I love Dandelions, their cheery yellow colors brighten up every meadow in spring. I really love Dandelions. But I do not love them at all in my garden!
The last three days I had an extremely exhausting workout: digging out a million Dandelions, and no, not from my garden beds, they are mulch covered, mainly from the part of my 60x40
rock garden and a dry creek, that have wide parts of river pebbles. My garden is surrounded by a pretty neglected park, the city mows the lawns only twice a year, all the Dandelions seeds fly into my property... It just doesn't look nice having them between the river rocks and pebbles.
I filled 7 huge garbage sacks and I guess if I would get a dollar for each Dandelion I dug out, I could book a nice cruise to Alaska.
This scourge of pure-green lawn lovers, the Dandelion seeds spread around like wildfire. According to some sources they are not even native to North America and have been introduced by the first settlers.
Killing instrument
Do you know of any other flower that has their own killing instrument? The most common garden tool available is the V- shaped Dandelion killer. Regrettably it does not work in rock gardens...
I feel really sorry for these Dandelions and I apologize for killing them. They haven't earned this untimely deaths as they are very healthy and for many generations they were part of the diet, from root to flower. "Don't kill Dandelions, eat them"! Dandelions contain luteolin, an antioxidant and should be classified them as one of nature’s greatest medicine.
Read more:
http://herbalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/dont_kill_dandelions_eat_them#ixzz0FVeLjT9Q&B
Dandelions are higher in beta-carotene than carrots, the iron and calcium content is greater than spinach. You also get nearly all B-vitamins, C, D, E, P, as well as biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc - just by using a tasty, free vegetable that grows on virtually every lawn. The root contains the sugar inulin, plus many medicinal substances.
"If you want to take medicine, it might as well taste good!"
I feel really sorry for these Dandelions and I apologize for killing them. They haven't earned this untimely deaths as they are very healthy and for many generations they were part of the diet, from root to flower. "Don't kill Dandelions, eat them"! Dandelions contain luteolin, an antioxidant and should be classified them as one of nature’s greatest medicine.
Read more:
http://herbalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/dont_kill_dandelions_eat_them#ixzz0FVeLjT9Q&B
Dandelions are higher in beta-carotene than carrots, the iron and calcium content is greater than spinach. You also get nearly all B-vitamins, C, D, E, P, as well as biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc - just by using a tasty, free vegetable that grows on virtually every lawn. The root contains the sugar inulin, plus many medicinal substances.
"If you want to take medicine, it might as well taste good!"
The leaves are a healthy salad in spring, delivering the much-needed nutrition's after a long winter, the roots can be roasted and with the blossoms one can make a nice wine or jelly. They are an important source of nectar in spring for bees and butterflies.Read a funny story from
Americas most famous forager and naturalist "Wildman" Steve Brill, who was caught while
collecting Dandelions in CentralPark,NY. http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html
His website is worth following if you are interested in edible plants.
Recipes
Tons of Dandelion recipes can be found here: