The virtues of dandelions, overlooked for decades by landscapers and gardeners, are once again being recognized by health-conscious people.
If it is spring, you may have been preparing your garden for planting. Most likely, you found it replete with hearty dandelion greens. Are you cursing these vigorous weeds, or are you celebrating your bounty? It’s time for the dandelion harvest.
I sometimes brag that I used to weed my dandelion patch, which is true. I once cleared a bed for wildflowers, planted three different kinds of seeds, and waited. Pretty soon there were lots of little sprouts, but they all looked exactly the same—every one of them turned out to be a dandelion. So I raised them for medicinal tincture (an alcohol extract), waiting a year to harvest the roots, culling the knotweed and ground ivy that crowded in among my beauties. I never really missed the wildflowers, and my liver appreciated the healing powers of this humble but helpful plant.
I don’t understand why people hate dandelions so much. The flowers are so gorgeous, dotting green lawns with their bright yellow faces. True, when the flowers have gone to seed, the fluffy seeds (also handsome when viewed up close) have parachuted away, and the bare seed heads are nodding in their place, they do look ugly, but that’s only for about two weeks. For the rest of the growing season, you get glossy greens that are nourishing, good for digestion, delicious if prepared properly, and free for the harvesting. Why put effort into fighting them? Give in and make friends with our ancestral comrade. Your health can only improve.
For more information on dandelions, see the Botany article Dandelions and the Home and Garden article The Downtrodden Dandelion.
