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!