Word for the Day Humble yourselves
Day 3 of my tidiness challenge! The kitchen drawers have been tidied, my messy garden corner which hasn't yet been approached is on the way to being tidied, and today I will tackle the kitchen pantry, in a bit of a jumble after Christmas.
Garden NATIVE VIOLETS
Viola hederacea is one of Australia's four native violets. It is perhaps my favourite flower - a dainty, humble plant.
Since it crept from our neighbour, Yvonne's garden a year ago, to also take residence in our garden, this evergreen perennial has been flowering constantly whether it is in the sun or the shade.
It is a native bush food, and on special occasions, I garnish salads, soups or sweet dishes with the delightful flower. On New Year's Eve, I decorated our New Year Celebration Cake with crystalized flowers made by brushing petals with beaten egg white then sprinkling them with castor sugar. I sometimes add a few violet leaves to a green salad, but our big garden pot of salad greens (lettuce leaves, mesclun and beetroot leaves) is a bit sad just now, needing some attention.
Violets offer us Vitamin A and vitamin C, and the health actions include:
anti-inflammatory, expectorant, fungicidal, digestive, diuretic, alterative, antiseptic,
emetic, nutritive, demulcent, laxative, emollient vulnerary, antioxidant and cathartic.
Plenty of reason to appreciate this humble plant and use it as a bush food.
Try eating two violet leaves at bed-time as a gentle laxative.
VIOLET
SYRUP FOR CHEST AILMENTS, COUGHS AND COLDS
Pour
½ cup boiling water over 3 cups of flowers in a stainless steel or ceramic
container;
Cover
and soak for a day in the fridge;
Strain
through cloth (e.g. a clean man’s hankie) squeezing out all of the liquid;
Add
4 tablespoons honey and bring just to the boil in a stainless steel saucepan;
Store
in a glass bottle or glass jar in the fridge.
Take
a teaspoon at a time.
VIOLET VINEGAR
Fill a glass jar with fresh flowers, picked in the morning, before the heat of day.
Cover with Bragg’s apple cider vinegar, and allow to stand in a warm place for a month.
Strain. Use either medicinally or in the kitchen.
OINTMENT FOR CRACKED LIPS, SORES, SUNSPOTS, SKIN RASHES
Bring
to the boil ½ cup violet flowers and ¼ cup water.
Cover
and steep for 10 mins.
Slowly
melt 2 tablespoons beeswax in a stainless steel saucepan, remove from heat and
Add
½ teaspoon almond oil and the squeezed juice from the violets steeped in water.
(feel
free to add a different oil).
Pour
into small non-plastic jars.
VIOLET
TEA
Into
a drinking cup, place 8 leaves and 8 flowers.
Pour
over boiling water, cover with a lid to keep in the oils.
Steep
for 10 mins, strain, then drink.
(The
leaves and flowers can go into the compost, or can be
used
as a poultice for inflammations, skin conditions or cancerous lumps.)
See extra information at: http://www.gardensablaze.com/HerbViolet.htm
Praying that God will lift you up if you are down.
from Robyn
Robin in a flowering gum
Painted
by Brenda, Robyn’s mum
