Dandelions are the bane of existence to many a suburban
yard, they sprout up almost overnight and can easily take over if you are not
diligent. Of course the fact that it is so fun to blow the seeds of the
dandelion into the wind doesn't help, especially if you live in a neighborhood
full of kids - or adults like me who are just big kids in disguise!
My back yard is big and full of all sorts of things
including trees, shrubs, grass, flowers, clover, rocks and of course,
dandelions. Fortunately for me, no one
seems to mind that we don’t have a pristine back yard. The dogs and kids have run wild there for 17
years so it has served us well!
The past few seasons have been interesting for my family as
I have slowly introduced them to more magical fare in the kitchen. I am blessed
with a loving family who just go with the
flow, so when I toss dandelion greens into a salad or send the kids out to
fill a bucket full of dandelion flowers so I can make Dandelion wine, no one
even blinks. It makes me smile just to write that because there really isn't much I could say (or do) that would surprise my family.
This week I chose to write about the Dandelion and hope that
the information here will cause people to think a little more kindly of this
versatile little plant.
Many people don’t realize that the dandelion is edible. It has a high concentration of Vitamins A, B,
C and D and is also high in Iron, Calcium and Potassium. Who knew? The greens
can be tossed into a salad, blanched or steamed like spinach and eaten as a
vegetable, the root can be dried (or roasted) and ground up to make tea (which
can taste very similar to coffee) and the flowers can be used to make a lovely
wine. When picking dandelion leaves for
a salad, be sure to use only young leaves, older leaves can become bitter.
Magical Correspondences:
Gender:
Masculine
Planetary
Ruler: Jupiter
Elemental
Ruler: Air
Deity: Hecate
Magical
Properties: Divination, Wishes, Calling Spirits
According to
Scott Cunningham you can use the dandelion to send a message to a loved one. To
do this you visualize your message and blow the dandelion head that has gone to
seed in the direction of the person to whom you want to send you message.
He also
writes of some other fun things to do with a dandelion head that has gone to
seed:
To see how
long you will live, blow the seeds of a dandelion, the number of seeds left on
the seed head indicates how many years you will live and to tell the time, blow
three times on the seed head, the number of seeds left is the hour.
According to
the Real Witch’s Garden by Kate West, tea made with dandelion root is used to
aid the liver, kidneys and bowels as well as to cleanse the system.
Karen
Harrison of The Herbal Alchemist’s Handbook wrote that the magical uses for
dandelion root tea are to bring psychic impressions and dreams and she also
states that adding Dandelion to an herbal amulet brings abundance in “Financial
Acumen” and opportunity.
Here is an
easy recipes for turning the humble dandelion into wine:
Dandelion
Wine
This recipe is from Allrecipes.com
Makes 4 quarts
1 quart yellow dandelion blossoms, well rinsed
1 gallon boiling water
¼ ounce package active dry yeast
8 cups white sugar
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon slice
1. Place dandelion blossoms in the boiling water, and allow
to stand for 4 minutes. Remove and discard the blossoms, and let the water cool
to 90 degrees F (32 degrees C).
2. Stir in the yeast, sugar, orange slices, and lemon slice;
pour into a plastic fermenter, and attach a fermentation lock. Let the wine
ferment in a cool area until the bubbles stop, 10 to 14 days. Siphon the wine
off of the lees, and strain through cheesecloth before bottling in quart-sized,
sterilized canning jars with lids and rings. Age the wine at least a week for
best flavor.
Notes: Be sure that you use only pesticide free dandelions
and that you wash them well before you put them in the pot.
Dandelion Tea
I found a couple of great sites which had detailed
directions for harvesting and roasting the dandelion roots. The links are
below.
Sources:
The Herbal Alchemist’s handbook by Karen Harrison
The Real Witch’s Garden by Kate West
Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham
http://www.harvesthaven.com/healthaids/dandelion.html
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dandelion-wine/
Merry Meet, I am new to the PBP. Thank you for this post.
ReplyDeleteFantastic post! I am sooooo making the dandelion wine this spring! Amazing how good they are for you and amazing what suburbanites will do to get rid of them :\
ReplyDeleteI wish everyone could realize what a gift from nature they are. This is getting pinned!
xo,
Lisa