Delicious Wild Violets
/
Picked some of my wild violets for a salad with broccoli. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)
Delicious Wild Violets
As tea parties and slowing down become more popular, so will using edible flowers. One of my spring favorites are wild violets, also called common violets. The young leaves as well as flowers are edible. The flower stems have a mild citrusy flavor. The flowers are high in Vitamin C.
Wild violets growing alongside one of my small ponds. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)
I love wild violets in any shape and color. I have them growing as path borders all over my hillside. They don’t always stay where I plant them so I periodically have to move them back to where I want to see them.
Wild violets grow well in both sun and shade.
My patch of yellow violets, not ready to be picked for a salad. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)
Although purple seems to be the most common color. I also have wild violets that are white, yellow and white with blue/purple.
When picking violets to eat, make sure you are getting them from a spot that hasn’t been treated with chemicals.
Gently wash them before adding to anything you plan to eat.
Wild violets are also fun to add to ice cubes for a pretty addition to lemonade or just to make a glass of water look interesting.
This salad has both purple and blue common violets. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)
This simple salad with red onions, lettuce and violets was a nice spring snack with steamed broccoli.
