Dear blog,

I'd love to know what was going through that person's head who first saw nettles. 

Mother Nature is fantastic.  There are lots of plants out there that scream out DON'T TOUCH ME!  Nettles are one.  Take a close look at the under side of a nettle leaf and you'll see loads of very sharp little spines that sting and itch like crazy if you touch them with bare skin.   How did that first person make the mental leap between "don't touch" to wondering "hmmm....I wonder if that crazy plant might somehow be good for me?" 

Nettles.  Urtica dioica.  Has lots of good stuff in it, if you can get past all the prickles!   You can

• wash with it!  it can help relieve dandruff, stimulate hair growth, and tone the scalp
• drink it (contains antioxidant flavanoids, iron, Vitamin C, malic acid, polysaccarides, plus more) ****

***  This is not intended as medical advice!  Always use extreme caution and due diligence if consuming a wild herb.  Do your research and make sure it's safe for you!   Check out herbal sources in the library and on the internet for all the great properties of nettles. 

So why am I yattering on about nettles?  Because I made shampoo bars last night with my own locally harvested, home dried nettles.  I've used store bought nettles before, but this was my first go at making my own.   Before I cut them, I suited up with long sleeves and gloves.   I kept the protective gear on while stripping the leaves for drying.  I should have kept them on to take the leaves out of the food dryer because those dried leaves were still itchy on my hands!  And that got me thinking about how might somebody have thought nettles might be useful....because they're not the easiest plant to get around.

Anyways, the shampoo turned such a lovely shade of green!  I can't wait to get them out of the mold and try them out.

mold = 3" PVC plumbing pipe, 12" long lined with a column of butcher paper that extends past the pipe to form an 18" tube.  One batch of shampoo soap = 12 bars of soap.  Canada flag packing tape to seal up the tube that extends over the top of the pipe :)

have a great day!

Lisa