Alison Colwell

Prepping Nettles in the Cooking Class – photo: Karen Barnaby

5:30pm, Friday, March 31st

Learn how to make a variety of delicious nettle dishes and how to remove the sting so that you can take advantage of all of nettle’s incredible health benefits. This hands-on class includes cooking demonstrations and is suitable for all levels of cooking skills. It’s a prime opportunity for those looking to develop their skills and incorporate wild foods into their diet. We will create a delicious meal to share around a communal table at the end of the evening. This is a chance to bring questions, and get ideas for your entry into the Galiano’s Next Top Nettle Cooking Competition at the Potluck.

Registration includes all ingredients for a meal we prepare in class, plus a copy of Alison’s Nettle Cookbook. Please register at galianofoodprograms@gmail.com. Sliding scale $15-$25

Forest Foraging Walk with Naturalist Reed Osler & Holistic Nutritionist Cedana Bourne from the Galiano Conservancy

10:00am-12:00, Saturday April 1, Millard Learning Centre, main parking lot

Bring your cameras and notebooks and learn about foraging in our local forests. We’ll walk through Galiano’s wild places and talk about nettles and other edible wild greens, how and when to pick them for a sustainable harvest, where they grow, and their roles in our local ecosystems. We’ll also learn about their nutritional and health-giving properties, and how best to preserve them.

Suggested donation $15-$20. Please register at galianofoodprograms@gmail.com

Chefs, cooks and foragers: It’s time to put your “pedal to the nettle” in this year’s competition. Sunday, April 2nd as part of the 10th Annual Nettlefest Community Potluck Celebration at the South Galiano Community Hall. Come “test your nettle” by entering your best nettle dish against fierce island competition. And the sting: all dishes must be in by 5:30pm.

Categories

• Dan the Man Island Style (featuring ingredients grown and foraged on Galiano)
• Avant-Garde Cuisine
• Homestyle Cooking

As I write this article we are just emerging from an unusually snowy winter, and it’s hard to believe that spring is just around the corner. But it’s coming. One of the first signs of spring, and maybe Galiano’s favourite, is bright green nettle shoots poking out of the ground. The new leaves are full of calcium, protein, and iron. Perfect to recharge us after our cold winter and get us healthy and ready for spring.

To quote Sandy Pottle’s famous nettle song:

And then I tried granny’s spring tonic

And now I feel simply bionic

I’m stepping more lightly

I’m looking more sightly

And my brain it ain’t quite so moronic

When you are picking nettles for cooking, choose the young and tender leaves, usually the top four or six on a plant. Use scissors to cut the tip and you won’t damage the plant. Nettles are delicious — but most first time nettle eaters are nervous about being stung. Use kitchen or garden gloves when you are picking and in the kitchen until the nettles are processed in some way. Once the fresh nettles are steamed, frozen, dried or cooked the sting is neutralized. There are lots of different ways to use nettles. Some of my favourites are: soup, pizza, nesto, nettle and edamame crostini, and nettle pakora.

This year the Galiano Community Food Programs 10th Annual Nettlefest weekend runs March 31st to April 2nd. I will be teaching a cooking class on Friday night, Reed and Cedana from the Galiano Conservancy will be leading a foraging walk on Saturday morning, there will be the community nettle pick, and of course the community potluck on the Sunday evening, with the increasingly popular Nettle cooking competition. Check the website for all the details. There’s lots to do, lots of ways to get involved and celebrate spring on Galiano.