Had a wonderful bit of nettle soup this evening! It began with the weeding of the hedge that runs along the length of my site at Clissold Park. All very tender growth at the moment, but come a couple of months’ time and it’ll be big enough to give you a good sting every time you walk along that edge of the garden. Michael gave me a hand weeding it out, pulling up the roots as much as possible without disturbing the logs that sit further under the hedge giving safe haven to wildlife.
Having spent the earlier morning turning the compost, many of the nettles found their way onto the heap (amongst its many wonderful properties, nettle is a fine compost activator), one patch was left for the butterflies (Andy, the butterfly man at Clissold Park gave me much rebuke last year when I was pulling out the nettles – some species totally rely on nettles for laying their eggs – so keeping a patch in a sunny position is really important) but the rest- a goodly amount – came home with me. And tonight we made it into a delicious soup served up with freshly baked soda bread. Fine fare in all its local seasonality!
Try this at home…
Chop one onion, 3 medium potatoes and 3 cloves of garlic. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Add a a veggie stock cube and cook till the potato is soft. Add a good amount of nettles (our soup had about 4 fistfuls – make sure you wash it with gloves on!) and cook for a short while longer. Blend. Serve with a swirl of fresh cream and salt & pepper to taste….
The colour is nothing short of miraculous.
