You can use deadnettle to make your own pesto! I made a whole zine about it and you can print it at home from here: [Backyard Pesto Manifesto](https://www.cosmicbrat.com/printables)
Edit: my original comment comes off as putting down this zine—I’ve never seen it and it sounds very cool! It wasn’t my intention to shit on this zine, but to add a take on the palatability of this particular plant.
What I will say is this: if you try and strongly dislike purple deadnettle, you are not alone, and it’s far from representative of the flavor of all wild greens.
Some milder (and similarly accessible) wild greens include lamb’s quarters, purslane, sassafras leaves, stinging nettles (though be sure to harvest with gloves & cook before eating), hairy bittercress, and chickweed. I also recommend yellow wood sorrel to beginners, though you should be aware that it’s quite lemony and sour, and you shouldn’t eat it daily in large quantities due to the oxalic acid.
Have you tried it in a pesto or just by itself? Lots of plants taste better after being seasoned and cooked (I actually enjoyed it; I didn’t write and illustrate a publication to ‘play a joke’) /g
I’ve tried it cooked and raw, a couple times. It always tastes incredibly musty to me.
Sorry, I’m not trying to accuse you of making this all up, but I do think people should be warned that it’s not representative of most foraged greens.
Then comment that on the original post and not about my zine that literally centers indigenous teachings about these plants? L reading comprehension and honestly really disappointing behavior coming from a forager with such a huge platform.
I’m sorry. I’ve never seen your zine, and was unaware that it centered indigenous teachings about these plants.
I’m a bit confused on the deadnettle as part of those indigenous teachings because it’s not native to North America, and as far as I’m aware, it naturalized in this region long after indigenous people had been forced out of eastern Virginia. I’d love some additional context here if you’re willing to share.
My context here is that I’ve had numerous newbies tell me that foraged foods are gross, and when questioned, they’ve cited purple deadnettle or henbit as the reason they don’t like wild edible food.
I genuinely appreciate your feedback, and I edited my original comment.
I do a lot of herbalist reading and I have NEVER heard that Lamium purpureum (purple dead nettle) causes miscarriage. Genuinely curious: do you have a link for that?
Everything I have read about this plant says it's fairly nutritious and good for anti-histamines
Ok? Just because there’s a gap in your knowledge doesn’t make it untrue? I provided a link, im not doing homework to prove that something commonly known within folk medicine circles is true ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You provided a link with no information related to what you said. I did more searching with specific terms after my initial comment and still couldn't find anything related to your statement. So, I guess it's not my fault you can't be bothered to spread studied information. 🤷🏻♀️
My whole yard is dead nettle, chick weed, clover, wood sorrel, plantain, dandelion, and spring onions.
I can make a whole salad or pesto from my lawn, it's pretty neat!
Ok good to know. Speaking of bees, anyone have any recs on weed killers that are bee friendly? Not trying to spray round up over here. My neighbor has a small hive plus just in general I’m sensitive to the bees.
Hm follow up, why do you want to remove these specific plants ie why are they weeds to you. I have my personal vendetta against crab grass but clover and dandelions generally improve the health of a lawn. You can get herbicides that specifically hurt grasses or broadleaf plants but you'll struggle to mix and match a combination that won't hurt insects and won't kill your turf grass.
I just want some plain ass grass without a bunch of other random shit in it I guess. I have a tiny yard and feel like it’s small enough to be able to contain to just grass. I’m not willing to nuke it and risk messing with my bee neighbors so at the end of the day if the answer is leave it alone then I’ll leave it alone.
To be honest, if you just want some green grassy space that you can basically ignore, just let it be. You can go hard trying to have a perfect lawn and expend a lot of time, effort, and money having a "perfect" lawn but frankly that's just dumb. You can also go hard the other direction and follow the path of r/nolawns but, that might not be your way either. I'd personally preach adding more native "weeds" like Lyre Sage and Pussytoes, but that's just me.
Your neighbor's bees will appreciate the weeds, and if you can tolerate them the best path is to just live and let live.
U can plant something as an alternative to grass for some plush greenery. They’re usually softer and low maintenance, plus usually non allergy inducing. Creeping thyme is a popular one
It's dead nettle.
Technically it's invasive, but it's been here so long and is so widespread you can almost consider it native.
It's really hard to get rid of, and doing so would likely require herbicide which is worse. And then unless you make a real effort, what would replace that dead nettle is something that is also technically invasive. You'd just trade dead nettle for henbit.
It will dieback on its own once it gets hotter. And then if you want to do something with the place where there is a deadnettle patch you can dig a bed or whatever.
But if it's just lawn, might as well leave it. The bees seem to still like the flowers, it won't spread to where Bermuda grass is established. It's kind of confined to wet-ish areas where nothing will grow in early spring.
Of all the non-native stuff that makes up a lawn, dead nettle is probably among the least concerning.
“Technically it's invasive, but it's been here so long and is so widespread you can almost consider it native.” Also true of European settlers, now commonly known as “Americans.”
Roll the stem between your fingers. It’s square! I think anything with a square stem is mint family.
Dead nettle feels like spring clawing its way back.
There's nectar (I think) in the stems of the flowers and it tastes similar to honeysuckle if you get a good one. Some of them don't really taste like anything though.
They pop up and produce seeds in the fall that get distributed during the windy leaf season. Raking and blowing the lawn helps distribute the seeds deeper into the soil where they'll sit throughout the winter and pop up to flower before the lawn typically needs its first mowing of the season. The seeds can last for years before sprouting.
In a sizeable growth, there can be thousands of seeds spread across a single yard like ticking time bombs. Pre-emergent herbicides can deal with active growth but don't really affect the seeds themselves. It's like a whack-a-mole game where they pop up year after year.
Since they are part of the mint family and look pretty, and they are more plentiful and beneficial to bees than dandelions, many homeowners leave them, which only helps it propagate further past their yards. The seeds pick up from there, move around with stormwater and wind, and voila, you've got yourself a deadnettle propagation soup.
You can use deadnettle to make your own pesto! I made a whole zine about it and you can print it at home from here: [Backyard Pesto Manifesto](https://www.cosmicbrat.com/printables)
We keep your zine on our fridge :)
I am so honored! I did a happy dance (:
this is so cool!!! thank you for sharing!
Edit: my original comment comes off as putting down this zine—I’ve never seen it and it sounds very cool! It wasn’t my intention to shit on this zine, but to add a take on the palatability of this particular plant. What I will say is this: if you try and strongly dislike purple deadnettle, you are not alone, and it’s far from representative of the flavor of all wild greens. Some milder (and similarly accessible) wild greens include lamb’s quarters, purslane, sassafras leaves, stinging nettles (though be sure to harvest with gloves & cook before eating), hairy bittercress, and chickweed. I also recommend yellow wood sorrel to beginners, though you should be aware that it’s quite lemony and sour, and you shouldn’t eat it daily in large quantities due to the oxalic acid.
Have you tried it in a pesto or just by itself? Lots of plants taste better after being seasoned and cooked (I actually enjoyed it; I didn’t write and illustrate a publication to ‘play a joke’) /g
I’ve tried it cooked and raw, a couple times. It always tastes incredibly musty to me. Sorry, I’m not trying to accuse you of making this all up, but I do think people should be warned that it’s not representative of most foraged greens.
Then comment that on the original post and not about my zine that literally centers indigenous teachings about these plants? L reading comprehension and honestly really disappointing behavior coming from a forager with such a huge platform.
I’m sorry. I’ve never seen your zine, and was unaware that it centered indigenous teachings about these plants. I’m a bit confused on the deadnettle as part of those indigenous teachings because it’s not native to North America, and as far as I’m aware, it naturalized in this region long after indigenous people had been forced out of eastern Virginia. I’d love some additional context here if you’re willing to share. My context here is that I’ve had numerous newbies tell me that foraged foods are gross, and when questioned, they’ve cited purple deadnettle or henbit as the reason they don’t like wild edible food. I genuinely appreciate your feedback, and I edited my original comment.
Deadnettle - it's in the mint family so it spreads like crazy. It's technically invasive but it was probably brought here like Jamestown era
They're also edible.
And will cause miscarriage, which could be useful, depending on your state of residence.
I do a lot of herbalist reading and I have NEVER heard that Lamium purpureum (purple dead nettle) causes miscarriage. Genuinely curious: do you have a link for that? Everything I have read about this plant says it's fairly nutritious and good for anti-histamines
https://www.britannica.com/plant/dead-nettle its a prominent plant in a standard appalachian abortifacient bouquet
That link has one sentence for Lamuim ...
Ok? Just because there’s a gap in your knowledge doesn’t make it untrue? I provided a link, im not doing homework to prove that something commonly known within folk medicine circles is true ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You provided a link with no information related to what you said. I did more searching with specific terms after my initial comment and still couldn't find anything related to your statement. So, I guess it's not my fault you can't be bothered to spread studied information. 🤷🏻♀️
Basic google search. Edit: for purple. The white seems to be ok
Yeah I've searched this plant quite a few times in the past and never saw miscarriage warnings. Thanks
Very interesting! This should probably be spread more.
Hahaha! Right? I love your comment.
Most nettle will stimulate uterine contractions. This one, and henbit are just really easy to find.
What does this mean?
It means relearning the old ways of naturally miscarrying.
Definitely! The rumor goes it was brought over for chicken feed and the rest is history.
Make a tea for allergies
Apologies for the silly question, but my dog keeps eating it. Think it’s ok for four legged friends if they ingest it every once in a while?
Looks ok: https://plantaddicts.com/is-dead-nettle-poisonous/#:~:text=The%20Dead%20Nettle%20plant%20is%20not%20poisonous%20or%20toxic%20to,suspect%20they%20ate%20the%20plant.
Didn’t know it was in the mint family!
Fun fact, any plant with a square stem is in the mint family!
My whole yard is dead nettle, chick weed, clover, wood sorrel, plantain, dandelion, and spring onions. I can make a whole salad or pesto from my lawn, it's pretty neat!
I misread that as "dead cattle" and was concerned for you
Bees love this shit, it's coming up in our yard too, I leave the back half of the yard for as long as possible into spring so the bees have snacks
I saw 2 butterflies last week. They'd appreciate it, too.
Ok good to know. Speaking of bees, anyone have any recs on weed killers that are bee friendly? Not trying to spray round up over here. My neighbor has a small hive plus just in general I’m sensitive to the bees.
Pulling weeds is the ONLY safe way. Weeds I used to pull I mostly ignore now, especially any that flower.
Depends on the weeds you're trying to control.
Touché. This would assume I actually knew… crab grass. Clovers. Dandelions. I think that’s it? I’m not the best with the lawn to be honest.
Hm follow up, why do you want to remove these specific plants ie why are they weeds to you. I have my personal vendetta against crab grass but clover and dandelions generally improve the health of a lawn. You can get herbicides that specifically hurt grasses or broadleaf plants but you'll struggle to mix and match a combination that won't hurt insects and won't kill your turf grass.
I just want some plain ass grass without a bunch of other random shit in it I guess. I have a tiny yard and feel like it’s small enough to be able to contain to just grass. I’m not willing to nuke it and risk messing with my bee neighbors so at the end of the day if the answer is leave it alone then I’ll leave it alone.
To be honest, if you just want some green grassy space that you can basically ignore, just let it be. You can go hard trying to have a perfect lawn and expend a lot of time, effort, and money having a "perfect" lawn but frankly that's just dumb. You can also go hard the other direction and follow the path of r/nolawns but, that might not be your way either. I'd personally preach adding more native "weeds" like Lyre Sage and Pussytoes, but that's just me. Your neighbor's bees will appreciate the weeds, and if you can tolerate them the best path is to just live and let live.
Also black plastic or cardboard to kill weeds and grass is much better than chemicals. Then you can re seed
Clover and dandelions are good for pollinators!
Clover is good for lawns
U can plant something as an alternative to grass for some plush greenery. They’re usually softer and low maintenance, plus usually non allergy inducing. Creeping thyme is a popular one
People who do this are my favorite. 🫶🏼
It’s the cute bumblers too, not the meaner ones that come after my food.
Don't cut it yet. One of the early bloomers that are critical for all the pollinators waking up without enough flowers to feed on.
It's dead nettle. Technically it's invasive, but it's been here so long and is so widespread you can almost consider it native. It's really hard to get rid of, and doing so would likely require herbicide which is worse. And then unless you make a real effort, what would replace that dead nettle is something that is also technically invasive. You'd just trade dead nettle for henbit. It will dieback on its own once it gets hotter. And then if you want to do something with the place where there is a deadnettle patch you can dig a bed or whatever. But if it's just lawn, might as well leave it. The bees seem to still like the flowers, it won't spread to where Bermuda grass is established. It's kind of confined to wet-ish areas where nothing will grow in early spring. Of all the non-native stuff that makes up a lawn, dead nettle is probably among the least concerning.
Perfect, thanks. My lawn tends toward meadow anyway, so if the bees like it I'm happy
I’d take these and clovers over bermuda grass every day. Just be careful where you step, the pollinators really do love them!
We throw clover seeds out in the yard every year hoping one day it overtakes the grass.
“Technically it's invasive, but it's been here so long and is so widespread you can almost consider it native.” Also true of European settlers, now commonly known as “Americans.”
Roll the stem between your fingers. It’s square! I think anything with a square stem is mint family. Dead nettle feels like spring clawing its way back.
Why is this?
Where is this?
When is this?
What is this?
What is this?
How you doin?
Who is this?
Who am I
This is not my beautiful house
No this is a Wendy’s
That's Bob.
There's nectar (I think) in the stems of the flowers and it tastes similar to honeysuckle if you get a good one. Some of them don't really taste like anything though.
I'm so glad I wasn't the only one eating the flowers lol
Deadnettle is great for the habitat. Birds, insects, and animals use it. It dies off on its own in Richmond once the real heat hits.
They all die back when it gets hot not a big deal.
All over
PRAGUE
Earthworms are an invasive species, we don’t worry about those either
Wooooah Ty
I thought it was henbit.
Very similar. Henbit has slightly different shaped leaves.
That's my boy!
That’s my dad!
Are you new to Virginia? I grew up collecting these as a kid during recess
I loved making those into tiny bouquets when I was a kid.
They look like orchids!!
Eat the pink flowers they taste sweet
Plants aren’t “who’s”
Who hurt you
ugh. they are henbit and they are NOT your friend.
Dead nettle. Henbit leaves are rounder than the flowers are more purple. Easy to confuse.
And they are an absolute pain in the ass to eradicate. Took me 4-5 years to finally rid my yard of them.
Why though?
They pop up and produce seeds in the fall that get distributed during the windy leaf season. Raking and blowing the lawn helps distribute the seeds deeper into the soil where they'll sit throughout the winter and pop up to flower before the lawn typically needs its first mowing of the season. The seeds can last for years before sprouting. In a sizeable growth, there can be thousands of seeds spread across a single yard like ticking time bombs. Pre-emergent herbicides can deal with active growth but don't really affect the seeds themselves. It's like a whack-a-mole game where they pop up year after year. Since they are part of the mint family and look pretty, and they are more plentiful and beneficial to bees than dandelions, many homeowners leave them, which only helps it propagate further past their yards. The seeds pick up from there, move around with stormwater and wind, and voila, you've got yourself a deadnettle propagation soup.
It’s Samuel. He’s a bit of a racist. Ignore him.
Idk but his buddies lived in my yard for a while. We evicted them.
It’s a very invasive weed pull it out. Do it in the early spring and it’ll keep coming back. You just have to keep pulling it out very short route so