Stinging nettles pie a delicious spring meal
Foraging and cooking with local, edible ingredients is a rewarding way to further strengthen our innate relationship with the land. Stinging nettle is an herbaceous perennial plant characterized by tiny, sharp, stinging hairs that cover the entire plant, with dark green serrated leaves and clusters of tiny, fuzzy-like white flowers.
Nettle has been used historically by First Nations for medicinal and practical purposes. High in iron, carotene, and vitamin C, it was used to treat various ailments and for general health. Nettle tea was popular and used as an aid by aboriginal women. The fibrous stems of stinging nettle were used to make rope and fishing line and known to have lasted a long time.
Nettles thrive in moist woodlands, thickets, and disturbed areas, and are abundant in the Edmonton and area region. They are best collected in the spring when young shoots are available. Take special care when collecting and preparing though, the hairs will cause stinging sensations if touched or eaten raw. Stinging nettle has a lovely flavour akin to spinach, bright green with a subtle peppery sharpness. Stinging nettle pie recipe at https://www.ealt.ca/blog/stinging-nettle-pie
Public engagement policy renewal
On May 27, Council’s Executive Committee will review Public Engagement Policy (C593), first adopted by City Council on April 11, 2017. Proposed changes reflect principles of diversity and inclusion, Indigenous awareness, and the use of digital engagement channels to help expand access to public engagement.
This policy is important as evidenced by the fact the Executive committee recently dealt with a governance issue regarding sewer lines that began with complaints by Gold Bar residents about the lack of public engagement.
This policy applies to public engagement regarding all the City's policies, programs, projects, and services whether it is planned and delivered by City staff, contractors, or community partners. If you wish to speak at Executive Committee on this issue, register with the City Clerk at 780.496.8178 or city.clerk@edmonton.ca before the May 27 meeting begins at 9:30am.
Learn more by reading Agenda Item 6.4’s reports at https://pub-edmonton.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=b4cd01fb-bbc9-4e2d-9e70-8cd3aa9dfe2b&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English&Item=27&Tab=attachments
Don’t spray them, eat your dandelions
Before lawns became fashionable, this plant was carefully cultivated in Europe for its edibility and was brought over by settlers into North America. Dandelion was cultivated by fur traders at Fort Churchill in northern Manitoba, to help balance a diet lacking in healthy vegetables. Settlers were known to tend plots of dandelions, protecting them with chicken wire from ground squirrels.
The seed heads attract seed-eating birds such as finches and pine siskins and small mammals such as mice and chipmunks. Flower heads are ice-cream food for black and grizzly bears. The flower heads are sensitive to light, and open in the early morning.
Young dandelion leaves make a good vegetable green, either cooked or in salads. The roots can be dried and ground as a coffee substitute. Wine can be made from the flowers. Dandelions are rich in vitamins and minerals. Recipes for dandelion flowers, roots, leaves, as well as for use in soup and fritters at https://plantwatch.naturealberta.ca/choose-your-plants/common-dandelion/
River valley concern or contribution
If you have a river valley concern or question, contact us at nsrivervalley@gmail.com
Your friends and neighbours can sign up for this newsletter on our web site.
If you have a photo, information, or event about Edmonton’s river valley and think it should be in this newsletter, email it to us.
Sincerely yours,
Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
780.691.1712