Darina Allen: In the kitchen we discover more and more ways to enjoy nettles

YOUNG nettles are everywhere at present , wild and free and bursting with the vitamins, minerals and trace elements that we need after that long punishing winter we’ve all endured. Now that Spring is in here young growth is leaping from the ground in both urban areas and throughout the countryside. Nettles irk the gardener but it’s worth remembering that they are a powerhouse of nutrients so let’s just relish our weeds. Our grannies and granddads and ancestors all knew the value of incorporating iron rich nettles (more iron than either kale or asparagus) into your diet. In fact they have been a part of Irish diet for more than 6,000 years, ever since the first farmers cleared the forests.

There was an old saying, that one should eat four feeds of nettles during the month of May to purify the blood and keep away the rheumatics.