Sun 27 Apr 2008
Green (and Yellow) and Growing: A Dandelion Defense
My sister Sandy in Michigan emailed a rebuttal to yesterday’s post:
I love many of the plants that are thought to be weeds. I learned long ago that weeds are simply plants that are growing where you don’t want them to grow.
Dandelions and plantain may be weeds to gardeners, but I remember reading that they were brought over by the American settlers for their many medical and food uses.
The leaves can be eaten cooked or raw, such as in salads or cooked up like kale or mustard greens as greens or used in soup. You can eat the young leaves raw in salads, but the older leaves should be cooked because they have a bitter taste.
Dandelion flowers can be used to make dandelion wine and jelly. Roasted and ground, the dandelion root is a coffee substitute (the same as chicory root) and is good for “spring tonics. The flowers can also be used to make dyes for fabrics.
The milky fluid that you see when you break the stems can be used as a mosquito repellent or can be applied to warts to get rid of them.
On top of all that, cats like them and they’re pretty!
Fiona Bun said,
Sun 27 Apr 2008 at 18:32
Again, feel free to send any dandelions to:
Fiona Bun
Benicia Ca