A guy at the farmers market changed how I see dandelions

I was picking up some basil in Portland last weekend, and this older guy at the next stall was selling jars of dandelion jelly. I made a joke about weeds, and he got really serious. He said, 'Every plant is a weed somewhere, and a treasure somewhere else.' He then explained how every part of the dandelion is edible, from the root to the flower. It was just a quick chat, but it stuck with me. Has anyone else had a simple conversation totally shift how you view a common plant?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah_knight926d ago

That's a great point. I used to pull them from my yard until a neighbor showed me how to make dandelion tea from the roots. It has a nice, earthy flavor, and now I see them as a free crop instead of a nuisance.

kai_bennett6d ago

Actually, the tea is usually made from the roasted roots, not the flowers. The flowers make a kind of syrup or wine, and the leaves are the part you put in salads. It's cool how each part does something different.

elizabeth_mason2826d ago

My yard is basically a dandelion farm now, thanks to you and hannah_knight9. I guess I'm making weird tea instead of having a lawn. The neighbors probably think I've lost it.