We called it Honeysuckle

Went on a country drive yesterday and came across a few fields of purple clover

It brought back memories of the clover that grew near my home as a child, 

The minute I stepped out of my car the aroma took me back to my childhood

that sweet sweet smell...does anyone know what I'm talking about?

These fields actually looked like they were planted for a purpose, so I looked it up to see if this clover was used for something specific, here's what I found out.

Red Clover is used as Fodder which refers to food given to animals (cows, sheep, chickens and pigs) rather than that which they forage themselves. So this clover is harvested and fed to the animals along with hay, straw and silage instead of the animals grazing.

Another use is called Green Manure 

The clover is grown primarily to add nutrients & organic matter to the soil, so the clover is grown then plowed under and incorporated into the soil while still green.

So all that aside....

Here's what it was used for in our neighborhood. 

When we were kids we used to pull the individual flowers out and try to suck out the sweetness, 

I think we even chewed on it....mmmmm.  We called it "honeysuckle"

I love these little memories that pop into my head from days gone by.

F.Y.I.  Red clover has also been reported to be used for a variety of medicinal purposes, the one that caught my eye was this:  A large, well controlled study showed that

red clover extract supplements showed a modest reduction of hot flashes. HA HA

I might just have to plant me a crop  :)

My information was obtained from Wikipedia