Since ancient times, nettle has been considered a healing herb that saved people from many diseases and provides beauty to the body. In addition, the plant is used to prepare all kinds of dishes. It is important to know when to harvest nettles and how to harvest them properly.
Useful properties
Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers knew about the beneficial properties of the burning plant. Scientists have carefully studied the composition and properties of this medicinal crop. Nettle has been found to be rich in various trace elements and vitamins.
The mineral composition includes iron, calcium, potassium, manganese, iodine, chromium, sodium and copper ions. The presence of vitamin K helps prevent bleeding. With regular use of a decoction of nettle leaves, immunity increases, the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and female gonads normalizes, metabolic processes and interferon production are stimulated, blood sugar levels decrease, and vessel walls strengthen.
Roots, leaves and seeds are used to make all kinds of beauty products for skin care.skin and hair.
What parts of the plant are harvested
Many are tormented by the question of when to collect nettles so that it accumulates as many useful substances as possible? To answer it, you must first clarify which part of the plant you need to collect. Useful substances are contained in both underground and aboveground organs. The former include rhizomes with roots, the latter include leaves, stems, flowers and seeds.
When harvesting the aerial part, it is important that the plant has large leaves. This will allow you to collect more green raw materials in a short period of time.
To harvest the rhizome and roots, you should choose powerful plants that have tall, thick shoots and wide leaves on the stems. The larger the bush, the more developed its root system, respectively, you can dig up more raw materials.
Period for preparation of nettle roots
The content of useful substances depending on the time of year and the phase of plant development may vary. Therefore, you need to find out when it is better to collect nettles, or rather its underground organs with the maximum amount of useful components in their composition.
Usually the highest concentration of active substances is detected in mature plants after flowering and seed maturation and before bud swelling in early spring. It is autumn and early spring before the start of the movement of juice that are the periods when you can collect nettles for root treatment in any weather.
To dig out the rhizome and roots, it is better to use a garden shovel,which is immersed at an angle into the soil 10 centimeters from the bush. First, they make a slight swing with a shovel, and then they pull out the whole earthen ball to the surface.
After digging, the harvested material will still have to be washed with water, so bad weather with rain will not interfere with collecting roots.
Herbalists recommend not to wait until next year, but to harvest the rhizomes in September or October before the above-ground shoots die off, so that the plants can be easily recognized. In addition, at this time, the seeds will already be in the soil, and the plant will be able to propagate by seeds after digging up the underground part of the bush.
Collection of the above-ground part
The leaves, shoots and flowers contain a huge amount of medicinal substances during the period of full flowering, when it is most advisable to collect nettles for hair and treatment. The formation of flowers and their full disclosure lasts from June to August, which is why the leaves are prepared during this time period. With a later assembly, the lower leaf blades on the stem wither and dry out, and the upper ones become rigid and harmful waste products of the plant accumulate in them.
In order to obtain quality dry grass, it is important when to harvest nettles. Usually it is cut in dry weather, in the morning, after the dew has dried. Moisture can harm and ruin a plant that is being dried.
Where is the best place to collect
Nettle grows in almost all European parts of Russia. She can be found inregions of the Caucasus and the western regions of Siberia, with the exception of the harsh North. As with any plant, nettle has special conditions for its existence. Suitable for moist, fertile soil with shady areas, such as the edge of a forest, a garden, thickets of shrubs, river banks, ravines and wastelands.
Easy availability and wide distribution of this plant does not allow picking it in any place of growth, especially when it is necessary to collect nettles for the preparation of medicines. An example would be plants growing near a road or railroad. Dust will settle on such a nettle, harmful compounds that are contained in the exhaust gas will accumulate in the leaves.
There will be little benefit from treatment with a contaminated plant, which will cause the opposite effect. Industrial enterprises and their effluents, construction sites, city dumps, places with high radiation or unfavorable sanitary and epidemiological indicators greatly spoil the environment, and the chemical composition of nettles deteriorates. This is exactly the case when nettles should not be collected. When using such a plant, you can also acquire new diseases.
Collection rules
One must distinguish between when to harvest nettles for drying for the winter and when to use fresh leaves. To harvest dry grass, cut the stems with a sickle or knife. The shoots are left to lie down for a couple of hours so that the leaves stop burning the skin, and only then can they be cut off. If there is no time to wait, then use gloves or mittens toprotect hands from burning plant hairs.
When nettles are collected for drying in a large and clean area, they are first mowed, then allowed to dry a little, and then the leaf blades are torn off. Thus, from 70 to 100 kg of raw leaves can be collected in one day.
You should choose not only areas with a large number of plants for preparation, but also check the quality of the grass itself. By appearance, you can determine whether it is not infected with various parasites or bacterial infections. This plant was especially fond of the urticaria butterfly. Often, insects do not harm the grass, but the secretions left on the leaves make it unusable, especially when it is necessary to collect nettles for treatment. Do not use plants entangled in cobwebs with yellowed or wilted shoots, which is a sign of an unhe althy specimen.
Why use damaged grass when you can harvest nettles with strong stems, even leaves with even color and no inclusions.
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After digging out the rhizomes and roots, large clods of earth are crushed from them. Then rinsing with non-hot water is carried out until all the dirt is removed, after which all the stems are cut with a knife.
If a large amount of raw materials is harvested, it is better to take a wicker basket for washing, in which the roots are put. The container is then immersed, then taken out of the reservoir to drain the dirty liquid. Do not use hot water for washing, as it can washuseful substances.
Harvesting the roots leads to the complete destruction of the plant. For preservation and further reproduction, it is recommended to leave from 10 to 15% of he althy nettle plants. Re-harvesting in this place can be carried out only after three years.
Drying raw materials
After digging, the roots are pre-dried in a bag, cutting off the remains of the shoots, small roots and rotten parts.
Drying of raw materials is necessary for long-term storage. It helps prevent mold and bacteria that cause damage to plant blanks, especially when you have to collect nettles for hair. Drying prevents chemical reactions inside plants that decompose medicinal substances.
Drying Methods
The following types of drying of raw materials are distinguished: air shadow drying, air solar drying and thermal drying using artificial heating.
The first option is used for harvesting the aerial parts of plants. The place of drying is well-ventilated rooms or attics, a canopy in dry, windy weather. At night, the grass is brought into the room.
The second option with air solar drying is used for harvesting the root part of plants, so the nettle roots are laid out in the sun.
Large rhizomes should be cut into pieces, this will improve the evaporation of moisture. Spread the raw materials in one layer, while turning it over once a day. At night, the roots are brought into the room.
Drying time lasts 3-7 days. The endingleaf blanks can be recognized by the ease of grinding of material in which the veins break easily.
In the third type of drying, you can harvest any raw material, just set the desired temperature.
A well-dried plant can keep for about two years.
Storage
The quality of raw materials depends on when to collect and how to store nettles. After drying, a good storage place should be found so that, if necessary, the raw materials can be easily used. Improper storage reduces the amount of nutrients and makes the herb unusable.
Usually take dry containers or bags made of cloth or paper. Indoor humidity should be kept low to prevent mold growth. The container should be marked, it is enough to indicate the name of the grass and the time of collection.
