In Fairbanks, bird vetch (vicia cracca) is truly tenacious, invasive plant that defies all but the most dedicated efforts to its removal. In our lot across the street it has established a sprawling colony on the north side of the field. We don’t use that area for anything the vetch would harm and it generally doesn’t spread too much if the soil remains undisturbed. So, we have mostly left it alone, knowing that any token efforts to harm it might provoke it to claim a greater land area.
It is not an unattractive plant. The flowers are a nice blend of blue, purple, and white, and their scent is reasonably appealing. Today, I noticed bees collecting nectar and considered the possibility that the flowers could be used for jelly.
In the past, we have had good success with jelly made from wild rose petals, spruce tips, dandelions, and fireweed. If anything useful could be done with bird vetch, it would be an opportunity to turn a liability into an asset. Given the possibility of discovering an untapped natural resource, it seemed worth some small effort to make an experimental batch of bird vetch jelly.
The flowers were easy to harvest by closing a vine(?) between my fingers and gently pulling until the flowers were stripped off in my hand. I easily gathered approximately 6 cups of vetch flowers in not more than 90 minutes.
Melissa soaked the flowers in hot water to extract the floral scent in a tea. The tea released a light, floral scent, entirely suitable for jelly, and all seemed promising!
Regrettably, I must inform you that our hopes were soon dashed. The floral scent dissipated as the batch turned greenish in color and was replaced with a familiar, vegetal scent. Green peas. That smell was not a great surprise, because the vetch plant is related to peas. It even grows little seed pods.
The vetch tea, once cooled sufficiently for sampling, was an unappetizing greenish-yellow in color and tasted like green peas. We discontinued the experiment at this point because we have no interest in such a jelly and, in all probability, no one else does, either.
Fortunately, the fireweed is in flower. Soon, we will be able to make a harvest of that.
Your broad assortment of jellies is wonderfully creative. A bird vetch jelly, which would retain the lovely color, would be delightful. Such a disappointment that the pea color and flavor dominate when boiled down. Ugh!
Do you check for toxicity to humans before venturing into new plants for jelly?
Yes! Of course.