Learn how to roast dandelion roots to make a delicious and nutritious coffee substitute with Forager Paul Tappenden.

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Spring is a beautiful season with life blooming all over. Vibrant greens sprouting on the ground, tiny buds on the trees and colorful flowers springing up all over. Did you know that most of the cold tolerant flowers are edible such as pansies, petunias and, oh yea, dandelion? I know, I know, but dandelion is a weed. Well, it’s the give and take of all this beauty around us as with beauty comes the weeds. But to a forager, the beauty is indeed beautiful, but the weeds are even more appealing. The dandelion is one of many examples.

Did you know that every part of the Dandelion plant is edible? Flowers, leaves and root. Dandelion is a rich source of vitamins A, B complex, C, and D, more beta-carotene than carrots and more iron and calcium than spinach as well as tons of potassium, and zinc. Medicinally, the plant is used as a diuretic, producing urine to eliminate toxins from the body, curing mild stomach aches and acts as an inflammatory. Hence the prescription to eat your dandelion greens in spring for a perfect body cleanse as dandelion is a powerful diuretic but does not deplete the body of potassium. The beauty of this plant is now increasing, isn’t it. This is one hearty little plant, ask any frustrated gardner. But here’s another fact, the plants give off a ethylene gas which actually accelerates the ripening process of crops, fruit, shrubs and trees. Try this little trick. Want peaches, tomatoes or avocados you purchase from the market to ripen quickly? Place some dandelion (leaves or flowers) in a paper bag with the fruit on the counter overnight and it will indeed cause the fruit to ripen much more quickly then just putting them in the paper bag alone. Better yet, make an infusion of the leaves and root and water your plants with it as a natural fertilizer.

A grassy field in the heat of summer is quite a lovely site with sunny yellow flowers popping up. Dandelion’s solitary, bright yellow flowers open with the sun in the morning and close in the evening or during overcast, cloudy weather. The deeply notched leaves are shiny and hairless and funnel the rain to the root making the plant very drought tolerant. Collect the flowers from an open field on a sunny day and bring home some sunshine to put into simple syrups or make into dandelion wine.

This is a plant that gives and gives and gives some more. In the fall, the roots are ready to harvest as they have grown significantly during spring and summer giving life to the plant that will now start to go dormant for the long winter months. Harvest the roots of the plant with a little elbow grease, as the tap roots are fleshy and can be up to 10” long, and make delicious dandelion coffee! Dry the roots well and grind in a coffee grinder. Keep them in your winter storage medicinal cabinet as the roots store potassium and calcium, which are very valuable in curing a number of disorders and illnesses including constipation, inflammatory skin conditions, joint pain, eczema, liver dysfunction and conditions such as hepatitis and jaundice. 

So this year, instead of trying to get rid of what most people believe is a “problem” why not harvest them and enjoy the benefits?

The post The Spring, Summer and Fall of a Dandelion appeared first on Suburban Foragers.

Dandelions are part of the Composiate family of plants. These plants cover Asters and Sunflowers.

I love  looking at dandelions-  When they pop up all over a field I get very excited.  I know that there will be dandelion tinctures, oils, fritters and if I am feeling ambitious, Dandelion wine, in my future.  Brigitte Mars, an herbalist and writer, knew so many things to do with dandelions (both edible and medicinally) that  she was able to fill up a book.

According to the web site , Wildflowers-and-Weeds.com, here is what can be said about the Compositae family that the dandelion falls under:

“The uniqueness of the Aster or Sunflower family is that what first seems to be a single large flower is actually a composite of many smaller flowers. Look closely at a sunflower in bloom, and you can see that there are hundreds of little flowers growing on a disk, each producing just one seed. Each “disk flower” has 5 tiny petals fused together, plus 5 stamens fused around a pistil with antennae-like stigmas. Look closely at the big “petals” that ring the outside of the flower head, and you will see that each petal is also a flower, called a “ray flower”, with its petals fused together and hanging to one side. Plants of the Aster family will have either disk flowers or ray flowers, or both. When the seeds are ripe and fall away, you are left with a pitted disk that looks strikingly like a little garden plot where all the tiny flowers were planted.”

Dandelion leaves can be a bit bitter especially after they flower.  They are great added to a salad, cook like spinach with garlic and oil or made into a pesto.  The bitter is supposed to be good for digestion and something that our ancestors regularly incorporated into their diets.

I like to make a salve with dandelion flower oil-  I find it nourishing and healing for my very dry skin.  Dandelion teas are good as a diuretic without depleting you of calcium.  The Rockland Forager is particularly fond of dandelion root ‘coffee’, a recipe we will make available soon.

One of the truly great things about dandelion is that it is readily available, you can collect it without worrying about depleting the supply.  It is a great plant to research, study the plant and learn about .  It is one of the great plants to adopt in the beginning of your plant journey.

I hope this inspires you to go forth and adopt a dandelion before they blow away.

Elana Fine

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