Nettles, Germans love them. They harvest them to make tea, they take nettle leaf supplements and believe that they cure damn near everything. Every damn time I brush against some Nettles, my German husband assures me that I will not have to worry about developing Rheumatism. (Too late dear husband, too late. The arthritis is strong in this one, very strong and no freaking Nettle bush is going to cure it!)
The definition I found on google says this about Nettles.
Nettles:
-
a herbaceous plant which has jagged leaves covered with stinging hairs.
I have a better definition. My definition of Nettles is this: an irritating and annoying
herbaceous plant that is located anywhere that I am trying to walk, or sit down and is
always on the ground where I drop my keys or other important objects, they have jagged
leaves that are covered with the stinging hairs of the devil. As a matter of fact, the Devil
himself created it and sent it to Earth to annoy the humans, except the Germans, they
love that shit.
The first time I encounters nettles was on a walk with my husband. It was a long walk
and of course, I had to pee. Having spend my fair share of time in the outdoors, I am not
above finding a secluded bush to pee on. So, I wandering off the path is search of said
bush. Half way there, my legs started to burn, they felt like they were on fire. The only
thing I could compare it to is being stung by fire ants (like the ones you find in the
Southern States like, NC or Texas). I looked down, expecting to find myself covered with
fire ants, but instead I found large red welts had started to develop all over my legs, up
to my thighs. As soon as I started yelling for my husband, I heard the him laughing.
Laughing loudly.
Evil German Husband. “Didn’t you see all of the nettles that you were walking
through?” Still laughing as he asked his stupid question.
Angry American Wife “I saw the plants, but how was I to know that they were stinging
plants!!?? We don’t have these plants where I grew up in Michigan! Why didn’t you warn
me??!!” I screamed as I was trying to balance myself behind a tree and not pee on my
feet while also trying to avoid anymore of the dreaded stinging plants.
Very Evil German Husband “Don’t worry, now you won’t develop any rheumatism.”
The rest of the conversation just involved me swearing a lot. Dirk tried to defend his
role in this by saying it was good for my health, which of course just caused more
swearing from me.
Over the past year, I have managed to stick my hands in the local nettle bushes more
times than I can count. That shit is everywhere, and I ALWAYS seem to drop whatever I
am holding directly into a giant field of the stuff.
Anyone else have the “pleasure” of encountering the dreaded nettles? Are you a fan?
Do you drink nettle tea and talk of all their healing properties? Or are you like me?
Hoping to take a flamethrower to the field and watch em burn?
Ha! I love this so much. I don’t do nettle anything. And, it’s funny I was just thinking of our version of nettles here in Maryland, which is what the locals call a small kind of jellyfish that stings but not bad like a real jellyfish but is super annoying when all you want to do is swim at the beach. (As you know, growing up near the Great Lakes means that you can swim at the beach; here on the Chesapeake Bay, if it’s past July 1, and the water’s too warm and brackish, you better be ready to get stung.) So, let’s boycott nettles of all kinds. I’m in!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I agree to the boycott!!
LikeLike
Ah yes. Very familiar, getting stung on the legs was bad, but that story had the capacity to be sooooooo much worse.
You needed a Dockeb Leaf to mitigate the sting, luckily they always seem to grow nearby. I’ve been stung a few times this summer as there is a large patch near my allotment
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh believe, I have had it get “so much worse” Tried to have a quick pee on the way to the tram station, wobbled a bit, tried not to fall in my pee puddle and managed to slap myself in the ass with the damn nettles….it put a pep in my step that is for sure!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh Cherie! 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Argh!
One of my worst nettle memories is getting drunk, going for a pee and then falling in a big patch of nettles. I was so inebriated that I forgot everything. The next day, I couldn’t understand why my bottom and legs had this strange burning sensation…until my boyfriend at the time told me what happened. Oops.
Anyway, i really know your pain!
Having said that, as kids, we used to love sucking the sweet nectar from those white flowers that you find on nettles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you look through the comments, you can see I also got slapped in the backside by some nettles recently. (should be the comments with Sonia). They do sting like fire!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I was attempting to reply to that comment (oops, if I didn’t manage to!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh geez,, maybe I should have looked closer myself…duh
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hehehe no worries!
Now you mention it, I have not seen many nettles here in Canada either. I didn’t know they were a European thing. If it makes you feel better, I am not sure how to spot poison ivy. I just know that I shouldn’t touch that either…
Sometimes it is hard to move continents!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is hard to move continents! I have been having severe allergies since I arrived in Germany. I was hoping they would resolve a bit, but not so far.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh no! Urgh that is rubbish. Are you still getting them now it’s autumn?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep. They died down a bit over summer and have now kicked back up for fall. Itchy eyes, nose running and allergic cough. So annoying.
LikeLike
I won’t “like” that. 😦
LikeLike
I spent my childhood getting stung but if you rub the sting with dock leaves it eases immediately. These docks always grown near the nettle here for some reason. Now I wonder what the non colloquial name for dock leaf is…😣
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sonia said the same about the other leaf to use. I will have to look around the patches to see what else grows. Have never encountered either until I moved here.
LikeLike
Sonia and I are on the same page I bet. Will check out her comment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love nettle – have been using nettle for allergies for years. When we bought our farm I planted a small patch and little by little it is getting bigger. (it is quite possible that I am part German. LOL) Nettle leaf is an antihistamine and if you drink nettle tea or take capsules it will actually stop the stinging, itching and rash that it produces.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My allergies have become so much more intense since I moved to Germany. I may have to give in, join the club and start drinking the nettle tea!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s so much better for you than allergy meds!
LikeLike
They’re nice deep fried. Otherwise, utter shit. And it’s the rubbing not the dick leaves that help.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol
Good to know!
LikeLike
We don’t get nettles here but I am sure if I walked through anywhere I would findsomething that stung but I don’t as there are snakes for sure so I stick to the paths..Child hood memories abound so yes I say to the boycott 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha that’s funny.. no I don’t do nettles either. So many times as well I have been out walking with my kids and they have got stung by them. I am then frantically trying to find a dock leaf to ease their pain. Admittedly sometimes I have not found a dock leaf and tried to make them believe that another leaf is a dpck leaf and the pain will go away.. bad mummy… ive never tried nettle tea… does not appeal to me at all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another blogger told me that the tea will help with my allergies. I suppose I should give it a try, become a real German since I am living here…but it doesnt appeal to me either…nor do I want to get stung as I pick the stupid leaves!
LikeLiked by 1 person
ha ha big gloves.. I would fear getting stung as I drink it, just sounds awful..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was reminded of our recent trip to the UK and wondering why my legs were stinging, until I looked down and saw the nettles! I can so relate to your pain but it was a funny story 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was reading about your first encounter with Nettles expecting a different story. It reminded me of high school when we were out late one night and a girlfriend had to go to the bathroom. She used poison ivy to wipe her butt. Didn’t see her in school for a week.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LoL.
LikeLike
I have always left a (very large) patch of nettles in the garden, normally in and around the rotting wood pile so it’s like a creepy crawly wildlife centre. They’re fantastic for it, food and egg laying plant for a lot of butterflies and moths, plus as others have said, a great natural tea as well.
Strangely, wild peeing excursions seem to be safer for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wild peeing is always a dangerous adventure for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! I thoroughly enjoyed this post, Cherie! I can’t believe Michigan doesn’t have stinging nettle, or as my family lovingly refers to it, “itch weed”. We have it all over here in MN, and I usually come into contact with it a often during the growing season. It’s in gardens that I work in, on the sides of streams and lakes, and at our local golf course (I’ve been “bitten” quite often when I look for my lost golf ball in large patches of weeds). I feel the same as you regarding the nettle plant, but now I’m interested in researching the plant more closely. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
A friend from Michigan says they do have it, but I never encountered it there
LikeLiked by 1 person
My mom happened to meet some nettles when we were at our house in Devon. She was just as pleased as you are about them. I had some steroid cream I use on my eczema and she used that. It practically cured her instantaneously. You might want to look into some!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cortisone does help fast, but I find that it’s usually such a large area that I would have to treat. Like my entire ass.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤣🤣🤣🤣
LikeLike
Love using real plants instead of synthetic substitutes for ailments. I’ve also heard the tea is good for hot flushes during Menopause.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It looks like I need to get past my initial dislike of this plant and give the tea a try…..I would love to control these hot flashes that are sneaking up on me
LikeLiked by 1 person
Black Cohosh tea or Korean Ginseng are others.
I started taking Korean Ginseng vitamins and a couple of weeks’ later, my flushes seemed so much better. I don’t want to go off the vitamin to test if it was coincidental in case they come back. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi! Nettles do seem to be the work of the devil. I have heard they have some healing properties, but I guess that’s if you’re willing to brave their defenses!
And I’m sorry to hear about your arthritis. That’s no fun at all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Funny story and one I can relate to after falling into a nettle bush while out dog walking. Don’t ask it is a long story 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hated nettles as a kid because I was always getting stung by them when we went down to the river. As a grownup – I have to admit – I love them, because we make homemade nettle wine. It’s invigorating and very intoxicating!! 😂😂
LikeLike
I remember a blogger who made tea with them. I itch just thinking about that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s very popular here. They say it helps with allergies. I can’t get past the idea that I have to try and pick the damn things without getting stung!
LikeLike
Still haven’t activated my Clipboard but shared it other places…I grew up where nettles grew in the pacific northwest, and I know people who made them into a soup…the cooking erases the “sting”, if you were wondering!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nettles are a plant of the Devil, designed to make the holiest of holy people curse and swear like they were professional cursers and swearers. The worst thing about them is that they innocently hang over footpaths, luring their innocent victims into their painful trap. Shame Dirk didn’t warn you, says Denzil, stifling a lil’ giggle. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree! The lil giggle seems to be a common response when a newcomer happens across the nettle bushes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, nettles are everywhere in the woods here in the Northwest and I remember their stinging and itchy welts! I also remember that they are edible (I remember as kids boiling them outside like cooked spinach) but will take a pass on eating them today! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
People rave about them here. I have not given them a try, other than sticking my hands in them..which I do not advise.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve never heard of Nettles! I wonder if they grow here in Kansas…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never saw them in Michigan, but I was told by a friend that we do have them there. I was just lucky enough to never run across them when I was living there.
LikeLike
I’ve never consumed a nettle in any form, but I have been stung by many. Evil things.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are evil!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
As many other already said, evil stuff, I am with you on this one and sorry for your husband, but he can keep all the nettles and use them for whatever he prefer, but I will not go there.
LikeLike
You are funny! But I’m sorry about the nettles. I have the same problem with poison ivy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Strangely enough, I have never been bothered much by poison ivy. Thankfully!
LikeLike