The other day I took the kids out to the nearby meadow for a little foraging. Well, for them it was rock scrambling and playing. For me it was digging up wild carrots (more on that later), some field garlic, and finding a treasure trove of violets! The kids joined me on the violet hunt and I soon had enough to finish that batch of jelly I'd hoped for. After steeping the violets overnight, today I have 9 half-cup jars of violet jelly to start this year's gift stash.
As far as the wild carrots go - I think I may have lost my nerve! I know what they look like, what they smell like, and what they taste like. But, after getting a few home, I was struck with anxiety that I might have messed up. Gotten poison hemlock instead (which we did see, by the way). I waited several hours, sure I was going to die a horrible, paralytic death. My toes tingled, and I quietly worried. Swore I would do no more "extreme foraging."
Well, as you can see, I am still alive, but that doesn't make me feel any better. What if one of the carrots, one of the ones I didn't taste, isn't a carrot? Death could be lurking in the fridge for me. I think maybe, as with the mushrooms, I will be a less enthusiastic forager....
As far as the wild carrots go - I think I may have lost my nerve! I know what they look like, what they smell like, and what they taste like. But, after getting a few home, I was struck with anxiety that I might have messed up. Gotten poison hemlock instead (which we did see, by the way). I waited several hours, sure I was going to die a horrible, paralytic death. My toes tingled, and I quietly worried. Swore I would do no more "extreme foraging."
Well, as you can see, I am still alive, but that doesn't make me feel any better. What if one of the carrots, one of the ones I didn't taste, isn't a carrot? Death could be lurking in the fridge for me. I think maybe, as with the mushrooms, I will be a less enthusiastic forager....
I used to make violet jelly every year. I have had wild carrots too but not for a long, long time.
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