Fun Facts

Dandelions

Dandelions have been hated for years but they do have their good side as well. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans enjoyed the flower and the Chinese used them for their traditional powerful medicine. One real bonus is in the spring the bright yellow flowers attract pollinators and are an early source of nectar for butterflies.

One meal is cooked dandelions with chopped garlic and onions, or adding them to a spring soup of parsley, spinach, kale and chard. Harvesting can be difficult but the rewards can be Fried Dandelion Blossoms, Dandelion Syrup, or Pink Dandelion Wine.

Dandelions are more nutritious than most of the vegetables in the garden. They have more vitamin A than spinach, more vitamin C than tomatoes and are a powerhouse of iron, calcium and potassium. In some speciality grocery stores dandelions out price prime rib, swordfish and lobster, for dried dandelion roots used for coffee sell for $ 31.75 a pound.

Although hated in the lawn they are actually good for it, their wide-spreading roots loosen hard packed soil, aerate the earth and reduce erosion. The deep taproot pulls calcium from deep in the soil to help other plants as they fertilize the grass. The plant can go from bud to seed in days, but the root going down as far as 15 feet can live for many years. Dandelions are strong and can grow through gravel and cement and thrive in barren habitats.

One happy thing about blowing on dandelion puffballs it can tell you how many years before you get married, how many children you will have, and if you catch a flying dandelion seed, you can make a wish (Wikipedia, Old Farmers Almanac).