Dandelions-Not A Weed! I made Tea! pg 3

[digitS']

It is sometimes called "mountain spinach" - I don't really know why. The spelling is with or without the final "e" .

Wikipedia has some information: (click)

Highmowing Seed sells 2 varieties: (click)

I just leave an orache "mother plant" in some out-of-the-way location to make seed for the following year. It is an annual that is very similar to lambs quarters but it is as tender as spinach when young.

Steve

 

[baymule]

I made dandelion tea today from dried flower petals. It was a deep orange color. I sweetened a cup with raw dark honey. The brown honey turned the orange tea a murky, alge, pond water green. I half expected a tadpole in the bottom of the cup. It was tasty, just weird looking. The second cup, I sweetened with sugar. I squeezed a little lemon in it and it immediately turned a bright yellow.

I sweetened a pitcher of the tea with sugar for iced tea. DH thought it was delicious!

I am picking a hundred or more flowers a day in the garden. I pull the petals out and spread them to dry on wax paper. I bag them up in zip loc bags. I have a feeling that dandelion tea will be a hit at our house!

 

[valley ranch]

Sound good Dana~ are these cultured Dandelions, the ones with the Blue Flowers or?

 

[baymule]

Sound good Dana~ are these cultured Dandelions, the ones with the Blue Flowers or?

No, these were wild yellow dandelions that came up.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

The blue flowered ones are actually Chicory, not dandelions. that means they are not just closely related to endive, they ARE endive (if you took commercial endive and let it grow unblanched and unforced it will become that blue weed.

From time to time, I have seen the rare chicory plant with other flower colors (either white or pink) and thought to make a note to come back later in the season and collect seed (to see if there is any tie between flower color and flavor) but invariably someone has mowed there by then.

 

[baymule]

They look like this and get 2 to 3 feet tall.

 

[baymule]

I dug up 3 plants this morning and planted in my tomatoes.

 

[journey11]

I've never seen such tall dandelions before (of course, EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas!! ) I wonder if they are some kind of a cross with chicory since they are related?

 

[Carol Dee]

WOW , those do not look anything like a dandelion in these parts. Interesting.

 

[baymule]

I see this type of dandelion along the road sides, they are common here. I also see the short squatty kind and the flower looks a little different.