Summer Nettle Ink Recipe
What will you need ?
You do need expensive equipment but I recommend that the equipment is seperate from your daily cooking equipment as you will be dealing with alkali.
A plastic ( Dishwasher , Microwave , Hot water safe ). lidded container which hold approximately 1 to 2 litres.
A glass/plastic measuring jug , maximum 1 litre.
Small Pan , my pan is 1 litre :I advise to buy a pan dedicated to making ink.
Potato Masher.
Soda Ash. Readily bought from eBay and other shopping platforms. It is very cheap and you do not need a lot: please keep this away from children and pets
Plastic Funnel to decant into your Ink vessels. Different sizes if you are going to decant into small ink vessels for gifts.
Stainless Steel Fine Kitchen Sieve. to fit your measuring jug.
Cheesecloth for straining the organic bits when decanting or coffee filters.
Gum Arabic Powder. It is not expensive , you do not need a great deal. I normally buy 50g at a time.
Litmus Paper. You can buy this off eBay , it costs a few pounds and has within the booklet a colour guide for the PH levels.
Wintergreen Essential Oil.
Ink Vessel. I use jam jars which hold 250 - 500ml dependent on which ink I am making.
Small Ink Bottles. I collect Victorian ink bottles so I can gift to friend.
Foraging Notes
The great thing about nettles is their abundance. On the sides of field behind my house are full of beautiful Nettles. Find a place you can keep on going to every year. If left alone they will always flourish and provide for you
Nettle. ( Urtica Dioica ). grow as annuals or perennial plants and are Dioecious , meaning there are both male and female plants.
The female plant are darker emerald colour and male are lighter green/yellow/browns.
You can experiment with nettles. Making ink from the fresh early growth tips to the really darkened leaves later on the year after flowering.
My foraging mode is using a plastic container which I will later fill with alkali water to extract the colour. I will use scissors and cut the leaf from the plant , leaving the plant in place so it may die back and enrich the soil for next year.
Instead of collecting all which I need , I will only collect in parts ( see recipe). as it’s best to leave it until you need it letting nature do its best.
Folklore
Nettles are steeped in folklore many of which has been lost to time. The Saxon called it Wergulu and has many names and uses for tens of thousands years.
It is a super food which the female seeds are full of vitamins and minerals for medicinal, food and magical properties. It fibre has been used to make clothing and its colour used to dye clothes.
In folklore it has been associated with fertility , protection from lightning and evil spells.
Even today people make fertiliser for their garden , medicinal teas etc. I often wonder why some people consider such a beneficial and magical plant as a weed.
It is not just colour that you are using when you create from the ink. It is using a gift of nature to make something , a connection to this and other realms. In Astrology it is associated with Mars , you may use the ink symbolically as fire or a strong energy.
It is fun to read up on the abundance of knowledge on the internet but find your own meanings of the plant. You do not have to conform to what everyone else is linking it to, past or present, this is your own magical journey to natural inks. It has different meanings across the globe so why not your own meaning.
Making Inks from plants create a deep connection to the gift of nature.
Lets Begin
Find a place which has abundance of nettles. In this recipe , like my others I prefer to intensify the colour by seeping the liquid 3/4 times over a week. As I live in the countryside I have a mass of nettles growing at the back of my cottage so I harvest 3 times. However, you can forage the whole amount and refrigerate each batch ready for adding to the liquid.
Nettles can vary in hue and tone just from its environment and also its age. The beautiful thing about making your own ink is that each year you can try the plant at different times and be curious about different techniques. I made a mistake this year with the fresh spring nettles and forgot I had them leaving them steeping in its liquid for over a week and loved the outcome.
I use a plastic container which is microwave and dishwasher safe so I can put hot water into it and also sterilise it. I sterilise with boiling water , I like simplicity. The plastic container seen in this recipe is 120 x 120 x 140mm high and holds just over 1.5 litres. When completed on each batch I only make 300ml , starting with 600ml of liquid.
NOTE :-
You are making something organic and natural which may not be lightfast and have some PH level which may eventually deteriorate your paper.
Think of what you make like the life cycles of nature and its fading as natural and beautiful process of living art.
1. Collecting the Nettles
I have marked my container to 600ml as I work by volume. This isn’t exact science. I aim for 300ml of ink from 600ml of liquid.
When foraging I use some heavy duty gloves and scissors. Some people are less affected by stinging nettles but please be careful.. I snip the top fresh green leaves directly into the container. Keep on pressing the leaves down.
Potato Masher , Very Cheap and Great Ink making tool to condense plant matter , mash berries and squeeze all the ink liquid from the matter.
2. Making the liquid
When I first began to make plant inks I used to cook the plants in water for hour or two. The cost of living , especially electricity has tripled in cost so I have looked at affordable ways to cook the plants to extract the colour.
For nettles I steep the plants in a PH Alkali water for 24 hours and repeat the process 3/4 times.
I use a glass pyrex measuring jug and measure approximately 600ml or the same volume of water to condensed plants. I use hot water from the kettle. For 600ml of water I put 1 teaspoon of soda ash and stir this will give me PH10. You can experiment with higher alkali as it will affect the overall colour. I like to optimise my alkali as I don’t like using harsh chemicals and also it will affect your paper you are using the ink on.
You need to buy some Litmus paper strips , they are next to nothing on eBay. The Litmus paper pads will have guide to PH levels , PH10 is a dark purple.
3. Steep the Nettles in hot PH10/11 water
Once you have poured the PH10 water into the container containing the packed down nettles ensure that the nettles are all covered and push them down with wooden spoon. Place a lid on the container and leave for 24 hours.
4. After 24 hours
Pour Ink liquid into measuring jug and top up liquid with water to original quantity.
Check PH of liquid with litmus paper. It will of reduced alkali but not by much.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of Soda Ash to bring back to PH10/11
TIP : It is easier to add soda ash to bring up alkali levels , so put a little in at a time. Depending on your quantities , type of water etc it will vary so a bit of soda sh at a time and test.
5. Repeat 1
collect nettles from source or from fridge where you have saved the batch
6. Heat up liquid to simmering
Pour Ink Liquid from measuring jug into pan and heat up the liquid to simmering
.
7. Pour Heat Liquid into Container filled with new nettle
TIP: Be careful with hot alkali water , wear rubber gloves and keep away from children and pets.
Pour the heated ink liquid into your container filled with new nettles to infuse the ink liquid for the second time to intensify to ink.
NOTE: If you steep the same nettles for a week you will get a different hue and tone so please be playful.
8. Repeat the process
Process 9 is the next step after steeping the liquid in nettles , each batch 24 hours. I have steeped the liquid in new Nettles 3 times.
9. Decant Liquid in Measuring Jug
ready for next step. Ensure you use the masher to squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
Have some test strip paper which you usually use as it will have different quality to different paper.
I test the liquid half way through by dipping a watercolour flat brush into the liquid
Pour liquid into pan ready to reduce down
NOTE:
I know that many people spend time reducing the liquid to concentrate the colour which in my experience has some value, sometimes only nuanced but I found it best to intensify the colour during the cooking/extracting the colour stage is more effective. My policy is the less energy I use the better.
11. The Binder
this is the substance which binds the colour to the liquid.
I use Gum Arabic Powder. It is inexpensive and you only need a small amount. You do not need to buy expensive artist pre made gum arabic solution and you do not need to make a liquid solution. You can directly put the powder into your ink solution. As show beneath the powder forms clumps , I use a back of a teaspoon and press a clump against the jug , however if shaken and left alone it will eventually dissolve. The ink is usually Luke warm when this happens which allows the powder to dissolve quicker.
10. Strain Liquid into measuring jug
Let the liquid cool so you are not working with hot liquids and strain into your measuring jug. I use a fine stainless steel sieve plus some cheese cloth which work for me.
TIP: you can use coffee filter.
12. Decant into Ink Bottle.
I use Jam jars between 250-500ml to keep my Ink. Typically I am retaining jars from bought food but sometimes if needed I will buy jars from eBay.
There are lots of ways to sterilise the jars but my old fashioned way is using hot water from a kettle. I make a brew at the same time as it is a good time to celebrate your endeavours as now you have ink.
I use a plastic funnel with some cheesecloth. Some people like to use coffee filters , but I like that I can clean the cloth and reuse.
With care , as it still maybe hot decant into your jar. If you are going to gift some in smaller jars , retain the ink in the measuring jar as it’s easier to decant from a jug than a jar.
13. Preserve Ink
Once the Ink has been placed into your Ink jar then add 3/4 drops of Wintergreen essential oil.
Just add one drop to small ink bottles.
Please remember you are making an organic plant ink which is natural and will eventually deteriorate.
Your Ink should last you more than one year , ready to make a new batch and see what the difference is.
14. Document your Ink
I document my Ink twice.
As shown on the left in a lovely handmade paper sketchbook. My ink will be used on my art organic assemblies so having the ink expressed on handmade paper is useful for me. However , I just like having a book with my inks swatches as a memory for me.
I also have a watercolour sketchbook where I put a swatch and to the side write the extract colour technique.
It is helpful to document swatches of colour as you can see how different the hues and tones are when you do it again.
15. Share with Friends.
I am a gifter so I collect beautiful old victorian ink pots so I a gift my ink to friends.
Although as a non drinker acquiring old wine corks is not easy I ask friends to keep them for me. I simply with a sharp knife cut the cork to make a mini cork for the Ink Bottle. One cork may do 2-3 one pots. I find this the easiest as each Ink Pot is different in size and it does not need to be professional as a gift, just effective to to seal. I use a red candle and melt wax over the top of the cork to seal.
To present the Ink , I would use a piece of organic twine which is inexpensive and make a label with some handmade paper. You can buy sheets off Etsy. I would not put sticky label on the bottle because it's a pain to remove. .
16. Have fun.
I think the world takes itself far too seriously and has forgotten to play , be childlike and curious about life. Expression is a gift nature has given human beings.
Have fun with your ink , some inks are great for calligraphy others make lovely washes.
Remember all human beings can create art it is unfortunate that the wrong people in society have created conditions and rules which dictate what is good or bad. These people did not exist in our ancient past so re wild yourself and have some fun.