Wild herb jelly is an easy way to get to know your wild herbs a little better. You will find that even if a wild herb flower does not possess much of a scent, it can have a most unexpected, wonderful taste. There is a lot you can learn from wildcrafting some of the more prolific "weed" flowers. You may not want to work with the herb medicinally right away, so making a jelly with the flowers can be a wonderful introduction. It get's you out in your envirnoment to see what is there. If you can bear to part with any, it also makes a delightful gift sure to spark some good conversation!

Ingredients

8-9 cups wild crafted herb flowers
4 cups water (boiling temps)
1.75 oz pectin
2 lbs sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

Gather (wild craft) some wild herb flowers to have enough for 8-9 cups. Be creative! Pick any flowers that have sparked your curiousity to learn about the herb. Make sure the flowers are clean, but do not wash. I recommend waiting after a rain until it's dry. Picking wet or damp flowers will slow down the picking because it will stick to your fingers! Ask me how I know!

You will find that some of the larger flowers have sizeable sepals (green leaves) around the flower petals. I recommend tasting the sepal and check out the taste. Some will be bitter, and you don't want to include it in the jelly. But some, have an enhanced flavor like the flower, and it can intensify the taste of the jelly. Smaller and tiny flowers I would not worry so much in including it since the size of it is so small.

I also recommend not being afraid of experimenting with blends. Sometimes a large volume of herb is not available, and it might be possible to blend with another to make a great tasting jelly.

In a clean Mason jar that will hold 4 cups liquid + flower petals, add the petals. Pour 4 cups of boiling water over it and steep for 24 hours.

The next day, strain the flower petals from the infused herb water. Pur the infused herb water into a sauce pan. I warm it up a bit, then add the pectin and lemon juice. I also may add the pectin a bit a time, to make sure it doesn't lump up, but you will at least want to stir it a lot. You will need to bring to a boil, so you have some time to do this.

Shut off the heat and add the sugar. Again, lots of stirring is needed to make sure all the sugar dissolves. You will need to bring to another boil, stirring constantly for another minute or two.

Remove from heat and skim off any foam if needed.

Pour into clean jars. I let it sit on my countertop over night with lid, and then put in the fridge in the morning. You should keep it stored in the fridge, or you can can it for long term preservation.

Here are some of the jellies I have made so far:

Forsythia

Wild Violet

Chicory

Goldenrod

Lilac

Dandelion/Autumn Olive

Purple Loosestrife/Milkweed/Yarrow

Monarda