Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Dandelions










Dandelions
June 4, 2015

Every year I make photos of dandelions growing in my yard. I realize many people "hate" dandelions and I have to admit that I weed them out of my flower and vegetable gardens, but leave them alone if they grow in other parts of the yard.

Last week, while outside with Anna, our 4 year old granddaughter, I asked her to help me pick some dandelion flowers. When we had a bag nearly full, we went inside and both of us picked the yellow petals, She actually did a pretty good job of not getting any green.

Afterwards, I looked up a few recipes for dandelion jelly and decided to make some without one of the main ingredients, pectin. I read that it would be a syrup rather than jelly if pectin wasn't included. When it was done, I put it in the fridge and later let the kids taste it. Anna didn't like it, but Sam said he "sort-of" liked it. I have been using it on toast every morning since. In case you are wondering, it tasted much like honey.

In other years I have picked the leaves from young dandelion flowers and my wife cooked them with a cooked dinner. If picked when they are young they are as good as, or better than, "greens" which people purchase in early spring.

The point of this is to remind you that a plant that most people want to eradicate from their yards are actually good to eat and are actually good for you. Check the Vitamin C content in dandelion greens below!

Here is some information from Wikipedia!!


  1. Dandelion
    Plant
  2. Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae and consists of species commonly known as dandelion.Wikipedia
  3. Nutrition Facts
    Amount Per
    Calories 45
  4. % Daily Value*
    Total Fat 0.7 g 1%
    Saturated fat 0.2 g 1%
    Polyunsaturated fat 0.3 g
    Monounsaturated fat 0 g
    Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
    Sodium 76 mg 3%
    Potassium 397 mg 11%
    Total Carbohydrate 9 g 3%
    Dietary fiber 3.5 g 14%
    Sugar 0.7 g
    Protein 2.7 g 5%
    Vitamin A 203% Vitamin C 58%
    Calcium 18% Iron 17%
    Vitamin D 0% Vitamin B-6 15%
    Vitamin B-12 0% Magnesium 9%

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