Cursed Dandilions

[Carri]

Thanks for the warning on the mint!!

 

[silkiechicken]

I don't think I want to eat the dandelions here. They are stringy and bitter... or is that just me? There are a pile of monstor plants that I could attack. Only If I took pictures of them when they were in full bloom. Leaves were about 18 inches long if not longer, with stalks 2-2.5 feet tall.. now that is a monster dandilion. After cutting down a bunch of trees though. All I see now are the little 1 foot tall ones.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Dandelions have to be harvested when tender and young to be good. Soon they are bitter and tough.

I'd get the chickens into a tractor situation or just even a small temp fence type arrangement to weed that area for you. You will be surprised how little time it will take them if you confine them to the task. One or 2 hens in a bottemless cage that fits the area width and move it along each day, or even just have them there for a bit in the morning when they are the most active.

 

[Rio_Lindo_AZ]

When my garden had belonged to my mom, there were many herbs there. She had Rue, dill, basil, and many other types. But she had a TON of mint. Before she knew it, the weeds in her garden was the mint. It had spread all across the garden killing all the other plants. My mom didn't realy care until it got more serious. After the garden was trenched with the mint and you couldn't see the dirt or the other plants. And thats when she gave the garden to me. That same day, I got the tiller and stabed the Ugly plants and added them to the compost pile. After I was done and the garden was clear, I sew some peas. but by the time harvest time came, the garden was packed with the mint. every season, I have to do the same thing. I have to weed the garden till my back breaks. I guess that if your garden has a history of weeds, the next generation of plants in your garden will have weeds. No wonder they call it "Yerba Buena" wich means "Good Weed" in Spanish.

*mental note* Don't plant mint........... (Even if the deer don't like it....)

Why is it bad to plant mint?

 

[Reinbeau]

It's not bad to plant mint, provided you've got the area for it, or have some way to contain it. But many people innocently plant it in an herb garden and are amazed at how it takes over - there is no way to control it in an open bed.

You can plant it in large pots, but you'll have to be careful, because the stolons can crawl out through a drain hole and root in, or over an edge. Best to use something like a clay chimney liner, sink it into the ground at least a foot and watch the top like a hawk. Or let it grow in your neighbor's yard (that's what I do)

 

[Rio_Lindo_AZ]

It's not bad to plant mint, provided you've got the area for it, or have some way to contain it. But many people innocently plant it in an herb garden and are amazed at how it takes over - there is no way to control it in an open bed.

You can plant it in large pots, but you'll have to be careful, because the stolons can crawl out through a drain hole and root in, or over an edge. Best to use something like a clay chimney liner, sink it into the ground at least a foot and watch the top like a hawk. Or let it grow in your neighbor's yard (that's what I do)

That was my Mom and My mistake because I can't get rid of them! and I always fint it's roots when I'm digging a hole. Is there an underplanting that can kill it?

 

[Reinbeau]

Nope, best way to kill it is to pull, pull, pull. It will be gone if you get all of the runners out. I've done it before.

 

[mamaspider]

i LOVE mint and grow several varieties, but you do have to be careful how and where you plant it. Certainly putting it in a barrier like in a pot buried in the garden, helps, as does keeping it trimmed to keep it from flowering and going to seed... which then adds to your problem! (by the way, do NOT fertilize mint... it just makes it bolt (go to seed) faster! - please don't ask me how i know.. just trust me on this one!)

my mint solution is plant it where i want it to take over, and then any time it moves past the boundary, yank whatever is escaping, make yourself some mint tea and sit back and enjoy!

another plant that i find even more menacing than your regular mints (although it is related) is pennyroyal. yikes!

jean

edited to add... lemon balm is also a mint. it doesn't do the crazy runner thing, but will reseed itself halfway across the yard, so limit its blossoming unless you want a LOT of it.

also - herbs are better BEFORE they have gone to seed, so I pinch all of mine back every time they look like they're going there, until almost the end of the season.

 

[Grow 4 Food]

they make pretty good wine if you get them young!

 

[ozark hen]

Fry 4-5 slices thick-cut bacon
Take the bacon out and make it into bacon bits. Save the hot grease. In a big bowl, mix 3 tbsp. white sugar, 3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 3 tbsp. water, 1/2 tsp. thyme, 1/2 tsp. salt, 3 finely chopped green onions, whisking until the sugar dissolves. Add the hot grease slowly so you don't splash. Whisk again.

Pour the warm dressing over a really big bowl of 1/2 dandelion leaves and 1/2 Romaine or looseleaf lettuce. The greens will wilt slightly. Sprinkle bacon bits on top.

Pick a big bucket of yellow dandelion flowers. Strip the petals from them, and put the petals in an enamel pot. Boil them in 3 quarts of water, with 1 sliced lemon, 1 sliced orange, 5 pounds of honey, and let cool to room temp. Then strain into a very clean 1 gal. glass bottle (has to be glass, not plastic) and add 1 packet of wine yeast, any kind. Over the top of the bottle, stretch a balloon or put a fermentation lock if you have one. Wait about 1 month, then siphon off all the clear stuff into another 1 gal. glass bottle. Add balloon. Wait another month, then bottle.

Pick some dandelion flowers and rinse the bugs off. Dip them in the following batter, and pan-fry in olive oil. Dip the resulting yummies in ranch dressing.

Batter: 1/2 c. cornmeal, 1/2 c. flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 3/4 c. milk or buttermilk, 1 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. thyme, maybe some Italian seasoning if you like, 3/4 tsp. salt, garlic or onion powder to taste.

I have hardly any dandelions in my yard. I think they're afraid.

yum and very funny. I wish I knew what to look for in wild greens besides dand. greens. I am going to fix this for sure as soon as I see some.