By Katrina Blair

Every part of the dandelion is a reason to celebrate. The plant is incredibly beautiful, edible, and medicinal. Its bright yellow flower opens and closes with the sun and is often the first flower of spring to attract pollinators. It is understandable why the honeybee is drawn to the dandelion flower—when you eat it fresh off the stem, it is sweet and tastes like pollen and honey.

One bright yellow dandelion flower is composed of hundreds of individual flowers all maturing to seed to create the white puffball. These umbrella-like puffball heads fly in the air when blown by the wind and the seeds can be carried far distances. In fact, they are found prolifically on every continent, except Antarctica. However, the islands just off the coast of Antarctica have dandelions flowering each spring.

Celebrations Honoring the Springtime Flower

Dandelions are celebrated in the spring throughout the world. In addition to my local Dandelion Festival in Durango, Colorado, there are festivals in both Boulder and Denver, and a variety of other festivals happening around the world, such as the Netherlands, Canada, and Japan (called the Tampopo Festival). 

In Canada, there are a plethora of dandelion celebrations in cities such as Halifax, Stratford, Waterloo, and Ottawa. Across the United States dandelion festivals are organized in the Napa Valley, California; White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; Dover, Ohio; Burlington, Vermont; Mount Calvary, Wisconsin; Waukegan, Illinois; and Vineland, New Jersey—just to name a few.

The numerous annual festivals celebrate and highlight the dandelion by creating all varieties of foods and beverages made from the whole plant. A common theme that runs throughout most of these events worldwide is the support of organic land stewardship practices and the desire to change the toxic herbicide spraying practices in parks and wildland maintenance programs.

Dandelion Resiliency  

It is recognized as a worldwide symbol of organic lawns. A quote from West Virginia’s Dandelion Festival recognizes this quality: “In celebration and appreciation for the determination of the dandelion, the gutsy little flower fights its way through velvety lawns, dodges mowers and weed killers. And against all odds, dandelion reigns supreme as it blankets our village each spring…”

Another reason to celebrate dandelions is their partnership with gardens and fruit trees. Year after year these perennials build an ongoing root networking system, increasing soil integrity. They ensure that the soil beneath the gardens and fruit trees is aerated and mineralized.

The deep dandelion taproots maintain a loose and spacious soil structure that enables earthworms to compost leaf debris. It absorbs minerals such as calcium, iron, and potassium into its leaves and ultimately into the topsoil when they are composted each year. The garden veggies all benefit from this natural fertilizer and the added natural mulch, which over time creates a rich humus layer of easily accessible nutrients.

Another studied phenomenon of the dandelion and garden/fruit tree relationship is that they are known to produce ethylene gas. This is beneficial in assisting the ripening of the fruit. The spring dandelion flowers often bloom before the fruit trees and draw beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and honeybees to begin pollinating the early blooms in the gardens and orchards.

Edible Uses

Dandelion greens, roots, and flowers can be prepared in a myriad of recipes, such as pesto, sauerkraut, and even ice cream. In the late fall, leaves can be gathered and dried, and ground into a powder for use in recipes throughout the winter months. 

The entire plant, including the stems and leaves, is edible; if it was the only plant available, dandelion has almost everything required for humans to survive—especially if all the parts are eaten. The flowers are a good source of pollen—a highly nutrient-dense food rich in B vitamins, proteins, amino acids, and trace minerals. The seeds of the dandelion are packed with proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. 

A serving size (one cup of fresh greens) has the daily requirements of beta-carotene, calcium, iron, and potassium. It contains more vitamin A than any other green—approximately 7,000 units per ounce as compared to 1,200 for lettuce and 1,275 for carrots. Additionally, dandelions are a good source of chlorophyll, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, copper, sodium, choline, lecithin, biotin, inositol, and vitamins A, C, K, and E (alpha tocopherol).

The green leaves contain significant amounts of pectin—a soluble fiber that prevents constipation. The flowers are lightly sweet and have a subtle taste like honey, while the rest of the plant is slightly bitter. The roots, while bitter during the summer, become quite sweet in the winter months. In general, bitters tone internal organs and promote greater strength and stamina. 

The roots make a fabulous staple food. They become particularly sweet with the onset of cold frosts. From late fall through the early spring, dandelions move all the sugars of the plant downward and concentrate them in the roots for storage. At these times of the year, the roots are especially delicious and are perfect for simply digging up and nibbling on right on the spot or harvesting for winter food storage.

Dandelion Medicinal Action

• Aperient: acts as a mild laxative
• Cholagogue: increases flow of bile from gallbladder into duodenum 
• Diuretic: increases the flow of urine and secretions
• Galactagogue: stimulates the flow of mothers’ milk
• Hepatic: reduces congestion and drains the liver
• Stomachic: strengthens and tones the stomach
• Sedative: reduces anxiety, stress, irritability, or excitement
• Anti-inflammatory: reduces swelling and inflammation of the tissues

As a bonus, the milky sap from the stems and roots, when applied directly to the skin, helps to remove facial blemishes, warts, sunspots, moles, pimples, canker sores, and skin irritations. I have had several warts and sun blemishes successfully disappear after using this milky sap and plant poultices.

This golden plant generously shares so much beauty, health, and happiness year after year for the good of all.

Cultured Root Sauerkraut: Dandelion & Seaweed 

Ingredients:

1 cup dandelion roots 
1 medium cabbage
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon caraway seeds 
1 teaspoon juniper berries
1 tablespoon dulse seaweed

Instructions:

1. Grind the cabbage and dandelion roots in a food processor until lightly shredded. 
2. Place in a bowl and add remaining ingredients. 
3. Mix well and pound mixture with a wooden dowel to bring out the juices. 
4. Pack the sauerkraut into a glass jar. *Choose a jar that can be filled to the top and pack it tightly so that no air is present in the lower levels. Make sure that the juices come to the top of the jar when packing it in. 
5. Place a lid on the jar loosely so that juices can escape if they need to, but air is prevented from oxidizing the kraut. Put a plate under the jar and store at room temperature. Alternatively, use the outer leaves from the cabbage. Place them on top of the shredded vegetable mixture that is pressed tightly in a ceramic crock and place a weight on top to keep the oxygen out. A rock or a gallon jar of water works well. Cover the whole thing with a cloth and leave at room temperature for about one week. 

The smell of sauerkraut will let you know when it is ready. 

Enjoy the kraut on crackers with an avocado and store the remainder in the refrigerator. Culturing wild roots enhances the enzymatic activity of the food and encourages beneficial microorganisms from the soil to assist your body in greater digestion and colon health.

Dandelion Lemonade

Ingredients:

2 cups dandelion greens 
2 lemons, juiced
2 tablespoons honey
4 cups water

Instructions :

Place all the ingredients into the blender and blend well. Strain out the pulp and serve juice fresh over ice on a warm spring day!

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Katrina Blair began studying wild plants in her teens when she camped out alone for a summer with the intention of eating primarily wild foods. She founded Turtle Lake Refuge, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate the connections between personal health and wild lands. She has taught sustainable living practices through John F Kennedy University, San Juan College in Farmington, NM, and Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. She teaches internationally at retreats, festivals, and educational and healing events.

Well Being Journal adapted the above excerpt from The Wild Wisdom of Weeds: 13 Essential Plants for Human Survival copyright 2014 by Katrina Blair, and is printed here with permission of Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, Vermont, 802-295-6300; www.chelseagreen.com. Referenced and indexed.