spidra's Dandelion

The flowers are pretty in their way. And cheery-looking. If only they didn’t give way to one of the most successful ways of seed dispersal ever evolved – little “umbrellas” that carry the seeds far and wide. But that’s not all – if you order now, you’ll get a plant that has a powerful taproot that can regenerate from broken pieces. This is one successful little devil!

Still, it’s edible. You can even find young organically-grown dandelion leaves for sale in gourmet produce shops in the SF Bay Area. You can eat your weed dandelions as well as long as they are growing in an area where you can make sure they do not get dosed with pesticides and/or herbicides. They’re bitter so they’re best used as an accent to a salad rather than the main component of a salad.

When you pull them, make sure you get all the root up. If you pull the flowers before they go to seed, it’s not enough to toss them aside. They continue developing even when uprooted! Make sure you throw them out. You can compost them if you have gotten them before they’ve flowered. Just don’t try to compost the roots or flowers/seeds unless you have a hot compost pile.