Dandelions the Lion’s Tooth of the Plant World
By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter
Being raised in the country and a natural forager, I love dandelions.
Every spring I love to see the stems rise above the lawn and produce bright yellow blooms.
This simple sign is the one I use to welcome spring.
Every part of the dandelion is useful.
The leaves harvested in the early spring make a delightful salad or sautéed with onions and garlic make a perfect green side dish. Leave harvest later in the season can be dried and used for tea. Blooms are eaten when they are green.
When they open up they are picked and used for jelly and tea. Dandelion wine is a wonderful country drink that is made from the blooms while the sap from the stem and roots is used as a wart treatment. A coffee substitute can also be made from the root but only harvest root after a hard frost.
Before jumping into harvesting ones dandelions from the front lawn, consider the environment. Most lawns in urban environment are too polluted for safe harvesting. Lawn chemicals applied to neighboring lawns and car exhaust contamination cause the greens in ones lawn unsafe to eat. The best way to enjoy your dandelion greens safely is to either buy them or grow your own in a controlled environment.
Dandelions grow throughout the world and were often called white or wild endive. This plant originated in Asia and spread through the world before history was recorded. Puritans carried the dandelion plant to the New World when they left Europe. They viewed that this plant was very essential to their gardens for food and health.
To add the dandelion to your garden space takes some planning. First, make sure the area you plan to use for your dandelion garden is in a pesticide-free zone that includes neighboring spaces. Also avoid having this garden or any garden where food sources are going to be grown near a road.
Once you have the location picked out there is no need to worry about soil type or amount of sunlight. Dandelions grow anywhere but to prevent them from spreading into the lawn make sure to create some type of barrier. Rubber edging is a good choice to prevent the roots from spreading into unwanted areas.
If you have no garden space, do not worry dandelions grow perfectly fine in container gardens. Just make sure that the container is large enough to grow the amount that will fulfill your need.
After the garden space has been chosen, the next step is to start planting. Dandelions spread by roots and seeds. But if you collect your plant material from the lawn keep in mind the sources of contamination.
Roots are easily planted in the soil; simply bury the roots in the garden space. Seeds work just as well but remember to place a small amount of soil on top of the seeds. This will both help with germination while preventing the seeds from blowing into other areas of the garden.
Water the garden in well and wait for your dandelions. While the roots are controlled by the rubber edging, the seeds also need to be controlled. Pick off the blooms, even if you do not plan to eat them, before they turn into puffballs or wish flowers as my daughter used to call them.
So until we blog again, may your salad plate and teacup with blessed by the honey like goodness of the simple dandelion.
January 11th, 2012 at 9:19 am
How about the zones that these grown in. I am at 10b or 11.
Where are you located what zone? 6 maybe. Hollywood, Fl.
Susan
January 11th, 2012 at 10:54 pm
So glad to read this post, great tips. Our backyard in the summer time is full of them. As much as we try, the dandelions always make their way into our yard.