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Stinging nettles are a valuable source of vitamin C, vitamin K, minerals and iron. When they emerge in the spring, the fresh shoots make a delicious bright green blood-purifying tea. Nettles have traditionally been used to encourage the production of breast milk, and to aid the kidneys and immune system. They stimulate the lymphatic system in a slow, gentle way and they are used as nutritional support for long-term and chronic disorders. They can be cooked fresh in the same manner that you would cook spinach - or, they can be dried and added to soups and casseroles.
If you wear gloves while you pick and prepare nettles, you won't get stung. Once they've been cooked, their stinging properties disappear. Clip their stems with scissors, rather than pulling them up by the roots, and the plants will continue to sprout in that location every year.