Spring is here--Day 6! Wild edibles--for the family

 Our family has been quite interested in wild edibles and medicinals as of late.  It's been fun to find all that we could not only look at---but eat in our woods!  Our oldest daughter will be doing her science presentation on them on Thursday...and our Cowboy S at six years old can tell you every one we've found by name.  He thinks it's so cool to be able to pick something in the middle of his woods and eat it.  I encourage you to search for these wild violets in your area.  You can't miss there tell-tale heart shaped leaves. They can grow anywhere.  They can be quite stubborn if you want to get rid of them...but why would you when there are so many ways to enjoy them? 

 

 Inspired by this lovely cookbook, Apples for Jam: A Colorful Cookbook...which is organized by color....(love that!)....we put together the vanilla cake and frosting in the picture above.  Next time we may "paint" honey onto the petals and dip in sugar to crystallize them.   The cake was sweet....but not overly sweet.  Just perfect.

Nutritional benefits of the flower and leaves:

-Beta Carotene

-Vitamin C

-Iron

-Salicylates

Another idea would be to freeze them in water in ice cube trays....what a wonderful addition to any summer drink. Or, make violet jam or vinegar as well.  So many ways to enjoy these spring delights.

For violets suit when home birds build and sing,
Not when the outbound bird a passage cleaves;
Not with dry stubble of mown harvest sheaves,
But when the green world buds to blossoming.

~Christina Georgina Rossetti

Inspiration for getting out there and learning with the kids or by yourself:

-Bulk Herb Store--Making Herbs Simple DVD's

-Nature's Garden: A guide to Identifying, Harvesting and Preparing Edible Wild Plants

-Imaginechildhood.com

 

Have a lovely day,

~Joy~

 

 

*** Do not confuse this with African Violets--they are not the same!***

***Please remember to use violets with your own discretion....compare what you find to pictures on internet or in books.  This is not to be intended as medical advise....we are simply sharing what we are doing in our family.  ***

{This post is part of Monday mania, Real Food Wednesday, Works for me Wednesday, and Pennywise Platter}

Comments

[Ruth]

My daughter was just picking boquets of violets for me this morning - thanks for the ideas!

[Joy Y.]

Hope you and your daughter can enjoy some of these ideas together...by the way I was checking out your blog, and saw your keeping bees. Keeping Bees by Ashley English just arrived here today and I'm devouring it. Would love to have bees in the near future...maybe next year?

Thanks for comin' on by my blog! Hope to hear from you again.

~Joy~

[Rebekah]

How fun! I think I'll add violets to our salad. :)

[Joy Y.]

Oh, yes Rebekah....a beautiful addition to any salad. I'll have more posts on wild edibles coming up as well. Hope you'll enjoy those ideas, too! Thanks for the comment, and blessings on your day.

~Joy~

[Danielle]

My thoughts exactly! There are many edibles in your own back yard, even if you don't have a garden.

In fact, I just made a rose petal frittata this morning, and will blog about it for tomorrow!

[Phoebe @ GettingFreedom]

We love discovering our wild edibles, as well. I have a book from our states conservation agency that shows all of our wild edibles. During the summer months, we refer to it regularly. I love it when one our kids identifies a flower/plant {or native grass in my son's case}. Very rewarding all the way around! :)