man’s land” feel for me, which I generally avoided unless enticed beyond reason by water striders skating the creek’s surface, an obvious leopard frog or some other irresistable creek occurance. And then I just dashed through the nettle hoping for the best. Growing up, I had no love for the stuff.
Fast forward 35 years to our A-frame chalet at Innsbrook. It sits on a hilltop overlooking about three acres of floodland and just about every inch of ground is covered by – guess what – stinging nettle.
My first plan was to give our local agricultural products company a boost by purchasing copious amounts of Roundup — but I’m a little hesitant to spray herbicides where I know my “weed rat” children will be tramping — so I researched stinging nettle on Wikipedia to ferret out what it’s natural enemy might be — and that’s when I learned that it’s really pretty useful stuff.
Next to hemp, stinging nettle is the best Missouri plant with which to make rope out (thankfully my Innsbrook lot is not covered with the former plant– it would harken to an entirely different stage of my life).
The fibers of sting nettle (and hemp) can be stripped out, wetted and twisted into a very stong cord which is great for all sorts of things. I also learned that another creekside plant, jewel weed, has a sap that quickly quiets the burn of stinging nettle.
Apparently, nettle also makes a good, nourishing tea, and the leaves have a spinach quality when eaten (though I haven’t had the courage to try that).
In short, the part of our Innsbrook woods that had once been a “no-man’s land” has now become a source of food stuff and fiber — a real boon to our woodland hideaway.
I still crash into the stinging nettle (now followed by three enthusiastic weed rats) but it is no longer to chase frogs or water striders, and the woods seem to be a much friendlier place.