Purple Dead Nettle

Is it good to be a weed? Purple dead nettle thinks so and shows us how to be a weed that is a gentle garden companion. Regular guest Sheri Kurdakul shares about this early spring plant and how it benefits its ecosystem and you even though it is not native to North America. Of course Sheri starts us off with another of her awesome herbal poems. Enjoy the episode!

Lamium purpureum, commonly known as red or purple dead nettle, is an annual weed that grows throughout North America.

It is one of the earliest plants to emerge in the spring, bringing welcome nutrients to hungry pollinators. 🐝 You will often see it in your yard, along roadsides and empty lots. It is sometimes confused with henbit (Lamium amplexicaule), another weed that looks similar. Both have ties to the fairy world, but one is musical in nature and the other has to do with shoes… 🤔 

It is best to harvest aerial parts in the late morning after the dew has evaporated. In the image above, you’ll notice a long stem that leads up to the leaf bunch. I pick mine just below the start of that leaf bunch, making sure there are open flowers. Purple dead nettle are hermaphrodites (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by bees, meaning that the plant is self-fertile. When harvesting, leave enough flowering plants alone if you want to see them again next year. While they can spread, they do so by seed and can be eradicated by pulling the plants up in the early spring before the seeds have had time to set.

Purple Dead Nettle is an aromatic and soft herb. Due to both of these factors, my preferred method of drying is air drying. With that said, the timeframe for harvesting can be short if the heat sets in early, so I tend to pick a large batch early. I don’t have a ton of space to spread my herbs out to air dry (plus I have a dog that sheds like crazy!) so I put mine in the dehydrator, set it for the lowest heat, and crank up the time setting. I have found that at 95 degrees F, it takes about 10-12 hours to dry enough where I am comfortable making oils from the plant material. 

Most of my interactions with Purple Dead Nettle have been external, so I decided to brew up a cup of tea from this year’s batch of the dried herb. The smell of the dried herb was really strong, having only harvested it a few days earlier. I decided to start with a conservative pot, making a bit weaker than I normally would. Here was my experience.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ oz dried arial parts
• 4 C water, just off the boil
• 1 glass teapot with cloth tea steeping bag (the bag was a gift from my in-laws in Turkey!)

TASTING

As soon as I poured the water over the herbs in the glass teapot, the aroma permeated the house. I recognized the smell, but could not remember from where. Alfalfa hay? Parsley? Those sounded close, but not quite right.

The infusion steeped for 15 minutes while the color changed from golden yellow to a deep, rich, reddish gold. The smell… what was that!

I took a sip, swirled it around my mouth, then swallowed it. I took another sip, larger this time to try to recognize the taste – it was as elusive as the smell and driving me crazy! There was a slight scratchiness in the back of my throat that quickly dissipated. I attributed it to the astringent properties of the herb.

Then it hit me! ASPARAGUS! It smells and tastes just like boiled asparagus. It seems strange to me that two plants from completely different plant families and no similar compounds can taste so much alike. 

After 25 minutes of drinking one cup, I started experiencing some slight gripping in my sides, just below my rib cage. It felt like the weaker infusion and only one cup was plenty for me.

While it wasn’t completely distasteful, I think I will leave the rest of my dried herb to use in future batches of oil for salves and lotions. 

This oil is fantastic as a base oil for salves and lotions, but it is also amazing as a standalone oil. If you have reactionary spots on your body (rash, bug bites, allergic reaction), just apply a small amount and let the magic of this plant do its thing. I make my oil using a folk method.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Quart glass jar (I use canning jars)
• Clean, dry Purple Dead Nettle, arial parts dried and cut into small pieces
• Fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth
• Olive Oil, organic, cold-pressed, extra-virgin
• Vitamin E oil (optional for extended shelf-stability)

DIRECTIONS:

• Using a clean, sterile quart-sized jar, fill your jar about ¾ full with dried Purple Dead Nettle.
• Pour the olive oil over the herbs until the oil is about ½ inch from the top of the jar.
• Use an object to push the herbs down into the jar and work any air bubbles* out of the oil (I use a chopstick).
• Wipe the top of the jar so it is dry and free from both oil and any debris. Seal the jar (I use a canning lid and ring).
• Set in a cool, dry place for 6 to 8 weeks, gently shaking the jar once a day in a back-and-forth rocking motion).
• Strain the oil through a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth, squeezing all that golden goodness out of the herb.
• Pour it into a glass jar, preferably a dark glass bottle/jar, and seal and label it. 

Your oil should keep for 6 months to 3 years, depending on how much moisture to which your oil is exposed.
*Air, light, and moisture are NOT friends to herbal oils!