Dandelion. It's great in salads & strangely enough its proably the ONLY weed that doesnt grow on my lawn. So, if you have this weed, Id love to SASE for it, if I may. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion, because they are often confused with other plants.
You might find Biita's topic about them interesting. She calls the Dandelion 'dinner and a drink' Natures Grocery Store - Dandelions Wrong time of the year for seed heads in my part of the country. Even as warm as it still is here, they will flower but seed heads don't form. If you don't get any offers now, bring this subject back up in early spring I will probably be able to get thousands of the seeds for you then.
I have been digging dandelion roots for 2 days, since its rained non stop for 3 weeks. Steph, all i can say is keep your eyes peeled. Check near the water or creeks. Around fences, out in fields. I know what Florida is like, so becareful around the drain ditches. Don't want to loose a few fingers now. lol. Pretty much all i can tell you is i know they don't prefer sandy soil, but they will adapt and grow there if no other place is available. Also for salads, only the spring leaves are good. Once a flower has developed and opened the leaves get bitter, because all the energy is now centered on that flower. The roots is a good time now to harvest, to use as a replacement to carrots, turnips, parsnips. The energy it took to grow the plant is now died back, and all the energy is centered on making golden roots, which are super sweet in the fall months. Come spring you do not want to eat the roots because the cycle now is centered on the leaves,,, now you pick and eat them or cook them. Then the flower. Then the roots. So basically what i am saying is there is a cycle and nature gives a food stock 3 of the 4 seasons....enjoy!! Good luck finding and harvesting.
Thanks! I actually get as much as the root as I can & freeze it so I can use it year round. I just found a few recipes for Dandelion wine & decided I was going to try & make some, I need the flowers for that, then it came to me that I should just grow my own. I've only found 2 "wish flowers" (What my niece calls them, Its the fluffy seeds, you blow on them & make a wish.) with all the weeds in my lawn I really thought Id find more so I can actually grow them in my "wild" cottage style garden on the side of my house, no, I only have the weeds I don't want. I will keep looking, & avoiding gators while I do! Stephanie
Thanks, Ill bump this to the top then! I actually want the flowers now, but the roots Leaves are great as well, so I was going to grow my own, so I have a supply of Flowers, leaves & roots all year round.
Well good luck with that! I know here i couldn't find a dandelion if i wanted to,,,lol. To cold. I do have a dandelion wine posted somewhere here. Its one that i make just about every year. I have tried other ways but i just keep comming back to this one. I will tell you, you can drink it after 6 months, but, it really is better at a year. Most herbal wines are.
Stephinalta, I managed to pick a few Dandelion seed heads for you yesterday. PM me your address and I'll send them to you.
Netty are you sure their dandelion and not a look-a-like called cats claw. If the petals are square at the ends and the whole flower isn't as full its cats claw. Also if more than one flower produced at the plant its not dandelion. They can produce just one flower and most people think its dandelion. The leaves are also more rounded and not as big when left alone to grow. This is the time of year for the cats claw flower. Its a fall plant. It can be eaten, and has almost all the same benifits as the dandelion but the difference is when cooked or eaten raw it is a big difference. It just doesn't have the same power punch in nutrients and taste as the dandelion.
Oh gee Biita, I THINK they are Dandilion! I'd better do a little research before I send them off! I've never heard of Cat's Claw before. There were just a few blooming and I just shrugged it off because my garden is doing all KINDS of weird things this year!!
Stephinalta, if you remind me in the spring, I will send you some new baby dandelions. We get a good 'crop' every spring. The young leaves are great for salads. I put them in my wilted salads in the spring. Once the leaves get bigger, they tend to get tough, stringy, and not sweet at all. My Dad made dandelion wine years ago. It was very pleasant tasting. We also get Polk Salad growing wild around here. The young leaves with a touch of butter, fry up and are great or boiled like spinach. When I was in Alaska, I would go Fiddle Fern hunting in the woods. OMG, they were good in salads or cooked. I think I will try to get some for here. Cathy
I will have to see if I have the rights ones around here right now. Might be too late but things always flower and seed later here so I might get lucky. Will I went out and looked and you might be in luck. The leaves are pointed and have what look to be 3-4 "arrows heads" on the stem. The flower is a single flower with the large stem that is hallow. If they are the right ones I can send them later on when they ones that are closed seem like they are ready and also some that open up.
