Submitted by Elza Efendi
‘May shower will bring you flower’– is it all about a beautiful little yellow flower growing in Bruce Peninsula called dandelion?
To most of us, dandelions are pesky weeds that bully their way into well-maintained lawns or flower beds. However, dandelion plant history tells us that until fairly recently, the familiar meadow flowers were welcomed and highly valued for their nutritional and medicinal value.
Medicinally, dandelion roots and leaves were used as a tonic to remove toxins from the bloodstream, acting as a gentle diuretic to improve the function of the digestive system. Ancient physicians didn’t know much about nutrition and vitamin deficiencies, but they realized that dandelions helped with a host of problems, including kidney, stomach and liver disorders, skin irritations, heartburn, gall bladder problems, diabetes, arthritis, anemia, constipation, toothaches, fevers, survey, and even warts and dandruff.
Dandelions are rich in Vitamins C, E and A, as well as calcium, potassium, zinc and iron. Dandelion greens now appear in many supermarkets, but if your lawn in Bruce Peninsula isn’t treated with chemicals there’s no reason you can’t pluck and eat the greens growing in your own backyard – in salads, sautéed or wherever you’d use other greens. Use the plants to make nutritious tea and flavorful wine. Roast and grind the roots to make a coffee substitute; flowers can be dipped in batter and fried to make fritters, or added to hotcakes and topped with dandelion syrup.
This is a very old recipe from my cooking book that most likely came from the earliest European settlers who brought this “weed” with them as a food and herb source. Obviously they did not have access to oranges or lemons! It can be used as a substitute for honey in any recipe calling for honey, drizzled on French toast, ice cream….use your imagination!
·1 quart dandelion flowers. Be sure to leave as little green as possible.
· 1 quart (4 cups) water
· 4 cups sugar
Optional: ½ lemon or orange chopped, peel and all. It will give your syrup a lemony or orange taste. If you want pure dandelion flavor you may omit it. You may also substitute 1/2 chopped, tart apple, peel and all. The apple flavor is less obtrusive and the natural pectin will thicken the syrup a little quicker.
If you’re bent on getting rid of Dandelions in your lawn, here’s my few tips:
· Don’t cut your grass so short! Never cut grass shorter than 5 cm and don’t cut more than 1/3 of the blade length at a time. When you scalp your grass you let more light in for Dandelions to grow!
· Don’t use fertilizers! Dandelions and other weeds are better at sucking up fertilizers than the grass! Encourage plants like clovers to grow in the lawn providing natural sources of nitrogen fertilizer.
· When using a weed poker carry a cold beer or water in the other hand, make weeding more enjoyable!
The war on dandelions is a war we cannot win. These plants are here in Bruce to stay with us forever. Face it, this beautiful yellow flower is a part of our landscape. And remember, it’s just a little plant. Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy your lawn more. Life’s too short to get all bent out of shape by a little plant.
Hey, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, or in this case if you have a yard full of Dandelions eat’em and drink’em. This is a perfect win-win solution. As always, use caution when using any plant for medicinal purposes. Read up on their properties and possible interactions with drugs or other medications.
