One of our most common and familiar plants is the nettle.
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She is yet another of the great wildings now relegated to nuisance status amongst the forgotten corners of our ecology.
Yet she was once held in high esteem, a treasure trove of natures generosity.
She gave us food, medicine, dyes, rope and covered the graves of our ancestors with a verdant living burial robe.
Her gift to me today was this wild nettle pesto. Wild garlic, pine nuts from the trees on the mountain and olive oil from the ancient city of Cadiz.
This sauce is vital, alive and full of the indigenous flavour of the mountain. It is a reconnection to my past, an honouring of the traditions as well as a reclamation of the rights of the commons.
This is the hoop of life this is my reindigenisation.
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Neil Hill is one of Europe’s top outdoor, wilderness and survival coaches. He believes that our modern disconnect from nature has led to many of our personal, physical and social problems. He has led courses into some of the worlds most hostile and wild environments. His passion is to reconnect people with their aboriginal roots in nature, enabling them to have adventures and experiences that unlock their massive potential, Neil is the founder of Rewilding Bushcraft.
