Fermenting…nettles?

Here at Dominion we are pretty familiar with fermenting apples and a host of other fruit.  Peaches?  Sure. Rhubarb?  Coming up.  But stinging nettles?

We have a TON of nettles here on the farm. I know you can eat them, and I have tried, but to me it has always seemed like if one fried anything up with enough butter and garlic it would taste…fine.   So mostly they are a nuisance and just make mowing more exciting by adding the danger of getting stung.

My neighbour Tyler from Pamplemousse Jus wine is a long time organic grower and has recently started making  fermented nettle tea to spray his vines.   Nettles are a natural bio-accumulator, gathering nutrients that are released to the liquid when fermented, making an excellent fertilizer.

So we are trying that this year.  One thing he failed to mention was how awful it smells!  (After 2 kids I have changed my share of diapers and it's worse) But if it works, it can replace the expensive organic seaweed based sprays that keep going up in cost. It would also be deeply satisfying to turn a weed I used to curse into a useful input. 

Stay tuned.

Mike

Great cider made by ordinary people.