Wild Violet Jelly

 

I had a request to share the final wild violet jelly after it was processed and made, and I am finally getting the photos together to share that.   I apologize for the delay.

2 cups of wild violets with 2 cups of boiling water poured over them to infuse).  I was told to let it sit up to 24 hours, but I have let my infusion stay in the fridge after that for up to 3 days.  Strain the flowers from the liquid.

Add juice of one organic lemon.  The mixture turns from a blue-ish color to a more pink color.

Add the liquid to a pot on the stove, and add one box of powdered pectin.  Stir and bring to a boil.

Don't forget to get canning pot ready and prepare jars and lids.

Once it comes to a boil, add 4 cups of sugar and bring to a hard boil for 1 minute.

Fill jars with 1/4 inch head space, wipe rims, add lids and I put my jars in a water bath for 15 minutes.  The recipe I was shared, did not have a water bath time, but most jelly recipes say 10 minutes.

There are many recipes online for this jelly, and I read some stated add 1/4 cup lemon juice.

The lemon I squeezed measured exactly 1/4 cup, but not all lemons are the same size.  I have always used the juice of one lemon either way.

The recipe I used made about 8 - 4 oz. jars.

The final jelly is delicious.  I guess I would say a fruity? Either way, it turns into a beautiful colored jelly, delicious, and gift worthy.

I think I gifted this one year for Christmas, but to be honest cannot remember.  It doesn't make a lot, so we tend to consume it all ourselves, and the pantry thieves (kids) take a few too).

Enjoy! Do some research on your own on foraging wild violets. My next venture is to research more recipes using them in breads, salads, and cookies.

Yes, I have made dandelion jelly too, but for the amount of work, it really lacks flavor (just my opinion).  We do like the flavor of homemade Queen Anne's Lace jelly (also a fruity-ish flavor), but the color is almost clear for that jelly (note:  I am told if you are trying to get pregnant, do not consume the Queen Anne's Lace Jelly, but do your own research please).

I have also baked Dandelion Bread, and we loved it.  In fact, I totally forgot about it, with the dandelion season springing into action.  Although we mow often, so picking them is hit or miss, but the bread is delicious and worth the time to make (according to my taste tester reviews here).

Wild Violet Jelly  ©  May 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Foraging ~ Purple Dead Nettle ~ Pesto and Tea Making ~ Dandelions

 Any foragers here?  I have a few reference books, but zero information in them in regards to if Purple Dead Nettle and Henbit both have the same nutrition/medicinal benefits to the body.  Anyone? I know, it's crazy question, and there are not many homesteading blogs still blogging anymore these days.

Spring rain is great for a lot of things, but it is always the reason we get stuff planted so late.  The gardens are soaking wet, and this is what most of the vegetable gardens look like.  Not kidding.  They are too big to cover for winter.  We use a lot of space.  They are full of purple dead nettle and chickweed.

The last few warmer days should start to dry up the gardens for us.

I have added spring chickweed to salads and other meals in the past, but according to my blog (and other notes), we have not yet tasted purple dead nettle.

Foraging was pretty easy (just look at the above photo, ha ha!).

I did a lot of reading, and yes, I have a few foraging books (not all of them have pesto recipes).  I used to follow a blogger that posted all about their meals being foraged, based on the seasons.  However, like many bloggers, they stopped blogging several years ago.

I try to not add my parmesan cheese until we are ready to eat it, so if I am freezing the pesto for future meals, I leave that out until the day of preparing meals with it.  It's just my preference.

Pesto is our number one recipe for this medicinal/healthy Spring "weed."  If you want to try it, you can research the recipes available online or check foraging books from your library.

I like to dehydrate some more purple dead nettle for tea.  

You can find more recipes online with dead nettle and even chickweed.  There are even classes online to (you have to pay a fee) to learn to forage too.  We had local classes a few years back, but those are hard to come by anymore.

Dandelions are up now too.  I see some dandelion flower bread, or other foraged meal. 

I actually have a cookbook for dandelions.  Yes, I have made dandelion jelly, but the work vs. the flavor are not that amazing to us, so we only made it once.  There is more flavor (in my opinion), with wild violet jelly and Queen Anne's lace jelly (on my blog too).

Happy foraging!

Foraging ~ Purple Dead Nettle ~ Pesto and Tea Making ~ Dandelions ©  April 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Beans ~ Queen Anne's Lace ~ Cool Down Treat for the Chickens

Green beans and wax beans are starting to come on.

Although we have a ton of Queen Anne's Lace, I won't be making jelly this.  Maybe.

Thanks to the tip from Goatldi yesterday, I froze corn for the chickens cool down treat.  They loved it!

I spent all yesterday morning watering everything.  We had a heat advisory.

Today rain is in the forecast.  I'm taking a chance and not watering, so pray it does.  We are being warned of a second heat wave after the rain.  Sigh...

The heat is just sucking the positive mojo and energy right out of me.  One daughter is depressed (the salon called yesterday and told her they can't afford to keep her on staff).  Hubby is agitated when he gets home.  Who wouldn't be?  He works in this heat and next to 600°F equipment off and on.  Yesterday he had to work where it was 120°F.

I need a motorcycle ride or camping trip.  Both will not happen in this heat either.  I need a sanity saver and am stuck inside, but at least we have air conditioning.

I finished the patriotic dishcloth.  Not big news there, but it's off the project list now.  

Random Tidbits

          Grape tomatoes are starting to come in.  Beets are hopefully still holding out for me.  I'm glad everything else is not ready to can yet.  I am also glad it is going to rain today.  That gives me another day to not worry about the garden harvest, and gives me another day to rest up.

I can smell the thousands of Queen Anne's Lace from the pasture.  Good thing I really don't need more jelly.  Maybe next season.

Battling a Drought

I've lost track of how many days have gone by without rain.  Yesterday I looked out to see dots on the pavement and got all excited.  In a second, they were dried up and no more rain.

Christmas Homemade ~ 2015

You finally get to see it.  We had our very last Christmas-family gathering yesterday.

Here is what I gifted this year for Christmas. 

1/2 pint jars of home canned sweet pickle relish

4 oz jars of home canned Queen Anne's Lace Jelly 

Mom received a set 

Reflections of 2015 ~ Part 2

Harvested our first shell peas.  Sadly, due to rain, we only had enough for a few meals.  

 Add four new herbs which all did well in pots - Lemongrass, Calendula, Peppermint, and mullein.  All organic, non-gmo.

A Day with the "Queen"

I couldn't hold myself back any longer.   I mean why not?  Hubby is still fixing his truck, so the tree(s) still stands.

I found this recipe by purchasing a discarded library book at a library book sale. You never know what you'll find at one.

And a note:  I do not go looking for recipes like this one, they seem to find me.  And I really enjoy making them, and trying them.  I've been making this one for four years now.

Journal Junkie ~ Nature Journal

I recently mentioned our Queen Anne's Lace Jelly, and thought I'd share my Nature Journal.  

A Little Bit of This ~ A Little Bit of That

Sunday the humidity was terrible here.  Even so, I canned one batch of wild black raspberry jam, got caught up with laundry, garden work and even got dinner made before going to the movies with Son and the family.  

This is a "grab a cup of java" kind of post.  I beat my son up this morning.  How?  I have no idea. Ha ha!

We enjoyed our first green and wax beans this season at dinner too.  Yum. 

June comes to an end. . .

Here are some new colors in my flower beds this month.

Vulture on Display

This was a very interesting moment.  This vulture was sitting like this for a long time, just looking around (with it's wings out).   It was a very dreary, rainy (again) day, so the sky is pretty dark too.


It's rained every day now.  I continue to battle mud, sweat and giant weeds.  I found Queen Anne's Lace growing in my garden, so two flower heads are now in my freezer awaiting more, for some sweet jelly. 

You may enjoy my post a few years ago, for the Queen Anne's Lace Jelly (click on it to read it).

Self-Suffieciency Lifestyle Paying Off

I'm posting early today.  Hubby brought home another 10 lb. box of blueberries and a box of peaches.  I'll be busy for sure.

Here's an update on our journey to being self-sufficient.  Each year it gets better.
 
In the last 3 1/2 years we have really gained progress with self-sufficiency.  It does require some investments, but those pay off. 

So far this year, with making our own soap with our goat's milk, have not had to buy any bars of soap (and have used it to make homemade laundry detergent also).

We have not purchased dishwasher detergent either, and I am proud that we have reduced those chemicals and costs.

We have not had to buy any onions or potatoes this year.  Last year we did.  

We went all winter using green peppers we froze versus buying them from the store.

When we are low on eggs, we do without.  

We have cut down the cost of buying organic milk by having the goat's, and have drastically cut down the trips to the recycling center (cost of time and gasoline) to take milk jugs in.  It's been nice to recycle our canning jars for milk. 

I have not had to buy ricotta cheese this year also.  Making it is so easy with the goat's milk, but it takes 4 1/2 quarts. 

As for making ice cream out of goat's milk, we need another goat for more milk.  We need cream to add to the milk, otherwise it will freeze rock hard.  My daughter already has her eye on one she wants to add to her herd. 

We have not had to buy any jelly or jams for the last two years.  Every year I learn more recipes to make and stock up on.

I have cut back on the cost of annual flowers, and used seeds from other farmgirls (lovely zinnia's).  We also get the joy of watching butterflies.

We have not had to buy pickles or relish for two years now.  We had a bumper crop of cucumbers last year, and have not cut back the cost of carrots.

Our homemade deodorant is lasting so much longer, and had drastically cut back the cost and cut out the chemicals.

Last year, from butcher time to this spring, I never had to buy chicken.  Our meat chickens were worth the time to raise and we know they are chemical/antibiotic free. 

After last fall, and three rounds of yucky antibiotics, I am really working hard to use natural remedies.  Since then, and my awful sickness with allergies, we have been successful.  With the purchase of Allergy Easer Oil, I have not had to buy any allergy pills whatsoever (since last fall).  I have only had to take ibuprofen one time since then as well.  And my 10 year-old, who also suffers horribly, has not had to take one pill either.  She uses the roll-on Allergy Easer, and it has eliminated buying over the counter drugs, and we feel much better.  We've been successful at reducing our costs, and staying chemical free.

I've learned foraging skills, and have researched the health benefits of eating dandelion greens, and tops.  I've been making jelly from dandelions, and using the roots for dandelion "coffee."  I've learned that clovers are edible, and I can make jelly from white and red clover.  I've been making jelly from the flower of Queen Anne's Lace and studying the uses for the black walnuts on my property.  Even foxtail grass is edible.  We have wild chickweed on the property (not road side plants) and they can be used to make coffee, natural salves, and such as well.  Every year we pick the wild growing black raspberries.  It just gets more interesting as we learn.

I've learned skills for natural dyes, including the wild pokeweed growing on our property.  I hope to experiment more with plants like the goldenrod that grow here as well.

Over the past two years, I have taught my self to knit and to do needle tatting.  My goals are to learn quilting, blacksmithing, foraging for mushrooms, go hunting for deer myself, fish more often, and to learn the art of spinning wool.  The list gets longer each year, but our hand crocheted afghans are warmer than any blanket you can buy in the store, and last longer.  

This is our first year to plant again for a fall harvest.  Thankfully the August rains are helping.

It's all hard work, but in the end, worth it.  Our next goals are to make and use homemade toothpaste, grow enough corn to grind down ourselves for cornmeal, raise beef and dairy cows and much more.

Our wish list keeps growing, and every year we gain a few steps forward.

More Canning and Garden Bounty

I woke up Tuesday morning with a stuffy nose.  Not good.  I had trouble sleeping on account of congestion.  I was up early to drink my honey/ACV/water mix, hoping to prevent it from getting worse.

I spent the day canning more Queen Anne's Lace Jelly.  I plan to give samples out at the next Farmer's Market day.  I was told that we can give them out, and I several people interested in trying it.  I was disappointed to see the color more yellow than pink this time.  I think it has to do with the amount of purple centers in the flower that I put in.

I canned more sweet pickle relish too.  Long day for sure. In between that, I cooked up 7 pounds of ground beef for homemade sloppy joes.

The weather is much cooler at nights here.  I am yearning to go camping.

All but two of my zucchini plants died - squash bugs!  They are on my heirloom baking pumpkins now.  I spray every day with a natural spray, and even dust with flour/black pepper.  I hope to stay ahead of them.

The heirloom watermelon looks great.

  

The fall planting of green beans and peas looks good too.  We decided to skip on fall lettuce this year.  

Cabbage is doing pretty well, but a few died during our season when rain was lacking. 

I spent most of yesterday working on some crocheted items for the Farmer's Market and decided to let my tomatoes ripen another day. 

However, today thunderstorms are in the forecast.  I will be canning up a one of the two 10 lb. boxes of blueberries I picked up.  I'm lucky to find them this late in the season.  If it's not raining later tonight, I'll be picking pears from my husband's nephew's trees.

Queen Anne's Lace Galore

 
I canned 5 more 1/2 pints of Queen Anne's Lace Jelly.  If I had more jars, I'd can up the entire field of flowers.  We have it all over the property.

It's growing where my sunflowers won't grow.  Despite watering by hand, the lack of rain is a concern.

It's growing around the barns.

All around back, it's growing in the tall grass.  We have to rotate the goats on tie-outs due to the lack of grass in their pen.

It's even growing in the yard, where the grass is not.  The grass that we mow down is brown and crunches when you walk on it.  However, the Queen Anne's Lace is still growing and blooming.

Excerpts from a Journal Junkie

from the homesteading journal. . .

The garden is producing kohlrabi, lettuce, sugar snap peas, beets, organic red stem Swiss chard, collards, mustard greens, and radishes. The green beans, peppers, tomatoes and broccoli are just now coming in too.


The joke's on us.  The flat of cauliflower that we bought just down the road at the produce stand, was marked incorrectly.  It was not cauliflower.  It was kohlrabi.  Big bummer. 

The company hubby works for, dropped us off our insurance plan, and put us with their basic plan.  All because hubby forgot to fill out an online survey.  We are sunk.  We lost our co-pay, and don't have prescription coverage and have a huge deductible per person.  He's sending in an appeal, but it takes 45 days.  Basically, we'd have to spend out thousands before our insurance would pay anything.  We are paying a large amount to not have anything covered that was covered before.  The ridiculous part, is that these surveys ask you questions like "would you recommend this to someone?" We are very concerned, not only for our own sake, but for the falsehoods of this company.  Hubby put out e-mails and found out there are other employees that were dropped and not notified.

We are still seeking a buyer for our buckling.  We named him "weather man bleu."  If the weather is going to be very hot, we don't see him out.  If we see him out, it should be a decent day. He's having a very difficult time with the heat.

Queen Anne's Lace is in bloom, so I canned 5 -1/2 pints for the Farmer's Market.  I'll need more for stocking up. 

Here is the recipe: Queen Anne's Lace Jelly Recipe


Note: The key to this jelly setting is to stir constantly.



Temperatures have gotten up to 105° F here and today it will be around 97°F.  We are really hurting for rain.  Watering all of the gardens (vegetable, herb, and flower) is very tedious.

It was time to mix up another 5 gallon bucket of homemade laundry detergent.  This time I was grateful to have goat's milk soap to make it with.

We made another batch of homemade ricotta goat's milk cheese.  I plan to make cookies and a spinach frittata with the leftovers.  We already made vegetable lasagna. 
 

from the crafting journal . . .

I finally finished my knitted shawl. My 10 year-old is modeling it.  I did make mistakes and was about to rip it out and start over, but she wanted it.  I'm starting another one, and will add fringe to it.  I need the practice anyway.  I love this style.  It reminds of the one Caroline wears on the Little House on the Prairie television shows.

 
from the gratitude journal . . .

Today I am thankful for:

~the water hose that hubby hooked up a few years ago
~a bypass on our water softener to make watering better
~the water hose to cool off the dogs and goats
~the water hose to make watering the chickens easier
~God's protection and promises
 


from the family journal . . .

My son is now signed up for classes at a local college this fall.  He's working towards a degree in Art.

My 18 year-old daughter was accepted to another college, but if she cannot figure out a way to pay for it without loans, she is looking into the Marines.  She intends to work towards a degree with Equine.

Mom took the younger two girls for the weekend.  We gifted her with a dozen farm fresh eggs, a jar of wild black raspberry/honey syrup and a jar of strawberry-honey jam.
 

Wild Rose Petal Jelly ~ Wild Red/White Clover Jelly

I discovered wild rose bushes around the property last year, and have wanted to make a batch of rose jelly.

I located one recipe for rose petal jelly:  

Making Jelly

I've started making more jellies earlier this season.  I'll be ready for when the wild black raspberries and Queen Anne's Lace are in season now.

The organic section at my store had organic juice on sale for buy one-get one free.  I got a few and got busy canning.

Apricot Nectar and Tart Cherry Jelly

 

More Dandelion Jelly

 

 Grape Jelly

 

 Orange-Mango Jelly

 

....and this is only the beginning.