Foraging violets takes me straight back to my childhood, not just to real events that occurred, but also to the dreams I had as a little girl.
When I was little, one of my favorite things to do in spring was to find a shady spot under a fruit tree, brush my hands over the mossy grass, sniff the glowing daffodils, and pick an occasional violet. I used to imagine myself as a very small animal, living in the forest of moss, sheltering under a four-leaf clover, and eating a violet for dinner. So small and humble, violets are perfect when observed up close, and their sweet perfume is intoxicating.
A stairway leading to a kingdom.
Permaculture garden bed full of flowers, food, and possibilities.
A garden full of hiding places and magic.
There were no mean people in my fantasy, no noisy contraptions that cut the grass, and no enormous machines that bulldozed whole fields and forests, just to build more cheap houses. One might say it was a Beatrix Potter sort of world, full of happy animals and perhaps a fairy or two.
Daffodils and Dandelions live happily together.
If you wander in the garden, you may come upon Dudley the Giant Rooster, who watches over chickens and plants alike.
Every year at Christmas time, my mother took me and my Godmother to see The Nutcracker Ballet in San Francisco, and I got to wear my princess coat and patent leather shoes. The ballet theater, built as a memorial to San Franciscans who died in World War 1, is known as The War Memorial Opera House. It was built in the American Renaissance style, with grand pillars both inside and out, towering windows, intricately carved ceilings, and crystal chandeliers. There was a cafe downstairs in the basement level, and while my mother and godmother ate perfect little sandwiches, I reveled in a white and lavender tin of Flavigny Violet Candies that my mother bought me. The oval tin was rimmed with painted violets, and I can still taste the periwinkle gems inside. I sucked on the hard candy as long as I could stand it, but, impatient, I soon crushed it and enjoyed a small blast of violet flavor. Whenever I come across a tin of those candies, I’m instantly transported to the San Francisco Ballet Cafe, where my mother sits laughing in her dark green dress. It’s hard for me to separate ballet from aromatic flowers.
Some wild pink violets have volunteered in the garden.
A jar of dried candied violets.
These aromatic flowers do more than delight us with their beauty and scent, or take us on a trip down memory lane – they are also delicious and nutritious.
Violets contain high levels of Vitamins A and C, protecting your bones and reproductive system, soothing the digestive tract, and supporting wound healing, iron absorption, and the fight against respiratory infections. They are also a demulcent plant, which means they are mucilaginous and soothing (see above about digestive tract). In addition to all that, they contain salicylic acid, which is the important ingredient in aspirin, making violets a good antidote to a headache.
The flowers, leaves, and stems are all edible, and there are many ways to use them in cooking. The easiest way to do that is to simply eat them fresh. The leaves are very tasty in a salad, and the flowers are beautiful sprinkled on top of salads or as a garnish, and they are slightly sweet. You can use the flowers to decorate a cake or cupcake. Fresh violets on top of a cake are beautiful, but it might happen that you bake your cake when violets are no longer blooming. That’s why it pays to dry some when they are available. To dry them, simply cut off the stems and lay the flowers out on a cloth on a drying rack, and leave in a warm dry place for 4-7 days. Store them in a glass jar, away from light sources.
There is a slightly fancier way to dry and store foraged violets, and that is candying them.
This may seem tedious, but the result is lovely. First, as always when you plan to consume them, make sure your violet flowers are clean. Then separate an egg white from a yoke. You’ll be using the white only. Using a soft art brush, lightly paint each flower with the egg white, and then gently dredge it in some fine sugar. You can make regular sugar very fine by grinding it in a coffee grinder for a short time. Check your sugar after grinding for a few seconds. Set your flowers on a drying rack or even in a food dryer for a short time, like 2 hours. Leave them to air dry for a couple of days, until they feel crisp and dry. Store in a glass jar. These look pretty sprinkled on top of a cake with light colored frosting.
Wild violets appeared in the garden. The more we can let the wild into our gardens, the better.
You can make a violet syrup by boiling some water, say 2 cups. Add a lot of violets, at least a cup if not two and remove this tea immediately from the heat; let this concoction steep for a few hours. Filter out the flowers, measure your “tea”, and add an equal amount of sugar or honey. Warm it up to help dissolve the sugar, but don’t boil it. You can now store this in the fridge, but if you want to make it last longer, add a little brandy or vodka. Try making mocktails and cocktails with this!
There are other ways to use violets.
You can make a tincture, simply by filling a jar with the flowers and filling it up to cover with vodka. Let this steep for a few weeks, then filter out the solids and store in a jar, preferably a dark colored jar.
You can also make a satisfying tea with them. Simply put 2-3 tsp of violets in your teacup and cover them with 1 cup of boiling water. Experiment and see if you like a long or short steeping time, or more violets. Try different ways of making this – add black tea leaves, or some other herbs that you like.
Finally, make a salve. Violet salve is helpful for wound healing and increased collagen production.
When you pick your violets, let them sit out on the counter for an hour or so, longer if you’ve rinsed them and gotten them wet. When they’ve dried off, fill up a jar with them, and then pour in oil to cover them. I use either sweet almond, grapeseed, or jojoba oil. Let this infuse for a few weeks, then drain the solids.
Now you’re ready to make your salve. Measure out a cup of this infused oil, and pour it into a pan in a double boiler. Add to this ¼ cup beeswax (beeswax beads are easiest to use – because they’re so small, they melt faster). Stir over low heat until the wax melts, and make sure the oil and wax stay well mixed. Remove from heat, add essential oils if you like. I like violet EO and a bit of rose EO. Add only a few drops at first, more if you want more aroma. Quickly pour your oil/wax into tins, leaving the tops off until it sets and cools down. There you have it!
While it’s great fun to forage violets, it’s even better for the Permaculture gardener to grow her own. That way the supply of wild violets won’t get depleted. One of the aims of Permaculture is to disturb wild places as little as possible.
Sometimes violets just show up in a garden, but if they haven’t yet, you can plant some. They grow well in shady areas, partly shady areas, and even in sun, with moist soil that has poor drainage. Once they get established, they will spread. An interesting fact about violets is that they are not spread by birds or other animals dropping them in their feces, nor are they wind pollinated, producing seeds that fly all over. They are spread by ants! That might explain why I have so many of them. As soon as I found that out, I felt a bit more charitable towards the ant populations in my yard.
A friend just gave me some white violets that are flourishing in her yard. I already have pink violets and purple violets, and I’m happy to add these lovely white ones. I can’t get enough of this flower. The first time I discovered some purple violets growing in my yard, I was enchanted.
Maybe childhood isn’t that far away after all.
