Sweet Vitriol

I’ve mentioned that you can cook with weeds before, and many are familiar with including young dandelion greens in salads and braises. Since it’s dandelion (and violet) season here in the Ether Garden, I figured I’d share my favorite ways to enjoy the flavors of spring using these lovely spring blossoms and herbs.

Floral preserves and syrups were quite popular in days of yore, and are a wonderfully delicious way to enjoy a number of blooms. Violet syrup is a lovely treat drizzled over lemon infused waffles or mixed into your iced tea. The syrup (or jelly, if you prefer) is easily prepared by filling a quart jar with lightly packed violet blossoms. When picking make sure you are choosing violets which have not been sprayed with anything, and remove the stems before use (while the stems are edible, they can give the end product a bitter taste). I like to rinse my violets in a sieve under the sprinkler attachment of my sink before continuing. Fill the jar with boiling water, cover and allow to steep overnight. When finished steeping, line a sieve with cheesecloth and strain out the blossoms, reserving the liquid. At this point you will want to prepare* your canning jars, lids, and rings before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

Measure your violet infusion, and add water enough to make two cups of liquid. Up to now your violet infusion is most likely a lovely shade of royal blue. Add two tablespoons fresh lemon juice and the liquid will turn a brilliant magenta color. In a large non-reactive pot combine the liquid and 3 ½ sugar and add ½ teaspoon butter or margarine to reduce foaming if you like. Bring to a full rolling boil on high heat. Now if you want syrup continue boiling for ten minutes. If you’re making jelly you’ll want to stir in one packet of liquid pectin (I tend to use Certo, but Ball makes some as well), return to a full rolling boil and continue boiling for exactly one minute, stirring all the while. For both syrup and jelly you will want to remove your pot from the heat, ladle your hot liquid into your prepared jars leaving ⅛ headspace. Seal your jars and process* in a boiling-water bath for five minutes, then remove and allow to cool upright and naturally.

This same recipe can be used to make herb jellies and syrups. You might try it with peppermint, lavender, or lemon verbena. Homemade treats like these are easy ways to enjoy the flavors of the seasons year-round, and make lovely gifts. I like to make the jewel toned violet jelly and can it up in little 4oz ‘quilted’ pattern jars to give as gifts throughout the year. Next up in this series will be baking with dandelion blossoms!

*For those of you new to or not familiar with home-canning, I recommend referencing a canning guide such as the Ball Blue Book or the USDA Principles of Home Canning Guide, which is conveniently available as a PDF.

The Ether Garden knew long before we did it seems. It was last winter when we started discussing the possibility of getting a small urban flock, but we figured we’d best wait until we’d been in the new house for a while before starting down that road. Then one morning I looked out the kitchen window which overlooks the garden and what did I see? A small garden statuette which must have been hidden first by the masses of Daylillies and then by the snow. There it was, the sign that the Ether Garden knew better than we did what was to come- a small hen. She’s remained in that very spot since the moment I first saw her, but thoughts of an urban henhouse have expanded and moved to the forefront of our minds

Fast forward to last month when I received notice that the woman from whom my parents have been getting organic free-range eggs. She was selling off a few of her young laying hens, as she simply had too many and couldn’t properly care for them all! This was amazing news, as I was busy trying to figure out where to find started pullets in breeds we found appealing, without having to rear an order of 50 chicks and hope we could sell the surplus later. I quickly conferred with Lumin about the chicken opportunity and a decision was made- we’d get one each of the varieties she was selling, but we’d build space for four in the hopes of adding one or two more in the future.

So that’s that- we will be getting two lovely ladies very soon, too soon almost! One Rhode Island Red and one Black Star (also known as a Black Sex-Link). Now it’s crunch time, I and must say I do feel a bit like Chicken Little at the moment. There is a coop to build, waterers to make, feeders and feed to buy, bedding to obtain, and a myriad of other things to take care of before the ladies arrive. Having spend my younger years raising backyard chickens (a few of whom my mother captured beautifully in a watercolor study) I’m probably a little better off than some, but there has certainly been a large chickenless gap in my life in which to forget a great many things.

It’s that time of year again- the native woodland plants are already popping up and reminding us that spring is indeed here. Unfortunately, along with our lovely natives such as the lovely Jack in the Pulpits and Violets, invasive species are setting up camp as well. The most vigorous of these is Garlic Mustard. Gayla over at You Grow Girl made a great post last year with a bit of history about the plant.

Right now the Garlic Mustard is in it’s young form as crowns of leaves, but they’re growing fast. I’ve already seen some plants fully mature and blooming! At this young stage it can look a bit like our native Violets and also similar to Creeping Charlie, so do check first before you pull. The distinctive garlicky smell will give it away. With such vigorous growth you want to pull this weed as soon as you spot it- the longer you leave it the deeper its root system establishes and it becomes nearly impossible to cleanly pluck later in the season.

Right after a rain is a great time to pull this up, as the ground will be softer. You want to pull out as much of the root system as possible, and do NOT put the plant into your compost. This is something you want to destroy, not redistribute. Here is some great detail information and more photos of what you’re looking for when you go to battle against this invader.

So… destroy the plant you say, but how? Well, you can burn it or pulverize it, but why not just eat it? It’s a delightful little edible, despite it’s invasiveness and noxious weed classification. It makes a nice cooking green and has that nice green-garlicky flavor. Wonderful in a cooked pesto sauce, beans-and-greens, or cooked with mushrooms. Young leaves picked early in the season can be used in salads, and a horseradish-like preparation can be made from the roots.

We’ve had a dry time of it lately, much to the dismay of the Ether Garden and its stewards. Fast is approaching the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club’s annual Morel foray, and I’m beginning to fear there won’t be many Morels (or much else) to be found. Such is life when you’re at the whim of nature though I suppose.

April is a weird time here at the Ether Garden. Not quite growing temperatures sometimes, and other times it feels like summer! Confuses garden and gardener alike. Nonetheless there are definite signs of life about. The Lillies are pushing up their bizarre looking red spikes, Daffodils are starting to open, and the occasional albeit confused wild violet is popping up. Chives are starting to bud, and the Columbine which we thought had been lost to cutworms is pressing on with increasing vigor. Hooray for natives, no?

The cherry blossoms are fading, and the leaves are starting to come in. It’s interesting to watch the colors change from white to light pink to dark pink and then to green. Sometimes plants fascinate me. This weekend is the Blossom Tour in Lower Lawrenceville, and I’ll be there! I’m going to have a few examples of things you probably already have in your home which can be recycled into handy gardening tools, how nifty is that? Hopefully the weather will be nice for it!

The lettuces are pushing along in the cold frame, I’ve been nipping a leaf here or there for salads already. Not too much though, I’d like to let the romaine head up a bit if I can. Radishes went in along with the lettuces not too long ago, and are already popping their little heads up. We’ll have the tastiest salad ever in no time!

While out planting onion sets and tidying up the back strawberry patch I met a new friend. Last year I made friends with a baby bunny. This year? Meet Kibbles. Kibbles is the most loving of lovey kitties I’ve ever met, and I’ve co-habited with cats my whole life. I know some people look on cats as garden pests, but here in the Ether Garden we’re definitely cat lovers. I’ve not seen Kibbles digging in the garden at all anyhow- just lazing about under the Azalea or by the back fence. Maybe I should plant a catnip patch this year in honor of Kibbles, though I don’t want to make our own sweet kitten jealous (she’s indoor only unless she’s on her leash).

We’ve tilled up the narrow strip behind the back fence and worked in some bunny manure courtesy of Freecycle, the frugal gardener’s best friend. The plan is for sunflowers, hollyhocks, onions, garlic, and assorted wildflowers to go back there. With luck, the neighbors won’t drive over the patch too much before we put down some sort of barrier. Railroad ties would be nice, but we might try for some free bricks if we can manage it.