The gathering instinct from my hunter gatherer ancestory is starting to emerge. I'm starting to see salmon berry flowers bloom, and I'm hoping I can get to the fruit this year before the county comes through and mows them down.

This is a section of the road full of stinging nettles. I'm trying to get brave enough to harvest a bunch of this and make soup, lasagna, and other things with it, as I've read that the nettles are very high in calcium and iron. I may even try making nettle wine, if I can get my act together.
If anyone out there has recipes for stinging nettles I'd love for you to share them with me, and any tips on how to safely gather the mean little plant. I've had my fair share of burns from this stuff while picking black berries and hope to avoid that pain.