Nettles. This time, tea.

Evening, friends! I harvested the first batch of nettles today.  They had a lot of dirt from backsplash after last week's heavy rain, so it took a couple of washes to get them clean.

Then I set a big pot of water to boil and when it was boiling, I used the tongs to jam the nettles in.  I removed it from the heat, put the lid on and left it to steep for several hours.

After that time, I poured it through a strainer and into a half gallon mason jar.  There was enough left over for a tall glass of fresh nettle tea.  Here are the pics...

Here they are--the dirty little darlings--waiting for their first washing.

the second washing-- I poured the dirty water into watering cans

Here's the greenish-gold final product...and my own glass was delish.

Nettle tea is a wonderful spring tonic. And summer tonic. And autumn tonic.  I also make a cream of nettle soup and that will happen sometime this week, I think.  You can add some honey to the warm tea, if you like, but I prefer it unsweetened.