April showers bring May flowers, and one of the first to spring up is Dandelions. I have never seen as many dandelions as we have in Wisconsin. Could be because there are lots of fields, and plenty of rain.Driving through the countryside, you see fields of yellow. The first time I asked what the crop was, the person laughed and told me it wasn't a crop. It was the dandelions. I would watch them, and notice that they were allowed to go to seed before being cut. Wouldn't it make more sense to cut them BEFORE they go to seed?
Or maybe the dandelion provides something I'm ignorant of. The yellow color is so eye-popping and cheerful after months of grey winter. Every year I have the same thought. Someone should figure out some way to use them. They are plentiful, resistant to nearly everything, perennial and found nearly everywhere. It's a shame to see Nature's abundance just go to waste year after year. Maybe I'll look into this....
My research found that dandelions are marvelous for detoxifying the body. The greens, before the flower comes, are tender and tasty, full of vitamins and nutrients. After the flower blooms, the leaves can be boiled to get the detoxification effect. The flowers can be eaten, and/or saved and made into Dandelion Wine. The root has multiple uses, the best one being the propagation of the species. The taproot of a dandelion is long and difficult to uproot. When surface dandelions are pulled up, the taproot usually breaks, which causes it to multiply and reproduce.
So, Nature has given us a perfect solution to long winter. After months of having no fresh produce, the dandelion springs to life in the early Spring with tasty nutritious greens. This is followed by yellow flowers that are cheerful and can be saved to make Wine. We can boil the entire plant to detox our body from the ill effect of a long Winter. Nature also made Dandelions with the ability to easily seed and propagate themselves. A near perfect plant that we spend great effort to eradicate instead of enjoying it's many benefits. Read more here: http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html
I for one, am going to give this a try.
