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Comment by crazybonkersai | Hacker News Reader

Stinging nettles are often touted as free abundant superfood, but the truth is it is rather bland and boring. Yes, edible, but you would be better of grabbing some established greens from a local grocery store.

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Are other greens really much more tasty? Either way, many superfoods are not eaten solo - you can mix with basil for a lovely pesto for example, or simply add some nettle to your normal stew/soup for added nutrients.

I have nettle tea every morning and now thinking about the standard black tea, I see that as "bland/boring". I admit it didn't appeal at first, but now I love the earthy taste, so maybe it's slightly acquired taste?

I've always liked nettle tea, but perhaps that's because I grew up with it. I also "invented" catnip tea. Yes, I know, everybody knows about catnip tea. But as I kid I didn't, and I noticed that catnip and nettles often were growing together wild on our farm. I suspected the catnip had evolved to hide in the nettles, because it looks very similar to it. Don't know if that's true or if it was just because they liked similar conditions. But, since I was often taking the nettles for tea, I figured I'd try the catnip. It was good.

Interesting - never tried catnip tea, so if I see some, i'll give it a try!

> superfood

Most superfoods are what we ate when we were poor growing up. Nettles, collards, mustard greens, kale...

My opinion, the word superfood, gets people to pay a premium for cheap and easily commercially grown plants.

That's awesome they gave you greens. All I seemed to get were bricks of moldy cheese, dried milk and occasional bread and mayo sandwiches.

Tell me you had a single mother who got WIC without telling me directly.

funny, did you come up with that one yourself?

Honest question, what was your intent with your reply?

the whole "tell me your x without telling me your x" is tedious. its not half as witty as it feels

They were actually correct, though. I thought it was funny. There were a lot of us back in the day especially in the rust belt.

> bricks of moldy cheese

That's the good stuff!?

Kale has entered the chat.

As a cyclist occasionally brushing against stinging nettles when the city can’t clear them fast enough after a growth season, I do applaud everyone picking and eating as much as they can carry :)

In Eastern European countryside a hundred years ago, nettles used to be the last resort in early spring when winter supplies were growing thin, and anything growing and not poisonous would be cooked. Sure, they have some nutritional value, but there are reasons why they're not really eaten nowadays...

I thinks is mostly a matter of effort, not just taste. I'm Italian and my grandma used to forage dozens of wild plants, some very tasty (not nettles, I'd agree), and I still forage a few.

But it takes a morning to have the equivalent of 5 minutes in the vegetable isle of the supermarket.

Young ones can readily replace spinach

This is not clarified on the blog, and is an important point. The mature plant is not tender or tasty.

Yeah, these are usually only eaten right around Easter.

And right before morel mushrooms are harvested.

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