As a youth, St Patrick was kidnapped from his Scottish homeland and taken to Ireland, where he remained until he was around 20, when he finally escaped. His experience brought him closer to God and when he returned to his home, he began studying for the priesthood. Later, he return to Ireland as a missionary to spread the Gospel. We associate clover with "St Patrick's Day" because legend has it that as he was evangelizing, he tried to explain the Holy Trinity using a three-leafed clover. As the clover has three distinct leaves but is one piece of clover so also God has three distinct persons while remaining one God. I love these kinds of object lessons because as a visual learner, it helps me understand a little better a concept that is otherwise abstract.
The neat thing about clover is that it's also edible. There are many different types of clover, but all of them are edible. Then can be eaten in salads, cooked as greens, and made into teas. Though you can eat the flower-heads and leaves raw, they are easier to eat if soaked for 1 hour or boiled. Dried flowers and seed pods can be ground up into flour and mixed with other foods. Clover is also high in protein!
This reminds me that it's almost time for my spring ritual of eating a small garden salad...composed entirely of tender, green wild edibles. My salads often consist of: dandelion (greens and flowers), violets (leaves and flowers), plantain, clover (leaves and flowers),wood sorrel (if I can find some) and whatever other edible greens I can find. Mixed with cold pressed olive oil, lemon juice and salt, it makes a colorful and healthy little salad. Just be sure of what you are picking :)
"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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