Is this a trick Mother Nature?
Over the last few weeks I have been getting a little bit of anxiety for all of the plants and trees here in the Willamette Valley. Winter seems to have forgotten all about us this year. There were apparently a few days of freezing here when I was vacationing in Colorado about a month ago(they have had a very mild winter as well) but other than that....nothing! Today's temp was 61°F and it definitely felt like spring. Needless to say, all of the normal spring activity in the plant kingdom has been taking place. Trees are budding and crocus and daffodil are bursting forth.
One of the true signs of spring for me are violets and I had noticed that they seemed to be popping up in the landscaping in my neighborhood. They hold a special place in my heart and I always look forward to their arrival. I am an herbalist and love to capture their essence, nutritional content, healing properties and spirit of spring in tincture form to utilize throughout the year. I was also planning on making some jelly this year as a gift for my Mother and had an idea to try freezing the leaves to eat throughout the year (they are little vitamin powerhouses). Could this really be true, violets already!? So I headed east to my normal foraging grounds to see if they were truly springing forth.
The area I go to is at a little higher elevation from where I live and I had my doubts, but sure enough...little shy violets had started to make their way through. The patch that I return to every year sits mainly under hazelnut(filbert) trees and I noticed something very curious. Normally the leaves that carpet the ground would've been absorbed over the winter but they were still there. While the normal bounty of purple was still sparse, I marveled at how the absence of certain cycles such as leaves degenerating into the ground didn't seem to matter.
I try to always practice ethical harvesting so never take more than 1/3 of what is there. It was clear that I wouldn't be doing any harvesting on this day. They had just started coming up and I never remove anything from plants that aren't fully established. One thing that was clear however was something I love about violets...they look delicate and beautiful but are ever so strong. They didn't seem to be hindered at all by the thick carpeting of hazelnut leaves, they still found a way to grace us with their wonder. As an herbalist it is the spirit of plants that I find to be the true healing properties. These little gems are bursting with spirit!
While I am still perplexed with winters absence and am worried that she may still show her face, I am delighting in the seeming start of my favorite season.
The day was still well spent. I learned that this little plant I so admire had even more strength than I knew and had a nice time combing the banks of the river for beautiful rocks.
And on my way back to the car I stumbled upon the most delightful bouquet of lichen and moss.
While I hope that winter doesn't come and quell all that is springing forth, I know that she is in charge and will do my best to enjoy and not worry.
