STINGING NETTLES

People are always asking me "What's your favorite plant?" My answer is always a shrug. But if you broaden the question to my top ten, stinging nettles definitely features. "Nettles?" you may ask. Those terrible stinging weeds? Even Roman naturalist Pliny questioned: “What can be more hateful than the nettle?" But his response, like mine, concludes "...this plant simply abounds in remedies.” Nettles indeed can sting your skin, creating an irritating prickling-burning sensation and rash. But tame them and you have a delicious food containing every nutrient from A to Zinc.

A quiz to test your knowledge of nettles