Wild Violet Pops! Fun with Wild Eddibles

These pops are not only beautiful, delicious and fun to make, but they are supper nutritious. Spring time is the perfect time of year to get outside and put those weeds to good use. Violets are full of vitamins and have so many health benefits. My kids love collecting the violets, making these pops and we all love eating them. What a treat!

Wild Violet Pops

What you will need:

• 2 1/2 cup freshly picked violets without stems (separated)
• 5 cups boiling water
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 10 - 20 drops stevia or honey to taste
• 1 t vanilla
• ZOKU Quick Pop Mold

Directions:

Pour boiling water over 2 cups of violets in a glass bowl. Let sit covered for 6 - 8 hours to create an infusion. Stain the flowers out of the water. The water should be a pretty blue color now. Add the lemon and watch the magic happen. Then add your vanilla and sweetener to taste. Place the other 1/2 cup of violets in a glass of water. Using tweezers, take the wet violets out of the glass and place them on the insides of your ZOKU pop mold. They should stick to the side. Then place your stick in mold and you are ready to pour in your liquid. Watch it freeze in about 7 minutes and then enjoy this spring time treat. 

                                 

        

this morning in the garden

As the first sign of light shone through the trees, I put my new blue garden boots on and headed out. 

The bright red tomatoes begging to be picked.

My happy Cuban Oregano plant.

Greens needing some good fertilizing next to what I think is a lambs ear.

Chinese radish and beets......hmmmm....I think we will make kimchi.

Stripy looking perky and excited to see me.

Loving their morning salad.

A view from the compost.

Edible weed lined path.

Jetta woke up and joined me. Proud of her find.

Almost ripe.

Finding some peppers.

A red one!

Chinese What!!!??? 

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They are almost bigger then her!

Just a pretty view. 

Oh yes, our new addition. A swing made from an old papsan chair we found on the side of the road. Hours of fun I tell you.

Making a bouquet after pruning the rose bushes. As she worked she said, "Most kids are going to school right now, and I am cutting roses." And she continued with a pleasant look on her face. 

Have a wonderful Day!

Sharing with:

gluten-free black chokeberry teff muffins

• One of my new favorite wild edible plants is black chokeberrys. We have been walking by these dark berries for years. After tasting them a couple times, we decided they were a bit to astringent for our liking. But this year we decide to learn more about them and have found that not only they are a antioxidant rich super food, but when you cook them they are absolutely delicious. They are perfectly in season and really ripe right now, so we are going out each day and picking all we can.  They are also wonderful as a tea or added to smoothies.  I am freezing them, drying them and making muffins to freeze for later. These muffins were a hit with everyone in my house. 

Black Chokeberry Teff Muffins 

• 2 cups Teff Flour ( I soaked the whole teff, dehydrated it and then ground it myself)
• 2 t  Baking Soda
• 1 t Sea Salt
• 1 t Xanthan Gum
• 1 t Cinnamon
• 2/3  C Yogurt
• 2 T Ground Chia
• 2 Eggs
• 1 T Alcohol-free Vanilla extract
• 1 t Alcohol-free Almond Extract
• 20 drops Stevia
• 1/2 C coconut sugar 
• 1 C Fresh Black Chokeberrys 

Combine all ingredients in mixer then fold in chokeberries. Bake in mini muffin tins until golden brown. 

grain-free wild mora lasagna

After being diagnosed with ciliac over 10 years ago, I have lived without gluten, but still never felt that my gut was is good shape. I don't been my waist line, but my digestive system. After years of eating a SAD diet my gut was in sad shape. Although my acute symptoms were gone, my digestion was still never great  and I was always left with a bloated feeling by the end of the day. I  always soak  and ferment all my grains, which does make a big difference, but still I had this dreaded bloat and gas.  I have gone on and off of no grain diets over the years, but it isn't until now that I truly believe that my whole family does better without grains and starchy veggies. My sons eczema, that he has had since birth, has finally cleared up and I feel better then ever. We have recently incorporated 1/2 a serving of grains in the form of a quinoa granola that I make (recipe in process) with no ill effects. All in all, I haven't missed the grains too much. I have become quite good at making all our favorite meals with a no-grain twist and I am not hearing much complaining from the peanut gallery. A dear friend of  mine from El Salvador told me about this wonderful wild edible called mora that they eat all the time in El Salvador and it grows here in Maryland too. The other night I made a wild mora  lasagna with layers of egg instead of noodles. I got all the cheesy gooey goodness without the bloat.  The added bonus to all this is that I have an excuse to be creative in the kitchen! 

Wild Strawberry Cupcakes

more wild eating

We made a lovely and delicious violet salad with the flowers and the greens from the violets growing in our back yard. The gully that was once a major eye sore in our yard, has now become the home of the most amazing assortment of wild edible plants. I harvested almost all of the garlic mustard the other day to freeze for later in the year. It was so easy. I just sauteed the greens in butter for a minute,then let them cool, and stored in freezer bags. They will be a great substitute for frozen spinach in many recipes. Next on the urban farm agenda, chickens. My town just passed legislation to allow chickens in the city. We are planning to raise a few from chicks and hopefully some day have a few eggs each morning fresh from the hen house. I find that the garden is the best classroom a child could have. What a lesson it is to be able to identify, harvest, and eat wild plants at age 5 and 7. I think they love our wild garden as much or maybe more then the one we planted. Who knew that I could experience farm life on less then 1/20 of an acre of land right in the middle of the city. 

This is what wild mustard greens look like.

Linking up with {into nature}

and

wild garlic mustard pesto - edible weeds

this blog is part of Real Food Wednesdays

I was introduced to wild edible plants by my sister in law years ago, but only in the past year or so have I ventured out into the wild around my yard to enjoy them. What took me so long!? I do love gardening and planting in my raised beds, but I am really starting to love the fact that there are SO many wild greens around my garden beds that are healthy, happy, so yummy and take no work at all. You don't have to water them or take care of them in any way and they come back every year. Again, why did it take me so long to jump on this bandwagon???? I feel like there have been boxes of food placed on my door step every day for years and I haven't been able to see them. There is is much out there that I can hardly take a step without stepping on a meal. 

One of them that is everywhere right now and is a part of our dinner every night is Wild Garlic Mustard. I even made pesto out of it. It really tastes like garlic. yum! You can eat the leaves, the flowers and the roots, although I haven't tried the roots yet. The leaves are great for sauteing, in salad, soups, and in just about anything. 

Here is a great little video that shows you some other wild edibles you may have in your garden. Might save you a trip to the store and be so much more healthy and tasty. 

In this pesto I used wild garlic mustard, sesame seeds, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, lemon zest and salt. It has a very earthy deep flavor that is delicious. I put some on mini pizzas and froze the rest in ice cube trays then popped them into freezer bags for storage.