Nettle Mint Tea

Here in the Pacific Northwest, from February through April, we go out as a family and harvest nettles. All you need is a pair of gardening gloves, scissors, and a large paper bag. Nettles are best harvested when they are young, just a few inches high. This is the time when the energy and nutrients of the plant are going into the leaves, rather than later in the summer when energy is put forth into seed production. We dry our fresh nettles in a dehydrator and then place them into a food processor to break them down further. I store the pulverized, dried nettles in glass jars. We do the same thing with all of the mint growing in our garden in the summertime.