Beautiful Wild Violet Jelly!
Signs of Spring
Tiny, deep purple flowers popping out of a deep green halo of leaves. While I don’t enjoy trying to keep these little beauties out of my flower beds, I do have to admit that their arrival each spring always makes me smile. Who wouldn’t feel just a little happier looking out at these hardy little bits of dark bluish-purple wonders? I have loved these tiny flowers ever since I was a little girl but I didn’t know they were edible! Who knew you can make a beautiful Wild Violet Jelly out of those fun little flower heads?
Warning…Squirrel!
Okay – I have to add a little story here about one of my preschool students. Owning Heaven’s Dew is not my only job. I am also a Speech-Language Pathologist and I work with children ages 3 – 6. Nearly every day, one of them says something that cracks me up or surprises me. Today, one of them used the word “edible” appropriately in a sentence! When the other students asked her about that word, she said, “It means that it’s something you can eat.” Wow! Preschoolers will never cease to amaze me!
Violet Jelly Recipe
Back to these edible violets. While perusing Pinterest earlier this Spring (I actually think it was still Winter and I was just wishing for Spring!), I came across a recipe for Wild Violet Jelly. It was such a pretty color and I thought it would be so fun to serve at a Mother’s Day tea or special brunch. So I pinned it and waited for the violets to make their appearance. I followed the recipe on this website: https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/sweet-springtime-violet-jelly/ You should definitely go check it out for the recipe, but I’m going to walk you through the process here.
All about Violets!
We have these wild violets throughout different sections of our yard. They are so cute and grow right alongside their white violet cousins. Did you know that Ohio has 27 native violets? These purple ones generally like mowed lawns or open meadows. The purple ones are called Common Blue Violets and the white ones are called Confederate Violets.
They are very good at reproduction which is why they’re such a challenge in my flower beds! I learned from a Columbus Dispatch article that they spread so easily because they have about 4 different ways to move around! They have self-pollinating flowers, projectile seeds (oh my!) and underground stems called rhizomes. The 4th way is fascinating – the little seeds have nutritious appendages that ants love. They carry them underground to eat them and thereby “plant” the seeds!
Getting Started
I went out to pick my flowers for jelly on a cool, sunny afternoon. I wondered if the neighbors thought I had lost it since I was wandering around my yard with a measuring cup. I’m sure from far away, it probably looked like I was picking something imaginary, since the flowers are so small. And since I needed 3 cups of flower heads, it took me almost 45 minutes of wandering around! I also had to keep walking ahead of the cats because I didn’t want them stepping on my flowers. They just wanted some attention. They were not thrilled and seemed to not understand why I was reaching down to the ground, but not petting them! Nonetheless, they dutifully followed me all around the yard as I spied clumps of purple amid the green.
Harvesting Naturally
At this point, you have probably figured out that we do not spray our yard for “weeds.” If you are wanting to pick wild flowers for any kind of a recipe, you should make sure you are sourcing them from an area that is not sprayed with any herbicides or pesticides. Those chemicals are not necessarily easily washed away and you don’t want to ingest them. Those chemicals are also not safe for the wild creatures who share our yard or our pets. There are other ways to care for yards including organic fertilizers that keep the grass super healthy so it can work to strangle out weeds you don’t want. Of course, the other possibility is to not look at these plants as “weeds” but as part of the natural habitat that we live in. If you’re interested in some more natural lawn and garden amendments, check out our Dairy Doo products!
Wild Violet Jelly Process
After I gathered my 3 cups of violets, I took them inside and rinsed them. I then covered them with boiling water and let them sit for a few hours. I purposely put them in a clear glass container for this so I could watch the water change color. It was so fun to keep checking in to look at the changing color!
After a few hours, the lavender water had changed to a deep blue so I strained out the flowers. The recipe I followed said that the next step was to add lemon juice. The recipe said that the blue water would change to a bright purple instantly when the lemon juice is added. So I watched carefully as I dumped it in and it did not disappoint! Chemistry is pretty amazing!
The next steps in the process were the same as for any other kind of jelly. Add pectin and bring to a boil. Then add sugar and boil again. I used fine natural cane sugar. When baking, I almost always use raw sugar, but I really wanted to make sure the color would stay that pretty purple color. Raw sugar is too brown and coarse for making a light jelly. After the jelly boiled, I poured it into jars and popped it in a water bath canner for 5 minutes.
Beautiful Results!
I love the results! This jelly is so stunning and the taste is glorious as well! It tastes a little bit like a mild grape jelly. I wonder if it really tastes like grape, or if I just think it does because it’s purple!
I will for sure be making this jelly again. I only got 4 jars out of one recipe and I gave some away as Mother’s Day gifts. With a pretty bow and sweet little card, it made a unique and fun gift for some special women in my life. You should try this too! Add a little whimsy to your life and your brunch table!