Nettles are known much of the world over for their eponymous sting – their name comes from the Old English word for needle 🪡 – and have been lamented for millennia as a garden “weed.” A 9th century gardening book by Swiss monk Strabo laments: “All over my small piece of land they grew, their barbs tipped with a spear of tingling poison. What should I do? So thick were the ranks that grew from the tangle of roots below…”

Not poisonous, but rather laced with histamine and formic acid (the same compound inducing pain from an ant bite). Indigenous wisdom from this continent accounts for the stinging hairs of the nettle – called trichomes – as a defense against over-harvesting: a reminder to express gratitude for this highly medicinal plant, rich with vitamins A, B, & C, calcium, chlorophyll, iron, and more protein than nearly any other leafy green.

Growing abundantly in many moist, temperate climates on earth, they are a welcome, nutritious (and delicious) early spring tonic, whether brewed into tea, processed into flour for baking or making pasta, or mixed into traditional fillings for savory filo dough-encrusted pastries, such as the Serbian borek and Greek hortopita.

Nettles are also a source of iron-rich natural dye, and an ancient fiber plant with use going as far back as the Bronze Age. Burial shrouds dating to 3000 BCE have been found at sacred sites in Denmark, the cloth described as fine and satin-like in texture. Brewed ceremoniously in a copper dye pot, their rich chlorophyll and iron content elicit an olive- to spring-green dye.

Join Erin of Berbo Studio and Kylie of Kitchen Sink for Nettle Meditation to dive deeper into the taste, natural dye, folklore, and plant science of nettles. Gathering in a cozy natural nook along the Arroyo Seco in South Pasadena, we’ll gently harvest from the abundant local crop (thriving from the rains!), enjoy nettle-centric food and drink prepared by Kylie, and dye silk bandanas with freshly brewed nettle dye.

We’ll gather by the Arroyo Seco in South Pasadena, CA on Saturday, March 18 from 10am to 1pm. Specific location and details will be sent to attendees via email on the week leading up to the walk, so please ensure your email address is correct when checking out.

Hope to see you there!