#Walk2Forage Challenge : January

[CBDB]

Here is our January Active10 #Walk2Forage Walking Challenge for January.

And if you haven’t read our introduction to this monthly challenge, first head back to healthunlocked.com/active10...

We will wait here until you return ….

…. Right! All caught up?

January, our first #Walk2Forage is about the good old nettle!

And as Nettles are pretty ubiquitous, the choice of routes of where to walk to hunt down a few good nettles is pretty broad. Which is good, considering it’s cold and wet, and the mud season might also restrict the number of choices for walking routes.

So, what to say about the good old nettle?

🌱 NETTLE: use only young leaves, or leave tops, around this time of the year

🌱 FLAVOUR: spinach with a kick

🌱 HOW TO PICK: Take a pair of gloves along on your walk and a bag.

🌱 HOW TO USE: Add young leaves to soups, scrambled eggs, quiches. Or you can make tea from fresh or dried leaves. The simplest way to enjoy nettles are in a tea infusion. Choose the young tender leaves, wash them, pop them in a teapot and cover with boiling water. Steep for 6-8 minutes, then remove the nettles. Add sweetener of your choice and/or a fresh lemon for extra zing.

🌱 Rich in Vit C and iron.

OTHER WAYS TO PREPARE NETTLES:

• As a fritter

• Nettle bee

• As a cordial

• Nettles in soda bread

• Nettle soup (of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall fame)

So who dares to try a bit of nettle tea this months? And who goes out regularly to forage some nettle tops? We’d love to hear from your experiences.

🥾🌱🥾🌱🥾🌱🥾🌱🥾🌱🥾🌱🥾

So happy walking and seeking out those nature bounties! And don’t forget to take a picture and report back here!

For any walks, we can obviously also use our own Active10 app, or use any Steps app, or none at all. Steps are steps.

I have added the link to our key app below, but there are many more that can be used:

Active10 on iOS apps.apple.com/gb/app/nhs-a...

Active10 on Android play.google.com/store/apps/...

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★ SOURCES:

FORAGED FOODS, in: Huw Richards, Sam Cooper, The Self-Sufficiency Garden. Feed your family and save money. 2024. Dorling Kindersley. P195

Richard Mabey, Food for Free. Collins Gem.

[GoogleMe]

Nettle foraging in January? I actively grow nettles in my garden and my family are keen nettle foragers and eaters but January?

[CBDB Administrator in reply to GoogleMe]

I know, right? I was surprised as well.

It’s probably one of the only plants to be able forage in Jan, so that’s why Huw’s book probably suggested it for this month. Maybe nettles are also better in spring, but they are a plant that is at least abundant throughout the year?

I’ll try it and see. I think only the tops of young plants are recommended at this time of the year, if one can find any.

[LottieMW Administrator in reply to CBDB]

I’m guessing any will be new growth at the base of old dead plants. I’ll have a look if I get up my allotment tomorrow 🙂

[LottieMW Administrator]

So yes!

Fresh new nettle growth on my allotment!

Also on my allotment: my wild garlic (ransoms) coming through…which also grows by the river and in the woods, and 3 cornered leek (also a wild garlic).

L: young nettle leaves R: wild garlic shoots in soil Bottom: 3 cornered leek leaves