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Nettle seeds

Nettle seeds - All info about the superfood

What matcha is for some, nettle seeds are for us. This super superfood is actually free and can be harvested almost everywhere from August to October - sometimes even November. At this point we would like to thank mother nature for this natural superfood. Unlike many superfood powders, nettle seeds also taste really good. With their slightly nutty flavor, they perfectly fit into green smoothies and many other dishes. Don't miss out on the harvest!

Ingredients and effect of nettle seeds

Since Ovid, the inconspicuous nettle seeds are valued as an aphrodisiac. For this purpose, the poet recommended a spicy combination of nettle seeds and pepper in a ratio of 1:1.
Packed with plant hormones, minerals, vitamins and protein, the small seeds are real vitality boosters used against general fatigue, exhaustion and poor performance. Due to their high protein content, they are recommended for athletes and especially for vegans. In addition, nettle seeds are said to provide strong and shiny hair and naturally support eyesight. Among others, nettle seeds contain:

  • approx. 30 % protein
  • 25 % - 33 % oil
  • 74 % to 83 % linoleic acid
  • approx. 0.9 % linolenic acid
  • Tocopherol (vitamin E): valued as a radical neutralizer
  • Mucilages
  • Carotenoids such as ß-carotene and lutein: both known as active ingredients for preserving vision and preventing macular degeneration.

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Use of nettle seeds

We like to use fresh nettle seeds in green smoothies. This comes withe the advantage of enjoying them raw and preserving all the valuable nutrients. They perfectly fit in raw wild herb pestos as well.
You can also easily dry them (instructions in the next paragraph) and process them into powder with a blender. Nettle seeds are suitable for refining salads, soups, dips or sauces. In a 1:1 mixture with your favorite salt, a brilliant aromatic herb salt is made within no time. Got enough ideas for now, off to the harvest!

Left picture male and right picture female nettle seeds

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Harvest and dry nettle seeds

We didn't know this before either: there are male and female nettles (see photo collage). We prefer to harvest the fruits of the female nettles - they are said to be more nutritious. You can recognize them by the fact that they hang down from the nettles, just like panicles. In addition, most wild herb experts recommend harvesting the seeds when they are slightly brownish.
It's best to put on gloves for harvesting - that's how we do it! Then simply cut off the seed strands of the upper nettle sprouts and place them in a basket or larger bag for storage.

If you don't want to process the nettle seeds fresh, you can also air dry them and preserve them for about a year. To do this, spread the seeds on a baking sheet lined with bakingpaper and let them dry overnight. The drying process is finished when the seeds separate from the seed strands by themselves. Now sort out the seed strands. You don't need gloves for this anymore, they don't burn. Then pulverize the seeds, preferably with a high-speed blender. If you don't have a blender available, you can also press the seeds through a sieve - but it is much more time-consuming! Now fill the nettle seed powder into airtight jars, preferably protected from light, and store them in a dry place. So the nettle seeds are shelf-stable for at least 12 months.
Ready is your winter power food!

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Have you ever eaten nettle seeds?

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You can find much more about wild herbs and how to use them in green smoothies in the book: Wilde Grüne Smoothies by Gabriele Leonie Bräutigam.

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Add comment

39 | Comment(s)

10/10/2023
Corimutti
Hello everyone!

Do you wash the nettle seeds before drying them?
Today, thanks to your website, I collected a whole baking tray full of them!
Greetings from Stuttgart.
10/13/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Please translate: Hello Corimutti,

Thank you for your comment. We're glad that we have inspired you for nettle seed harvesting :)
We don't wash the nettle seeds, but let them dry right away.

Best regards,
Carla
9/14/2023
Michaela
Hello Hugo!

Today, I collected the seeds and I never wear gloves for that. As you mentioned, you quickly get used to it. I always think to myself that I want something from the plant, not the other way around, so I have to be able to endure it. And I have to tell you, it didn't burn me, but I did feel it in my fingertips in the evening. Thank you for your message and greetings from Upper Austria.
Michaela
9/3/2023
Andreas
Good morning,
I read your article with interest, thank you for the input. Do I need to grind the seeds into powder for storage, or can I store the dried seeds and add them to my smoothie? Best regards and thank you in advance for the feedback.
9/4/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Andreas,

Thank you for your comment and your question.
No, you don't have to grind the nettle seeds to make them storable. That is purely a culinary decision - if you want to add the seeds to salads or muesli, they taste better in powdered form. In a smoothie, it is irrelevant.

Best regards,
Carla
9/3/2023
ralph
In the meadow where my chickens roam, a true nettle plantation has developed. There are currently plenty of seed heads hanging from them. As I wonder what useful things I can do with them, I come across the title of your post - pure coincidence! :-) While studying the comments (thank you for those!), the following plan emerges: cut about 50 cm of the stem, strip off the leaves along with the seeds, put them in a pillowcase, hang it up, let it dry, shake it daily; whether male or female or diverse: doesn't matter!; whether still green or already brown: doesn't matter! Do not roast in direct sunlight; not necessarily pulverize. Thanks again for the post and especially for the very helpful comments. - Our native nature offers us EVERYTHING and that for exactly ZERO EURO!!! Plums, rose hips, apples and pears, sloes, quinces, berries of all kinds, mushrooms, dandelion, ground elder, sorrel, ... not to forget hemp!!! :-) - Good day to you.
9/4/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Ralph,

Thank you for your comment. It's wonderful to hear that our newsletter inspired you to harvest your nettle seeds. Enjoy the benefits and pleasures of this "power food"!

Best regards,
Carla
8/30/2023
Lotte Kriechbaum
Must nettle seeds still be green when harvested??
8/31/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Lotte,

there are different opinions on this. Some wild herb experts recommend harvesting nettle seeds only when they are slightly brownish. Personally, I collect a mix that gives me a fresh impression, including green seeds.

Best regards,
Carla
8/30/2023
Silke
I occasionally snack on nettles while taking a walk.
8/30/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
I can understand that :) It's also a good way to test if they are fully ripe.
Best regards,
Carla
8/29/2023
Annette Ennulat
Yes, I meant the wild herb recipes.
8/30/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Annette,

alright. In our email program, I could see that you already signed up for the wild herb smoothie PDF once in 2022. It's not possible to sign up again with the same email address. Therefore, I will send you the download link via email.

Best regards and enjoy the recipes!
Carla
8/29/2023
Annette Ennulat
Good morning, I had already registered yesterday, but did not receive any feedback as email. Maybe this time? Thanks Annette
8/29/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Anette,

I'm a bit confused: What did you sign up for? Did you mean the wild herb smoothie recipes? Unfortunately, I can't see any registration in our system....

Best regards,
Carla
8/13/2023
Marianne
I put the nettles in saltwater in the bathtub, just like for salad, so that everything that shouldn't be there floats to the top. Then I removed the seeds, dried them on baking paper in the oven at around 50°C, and sifted them through a sieve again.

Best regards,
Marianne W.
8/11/2023
Alfred Mader
Hello, I'm new here and I would like to use everything from my garden.
7/26/2023
Ruth
Dear ladies and gentlemen of this article,
May I draw your attention to something important. PLEASE DO NOT DRY SEEDS OR EVEN HERBS IN THE SUN. The sun thereby pulls out the whole, valuable ingredients. For 3 years I have been trained by a medicinal and wild herb specialist.

Best regards
Ruth
8/17/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Ruth,

thank you very much for your comment. I have adjusted the corresponding text passage.

Many greetings,
Carla
6/11/2023
Hugo
Good morning from Tyrol,
good article! But if you already work with nettles, you should do it without gloves. You quickly get used to the tingling and that is incredibly healthy. Stimulates blood circulation and is so even at a young age a prevention against gout and rheumatism. And the tingling makes simply lively.
So now I go to the garden and get my nettle.
Shower for the hands
6/12/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Hugo,

thank you for your comment and recommendation. However, the tingling can be immense. I had that happen to me last year while collecting nettle seeds that my hands were tingling for 24 hours. If you harvest a few nettles, then it is certainly doable.

Kind regards,
Carla
5/17/2023
Sam Choi
hi Carla,
I had written that I had *oxidized* them, not dried them. Drying is no problem. I wanted to oxidize them as well as black tea. But thanks anyway for your answer.
5/12/2023
Sam Choi
good day,
I love nettle, I like to eat it, drink tea, also eat the dried seeds. The other day I tried to oxidize nettle leaves and blackberry leaves to make tea for kombucha later too. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I had followed a method from Sonnentor but unfortunately they went rotten, smelled like ammonia and were slightly moldy. Have you had experience with this?
5/17/2023
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Sam Choi,

thank you very much for your comment. I regularly dry nettle seeds and have not had any problems with them so far. Unfortunately, I have no experience with drying nettle and blackberry leaves.

Best regards,
Carla
10/21/2022
Eva
I am also a big fan of the delicious seeds, but would like to know what quantity per day should preferably be consumed so that the body is well supplied with the valuable substances.
Kind Regards
Eva
10/24/2022
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Eva,

thank you for your comment and your question.
Unfortunately, I can not give you such a blanket quantity. For me, a teaspoon is added to the soup or over the salad or even a tablespoon in the smoothie, depending on my mood. I also like herbal salt with nettle seeds.
Start with a teaspoon daily and see how you like it.

Best regards,
Carla
8/31/2022
Eveline
My husband and I accidentally became aware of nettle seeds. So determined off to the Elbe in the forest and collected what the stuff holds. The sun has done the rest of the drying. It resulted in 6 large jars of seeds and we eat it regularly. Good for the health. That the seeds have so much protein, I would not have thought.
9/2/2022
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Eveline,

thank you very much for your comment. Nettle seeds are not only totally healthy, but also taste totally delicious. I like to sprinkle them over soups or make a fine nettle seed salt on top with rock salt.
Best regards,
Carla
8/30/2022
Monika
Thank you for the tips. I have a question: how do I know when the nettle seeds are ripe? Once it says harvest only when they are brown. But the purchased ones are clearly green ... And: why should the seeds be powdered? I can put them in the muesli or smoothie - so I do it with the purchased seeds. Thanks for the answer and best regards - Monika
9/5/2022
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Dear Monika,

thank you for your comment and your question.
Well, I feel the same as you - sometimes it is said that you should harvest the seeds only when they are brown - others harvest already in the green stage. One reason for the brown female seeds is that they are then even more nutritious. I have not investigated this, plus I also harvest them green
I powder the dried nettle seeds, because I find them so simply finer and tastier.

Kind regards,
Carla
8/25/2022
Susanne
Why should the seeds in the blender, at least for people who have over-functioning teeth? The resulting powder oxidizes, a pity for the ingredients.
9/5/2022
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Susanne,

I powder the nettle seeds because I find them tastier that way. Especially when I sprinkle the seeds over soups or salads or make a salt with it.
This can be done very easily à la minute - then also nothing oxidizes.

Kind regards,
Carla
8/6/2022
Michaela
Hello! Today I dared to harvest the nettle seeds for the first time
8/8/2022
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Michaela,

glad to hear you have started collecting nettle seeds!

Love,

Carla
7/1/2022
Frank
Hello, we have harvested and dried a lot last year. We just add it to everything. Tastes delicious. For example, I baked a loaf of bread and mixed a handful of it in. If you do this regularly, you constantly supply the body with good things....
7/1/2022
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Frank,

i am very much like you! And I'm already looking forward to this year's nettle seed harvest.
Best regards,
Carla
6/12/2022
Moppie
Thank you, the first to mention how to get the bugs from the seeds.
1/16/2022
Bernd Wiesel
Here are some tips for harvesting: Using your right or left hand and wearing a glove, preferably at the bottom of a female nettle plant, grip the entire stalk including the leaves, stripping them more or less bare. Then, store the contents in a sealed plastic bag. Once you're back at home, transfer the contents into a laundry basket or plastic container. This allows all insects to escape. Don't forget to turn everything multiple times with a pair of barbecue tongs. After approximately 2 days, all insects will have disappeared, and the seeds should be dried for about 14 days in darkness. It's best to use mushroom boxes lined with newspaper for this purpose. Afterwards, the seeds need to be "kneaded" by hand to separate them from the stems, while wearing gloves. Only then can the seeds be removed from the stems by shaking them through a special sieve and later ground in a mill. I personally also use them as an addition for baking bread.
Results: I haven't had a cold for 7 years.
1/17/2022
Carla von GrüneSmoothies.de
Hello Bernd,

Thank you very much for your comprehensive guide on harvesting nettle seeds.

Best regards,
Carla