Make Homemade Wild Violet Jelly this Spring
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Springtime is the best time to eat what grows naturally and wildly in our yards. In the spring, those of us with yards which have not been treated for “weeds,” are thankful when the little spring delights begin to appear. We can forage wild violets, purple dead nettle, dandelions and more for food and medicine.
Eat Your Yard
Wild Violets are an edible flower which are full of vitamins A and C. My daughter, Missy, and I discovered the skill of making Wild Violet Jelly a few years back. The process is not difficult and is actually fun, especially the part about the color-change. Read about that part in the printable recipe below.
Many Uses
We like to make jelly but I have also made Violet Sugar. It produces a beautiful purple colored sweetener to be used in teas, desserts and wherever your culinary imagination takes you.
Wild violet blossoms are the basis for cough syrups, tinctures, body products and more.
How and What to Harvest
Wild violets are not to be confused with African violets, the kind your grandmother grew in her east window. No, the edible kind grows in the early spring only. In the case of our yard, the violets grow in moist, shady areas. The flower blossoms are sweet and crunchy when eaten from the yard. Feel free to eat while you pick! We pick from clean areas so we snack while picking. The leaves are also edible and I snack on those as well, but they aren’t sweet like the flowers are.
Watch OUT for THIS
Warning, do not harvest or eat wild violets that are from yards which have been exposed to chemicals or where the pets have roamed. Be sure to harvest in areas that are free from chemical sprays, animal urine, and the like. Don’t harvest by roadsides either.
What You’ll Need
2 cups of flower blossoms will yield about 4 pints of jelly. The dainty flowers can be tedious to pick but I always enlist my children to help. Why not? “Many hands make light work”, my great-grandmother, Granny Laura, would say. Plus, they, too, enjoy the mild-grapelike jelly.
No leaves are used in this jelly.
Grab the typical box of pectin. I use this kind. You’ll need lemon juice. I use the bottled kind and it is assuredly shelf-stable from the start. And sugar, you can’t make standard jelly without sugar. I have never attempted this recipe using the low-sugar pectin version. If you have, please comment and let us know how it worked for you.
Know Your Stuff, Y’all
Yellow wild violets are known to cause intestinal issues in some folks. I have never seen these but you might tuck that info into your foraging basket so you’ll know if you ever run upon yellow ones.
When foraging, know what is edible and what is not. Invest in a helpful book by a knowledgable author. My foraging friend who is an expert in my opinion, Mr. Perry, recommends this book.
PBJ all the Way
Enjoy a yummy PBJ with homemade wild violet jelly. And, yes, I put mayo on my PBJ. Do you?
Please research but have fun with it!
For further research:
read what Dr. Axe has to say about edible flowers
Healthy Green Savvy has a lot of great information.
Wild Violet Jelly
Ingredients
Method
- Pick wild violets free from areas of chemical sprays, drainage, or pet tramping.
- Measure two cups of flowers before rinsing. These should be fairly tight in the measuring cup but not packed.
- Gently rinse flowers. To do this best, immerse blooms into a large bowl of water and swirl with hands, then gently remove from rinse water with hands or slotted ladle. No need to dry them. NOTE: We don't always rinse them as they are picked from clean areas and usually are not soiled from dirt, etc.
- Place flowers in heat-proof glass bowl, then pour 4 cups of boiling water over the flowers. This may be done in two half-gallon glass canning jars, 1 cup of flowers to 2 cups of water in each. Allow the jar/s of "violet tea" to cool on the counter then place in the refrigerator to steep for 24 hours.
- The violet tea color will be grayish. The change in color will come later and it's so fun to watch!
- Place a large sieve or colander over a stockpot. Strain the flowers from the liquid. Use a spoon or spatula to gently press the flowers to remove as much water as possible.
- Discard the flowers, compost them or offer to your chickens or pigs.
- In the stockpot of grayish/green violet tea, add 1/4 cup lemon juice. The change is instant and fun to watch. Stir well. The heat is not turned on at this point yet.
- Whisk one box of pectin into the liquid and turn heat on medium-high. Bring to a full boil. Boil for one minute, stirring well. (Use a timer for accuracy.)
- Add 4 cups sugar. Return to boil and boil for one minute. Stir but be careful of hot splashes of liquid which can burn skin.
- Remove from heat.
- Place in clean, sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Cover with clean canning lids.
- Seal in one of two ways. Either, turn jars upside-down onto a thick towel and don't touch for 24 hours. Or, boil for 10 minutes in a waterbath canner. Remove and allow to set on a thick towel for 24 hours without touching.
Notes
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Mrs. Katie of Heritage Ways educates and encourages Diligent Homemakers by sharing her family’s homemaking and homesteading traditions and knowledge. A mother of six and Grandmarmee to a growing number of blessings, her favorite thing to do is cook for a table full of hungry folks. Find Mrs. Katie teaching at homemaking and homesteading events as well as online at Heritage Ways.com, @heritagewayskatie Instagram and YouTube. She’ll be the one wearing an apron and counting her blessings.