DRYING NETTLES IN THE RYGHSETRA BARN

October 2021 - July 2022

The season as a wall decoration in the garden's ballroom was coming to an end. 300 nettles, or 12,000 nettles, had been harvested and dried. Now the next leg of the journey began - the deep rest inside Aud and Gunnar Bakken's barn at Ryghsetras by Hagatjern in Mjøndalen. Here they would dry until July 2022.

It was good to come to this particular barn; Not only does it have favorable drying opportunities - but the place also has a long tradition of leaf cutting and meadow mowing. Both Gunnar and Aud are both people with flair and knowledge of tools and drying traditions, and the barn was airy and nice for the nettles.

Photo Fride Kramer Riseng: Poles with nettles hanging over logs from the roof.

I had been told to dry the nettles lying down. There had to be a layer of air above the plants, so they couldn't be stacked like firewood. In practice, this would be a solid "wine rack" or dried fish wheel that would also be an expense in building materials and labor. But at Ryghsetra, my heroes were waiting with poles and suspension, - so simple and affordable:

Long logs were hung on wire ropes attached to the barn's support beams. The logs hung like parallel "train rails". The nettle bundles were strung on poles, about 10 per branch per pole. (Small trees that had been cut free of twigs.) The branches were hung across the logs like railway sleepers. The nettles had plenty of drying space.

We celebrated with Ryghsetra's apple cake and apple juice inside the barn. I shrugged and thought: "I believe in a life before death!"