# What are uses for dandelion?



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

With all the dandelions gracing our property (and our neighbor's property, and our other neighbor's property...) I'm wondering just exactly what are the (good) uses for dandelions? 

My mom said that sometimes during the depression dandelions were the only vegetable on the plate. (Not a veggie, but that's the way they thought of it.) She said they're bitter, but that back then you didn't notice the bitterness when you didn't have anything else to eat.

I'm not so conditioned. I like things that taste good. 

So is there a tasty way to utilize dandelions? Or a medicinal benefit? And if so, what do you pick, and when, and how do you store it?

Thanks for your help!


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

try THIS thread:

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f36/almost-unknown-edibles-1002/



> Dandelion greens... If you don't treat your lawn, this can be done easily.
> 
> From mid-April through mid-May the best for harvesting wild dandelion greens at their young and tender best. Although dandelions can be found throughout most yards, I've discovered that the best ones grow in the wildest of places, safe from the punishing foot traffic of pedestrians and the whir of the lawn mower blade.
> 
> ...


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

I've picked the blooms when they are open in the daytime and we rushed them inside and dipped them into Drake's mix and deep fried them with as little stem as possible-almost like deep fried morel mushrooms.
Also I have blanched some really big leaved dandelion in my garden one year(there were 4 of the biggest and most lovely leaved plants I had ever seen so I couldn't just pull them) I put some dark colored empty planting buckets over them and let them go for a week and then picked the leaves and lightly blanched them in boiling water and then put them in pretty much the same recipe as above-bacon and onion and a bit of good vinegar and wilted them down like greens-very nice--I have been thinking about saving some seed this year and planting them for greens on purpose this fall in a cold frame.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Dandelion wine a course! Let me know if yer interested an I'll get yall a recipe! Good stuff.


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

I'm thinking maybe you can save some of the seed and try growing them in a sunny window in the winter for fresh greens.
I use the very small first leaves of the year in my salads. And the wilted greens is a very oldtime recipes. I think everyone knows that. Just substitute spinach for the dandilion. LOL
The rabbit goes crazy when I start feeding him the wild greens from the yard. Dandilion,chickory,landcress. When those are young leaves I use them in the salads also, but once the chickory gets bigger it gets bitter, but the rabbit seems to enjoy it anyways.
I never use chemicals on my yard much to my fussy neighbor next door dismay. He's even gone so far as to get a lawn service out to his yard LOL
As long as I do nothing about the wild greens, then he's going to keep having them pop up in his "pristeen" yard!


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

goshengirl said:


> With all the dandelions gracing our property (and our neighbor's property, and our other neighbor's property...) I'm wondering just exactly what are the (good) uses for dandelions?
> 
> My mom said that sometimes during the depression dandelions were the only vegetable on the plate. (Not a veggie, but that's the way they thought of it.) She said they're bitter, but that back then you didn't notice the bitterness when you didn't have anything else to eat.
> 
> ...


Let's see..

Good source of greens,cooked or salad wise,make a nice bottle of earthy tasting wine too.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Roasted and ground, the roots, make a good coffee substitute. about as close tasting as i have sampled


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Had a recipe for Dandelion Jelly, now I can't find it. Can anyone help?


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Genevieve said:


> I'm thinking maybe you can save some of the seed and try growing them in a sunny window in the winter for fresh greens.
> I use the very small first leaves of the year in my salads. And the wilted greens is a very oldtime recipes. I think everyone knows that. Just substitute spinach for the dandilion. LOL
> The rabbit goes crazy when I start feeding him the wild greens from the yard. Dandilion,chickory,landcress. When those are young leaves I use them in the salads also, but once the chickory gets bigger it gets bitter, but the rabbit seems to enjoy it anyways.
> I never use chemicals on my yard much to my fussy neighbor next door dismay. He's even gone so far as to get a lawn service out to his yard LOL
> As long as I do nothing about the wild greens, then he's going to keep having them pop up in his "pristeen" yard!


Both of my neighbors(across and next) are fanatics about their yards and yet have the worst looking grass ever. They mow and weed kill(sprays of course) and mow some more and water and still have huge dead spots in their yards.. Now me on the other hand have thick green lush looking yard mostly all summer-it isn't all grass but it sure is green and soft and lovely. The biggest thing they don't seem to get is that grass likes to be about 3 to 4 inches tall to thrive(on it's own without having to pour tons of "stuff" on it for fertilizer) they mow their to military haircut height! poor stuff never had a chance... They have both asked why my lawn looks so nice and how I get it to grow under the trees.. I've told them and they just shake their heads and walk off, mumbling about how that just ain't right. My yard mix-white clover, white man's foot, chickweed, oregano, mint, lemon balm, walk on me plant(mother of thyme-it smells like thyme but not as tasty as thyme) and probably several others besides that, and of course my dandelions. It sure does smell good when I mow and since I don't mow more than 4 or 5 times a summer my lawn is thick and a bit tall. There are better things to do than mow all summer-our small town reminds me of the Red Green show, with chainsaws and mowers running in the background all the time..


Clarice said:


> Had a recipe for Dandelion Jelly, now I can't find it. Can anyone help?


On my other forum there is a gal who makes all kinds of jellies and wines with natural products I will run and see if she has a recipe to share.


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

Eat just the yellow blossoms and they are not bitter. Wash the roots and roast in teh oven with oil and salt and they are nutty and delicious. The greens are bitter but good for you. Every part of the plant is edible.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Okay! Got the information from my friend Sheryl and she said that she uses this recipe from this site here. And she said that I could put a link to her thread on making dandelion syrup making here too.
Dandelion syrup.


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## Diane (Oct 14, 2011)

They are also considered "natures multi-vitamin."


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## kyredneck (Aug 12, 2012)

If you have rabbits, they absolutely love the dandelions, then they'll reward you with some wonderful manure, then you take the manure and fertilize your garden, then you can grow some really decent palatable greens like kale or mustard or collards or chard or Salad Bowl leaf lettuce or spinach or........ anything but dandelions.


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## siletz (Aug 23, 2011)

Tirediron said:


> Roasted and ground, the roots, make a good coffee substitute. about as close tasting as i have sampled


I am so going to give this a try! Our backyard is simply covered in dandelions. We had some city friends visit one time and their daughter asked if we had planted all the pretty yellow flowers!


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## kyredneck (Aug 12, 2012)

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f36/dandelion-15117/index2.html#post202849


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

The root word of dandelion in french translates to "wet the bed". Dandelion leaf has been used as a diuretic as long as they've been around. I think they make a tasty addition to a salad. The roasted root coffee substitute sounds really interesting. I may have to try that


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## AuroraHawk (Sep 12, 2012)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> The root word of dandelion in french translates to "wet the bed".


Huh?

dan·de·li·on
[dan-dl-ahy-uh n] 
noun
1.
a weedy composite plant, Taraxacum officinale, having edible, deeply toothed or notched leaves, golden-yellow flowers, and rounded clusters of white, hairy seeds.
2.
any other plant of the genus Taraxacum.
Origin:
1505-15; < Middle French, alteration of dent de lion, literally, tooth of (a) lion, translation of Medieval Latin dēns leōnis, in allusion to the toothed leaves


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Really. Darn nutrition teacher told me a fib! She said the translation was actually wet the bed in french. Guess I should have double checked that one. Thanks for pointing it out so I dont make an a$$ out of myself in front of someone that actually speaks the language


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