Americans have long had a love/hate relationship with the dandelion (Taraxacum species). The early Europeans immigrants clearly liked them; they imported dandelions to plant in their yards. To say the plant was successful here would be pretty accurate.
Dandelions show up about anywhere the natural ground cover is disturbed in the temperate non-desert areas of the U.S.; at least all of them I’ve been to. Somewhere along the line though attitudes change, and most people over the age of three consider it a noxious weed.
I had no trouble finding photo subjects in my yard. Really, what’s wrong with flowers in the yard, especially edible ones?
Anyone hard up for fresh food after a hard winter might just rediscover why it was imported though, and be glad it was so hard to eradicate. Dandelions are food; available earlier in the spring than most anything else and versatile too.
It’s a great feature of a forage food to look very distinctive, so you don’t eat the wrong stuff. Note the rosette form and the deeply notched leaves like keys.
They’re most well-known as salad greens. I’ve got to admit; they’re a little bitter for my taste; but nice when mixed in with whatever lettuces, turnip, and beet leaves are up that early. They can also be blanched or sauteed, which removes the bitterness.
Dandelions are not as good as finding a mushroom patch, but…
I was lamenting to a friend my lack of success in mushroom hunting (my deer also love morels), and I learned something from her: The flowers of dandelion are sort of mushroom-y when sauteed, and can be subbed for mushrooms in recipes. So I tried it — I had way more success finding dandelion flowers than morels! They were actually good, too. Definitely with a mushroom groove; but also flowery. I know, it’s kind of odd; but try it!
My sauteed flowers experiment was a success. I’ll have more right before the next mowing…
Dandelion wine is an old country favorite around here too. I remember trying it as a kid; and although the taste didn’t make a big impression on me I loved the golden color. A friend who has made it reports it was pretty easy; just a bunch of dandelion heads and a little sugar and yeast, left to ferment. (Wild yeasts would probably do the trick too; and other fruit juices are often subbed for the sugar.)
The roots can be roasted, ground, and used as a caffeine-free coffee substitute. You’re on your own on this one, fellow preppers. I know exactly how hard it can be to pull up dandelion roots, and I’m not a coffee drinker anyway. Someone want to give it a try and report for us? C’mon, I ate the flowers.
They’re a strong nutritional choice, too. Well maybe not the wine, but the rest of the versions. Good vitamins, especially K (which can be hard to find and useful for some cases of anemia and clotting disorders), A (low levels lead to night blindness), and C. There are decent levels of some scarce minerals like magnesium, and a lot of potassium (helpful for those with high blood pressure; although those on diuretics for the condition should be careful). There’s even a little protein, and of course fiber.
There’s not much objectionable either, unless you like a fashionable lawn. Those with latex allergies might respond to the plant, as it has a natural latex. That milky fluid you get when you pull it often indicates latex; you can see it in a variety of plants. A few people have allergies; not reported to be of the life-threatening sort. In gardens, they’re a mixed blessing: The taproots do help bring up minerals, but they also take some of the water, sun, and space your other plants want.
Some use dandelion as a medicinal herb, mostly as a diuretic or digestive stimulant, or to reduce blood cholesterol and act as an anti-oxidant. The research on this is slim, so I’ve not much to say about these claims one way or another. It is apparently good chicken and rabbit food though.
Fellow preppers, you see the perfect situation you’re in here?? You can quit fighting to get rid of the dandelions from your yard, and that surrender counts as a PREP!
I haven’t treated my lawn in years because I want to encourage dandelions to grow. We only mow the yard every other week for the same reason. But if I needed to harvest any of the dandelion flowers or greens, I’ll have to thin out the rabbits and get rid of the groundhog family in our yard…they are quick to devour the dandelions in most of the yard, although they don’t come all the way up to the house… Of course thinning them out will add meat to the larder, so I leave them alone in these pre-SHTF days as yet another prep. 😛
🙂 When you started talking rabbits, my mind was already going to rabbit stew. They’re much cuter when they aren’t the competition!