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Dear SWEET Violets

© Barbara Hall

We're starting to catch up to the fact that all the members of the viola family are edible - lawn violets, pansies, Johnny JumpUps - just so long as they haven't been sprayed with anything wretched or piddled upon by Fido. As a matter of fact it has of late occured to me to always EAT the very first violet I see each spring.

One thing that most people DON'T know however, is that you may pick ALL the flowers you want and you won't interfere with true Violet's ability to perpetuate the species. You see, those aren't 'real' flowers at all. They are pure exuberance. The true, seed-bearing flowers are quiet little things that ho-hum their green petals open and quietly drop their seeds and nod out again later in the summer. So it's just a big party out there right now. Go. Pick violets - LOTS of them. You can eat them as is, toss them all over salads and desserts, candy them, tincture them, make jelly from them and even make a pH test from them. (What?) Yes indeed. Stuff a small jar full of violet flowers. Add boiling water and let it sit out overnight. Next morning, strain the flowers out of the glorious amethyst liquid and divide the liquid in three containers. Add baking soda to one and watch it turn color and lemon juice to the other. Put your soil into some of the liquid from the third jar and see what color it changes to. If it's closer to the lemon juice one, it's acid, and closer to the baking soda one, it's basic. (Dare I say it AGAIN?) NOT BAD FOR A WEEEEEEED!

But wait! There's MORE! Did you know that eating raw violet flowers is a good way to get your Vitamin C? According to my teacher, Susun Weed in her splendid book Healing Wise....an infused oil of violet flowers dropped into the ears can relieve tinnitus.

Got a lawn full of violets? Call the friends, have a party, make violet syrup. Have EVERYBODY pick scads of blossoms When you have HALF A POUND of them, put them in a jar and add 2 cups of boiling water. Let steep overnight, strain out the flowers and add the glorious purple liquid to 2 cups of honey and simmer until it 'seems like syrup' according to Susun (10-15 minutes). Put it into very clean jars and keep well chilled. Major violet ecstasy AAANNNNDDDDD along with it's being simply glorious on things like broiled grapefruit and toast and such, it's also a wonderful cough syrup,and grand for kid's tummy aches. Without being particularly drowsy-ing, it can, when taken before bed, help insomnia, restlessness and troubled sleep.

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