Freedom in an hour

My desperation for spring greens peaked this afternoon. I thought I was going to implode. So with a little hope I put on my rain jacket, grabbed my scissors and bowl, and took the great liberty of a nomadic hour in the hazy, drizzly day to forage my yard for the first edibles. 

Most of them are hardly picking size, and relatively few are above earth yet. I took it slow, combing back and forth for the little patches reaching up into the rain, long enough to clip. Freshly cool and wet, the vitality radiating from these densely nutritious spring greens is evident even before the first bite. Taking my sweet time to acquire a full bowl, leaf by leaf, is a gift. 

The bitters are not that bitter yet - but rather the perfect amount of bitter, imparting clarity and energy. The dandelions are supremely edible, the garlic mustard a burst of flavor. The bedstraw is succulent and deliciously mild, and the violets are slippery and crisp. Little rosettes of ground ivy add flavor and health, Comfrey shoots add more flavor and softness. My chives are up so they got a haircut too. 

There is scarcely another action, with maybe the exception of homeschooling my children, that gives me quite this level of deep abundance. In one hour I have a bowl of the most nutritious, vital, organic, as-local-as-it-gets, FREE food. The dressing and olives and feta paled in comparison, I may as well eaten the greens without (but the oil and vinegar were herbal infused:), and they help assimilation). 

What's additionally miraculous to me, is that I can do the same thing all over again, every day, for the next two or three months, if I want to. They will just keep growing, and then they will bud, and then flower, and then seed, and make more shoots...... and the simplest miracle of living on Earth I can take into my very body in every moment of gathering and tasting and swallowing. 

The season for foraging is my freedom; my liberty. In fact, it is everybody's liberty. 

Furry Fairy

The Violets are so prolific right now I can literally sit at my outdoor table and pick a bowlful with out getting out of my chair. They are covering my lawn in their extraordinary blissful display of fairy like flowers and heart shaped leaves. They are almost like summer berries - they don't make it into very many preparations because I get caught up, just stopping in the moment and stuffing my face with them. Their soft slipperiness quenches my mouth and throat like an internal spring soaking. My spirits lift with each sweet blossom carefully plucked and eaten.



Have you ever noticed how furry they are? They remind me of a bee's legs. Since the flowers in spring do not reproduce, I wonder if the flower is instead, collecting something for itself? Perhaps dewdrops for the fairies? Or maybe it's a gift from an ancient being, a gift for our own reproductive systems, to soften any hardness and to nourish the hormones.



I find Violets one of the most whole feeling plants to ingest. I'll have plenty of the leaves and flowers both please, in my salad, but hold the emetic roots, thanks! Fresh Violets are dripping with vitamin A and bioflavanoids, plus numerous other vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy body and immune system. Dried violet leaves make a wonderful nutritive infusion. Chopped and eaten in stew is delicious and less astringent than spinach. An oil preparation is especially healing to breast tissue, and can be used daily to massage the breasts and belly. In honey and in vinegar, her delights are preserved beautifully and healthfully, making a treasured gift for Mother's Day - if you can bear to give it away! Once you see the glorious violet color the vinegar turns, you'll be tempted to labor long hours to pick the dark ones :) Have the children help!

Blossoms everywhere

Yummy Yummy yummy. Fresh Blossoms, a perfect day, and lots of honey and vinegar to smother on them!

My children and I picked our fill of blossoms from our wild yard. It was one of the fisrt really lovely bright days of spring, and we shared the flowers gently with the busy honeybees. They LOVE the ground Ivy even more than we do.

Honey, a natural preservative, is one my most favorite ways to prepare herbs and flowers. You can pack in the fresh herbs, cover with good local honey that has not been over heated, and then after a few weeks... eat it by the spoonful or mix into hot water for a delicious tea. You get the healing properties of the herb as well as the honey. I like to soak all kinds of plants in honey .... Rosemary, Sage, Mint, Geranium, Monarda, Roses, Goldenrod, Dandelion, Verbena, Lavender..... the possibilities are endless.

Another lovely way to use your honey is for clay and honey facials. More aromatic plants, especially ones you may prefer to apply rather than eat, like Patchouli leaves, can be steeped in honey and then mixed with white, pink, green, or red clay to make a medicinal mask. This is especially nice for those who prefer infused herbs over using essential oils.

Herbal vinegar, can also be used for beauty. The old classic Queen of Hungary Water was used as a facial tonic. It was a mix of vinegar, water, and sprits, infused with Rosemary and other aromatic and antiseptic herbs. Many variations of this historic potion are still made in kitchens and factories alike. I find vinegar irritating on my face, but that's alraight since I can still pour it on my hair! Herbal hair rinses made from infused vinegar have also been used forever, depositing vital minerals and vitamins, and making smooth manageable locks at the same time.

And don't worry, you'll only smell like salad dressing for 5 or 10 minutes - it fades! Some herbs that are particularly beneficial for the scalp and hair are Nettles, Rosemary, Chamomile, Sage, Horsetail, Kelp, Geranium, Violet leaf, and Lavender.

And, of course, if you don't want to apply these things to your skin and hair ...... just go back to eating them! Apple Cider Vinegar is a superb menstrum for rendering the minerals and trace minerals from our green friends. Nettles, Comfrey, and Mugwort are especially nourishing for the skeleton. Steep fresh leaves in ACV for a good 4-6 weeks. Strain or eat the remaining leaves in soup. My son is particularly fond of pickled Violets!