Dandelion question.

[danb159]

Hi guys, first of all I will post a seperate thread in the introductions soon. This is my first post although I'm a long time lurker.

I've just been over to my local park this morning and bought home a few dandelions I found just off of a small foot path for dog walkers and the likes. I know that dandelion is edible and I know that I've positively identified it, however there is something worrying me about eating it.
this is the first time I've ever went and picked up some wild edible so I don't know too much about it. Ironically it feels unnatural to jut cut up some dandelion from the park, bring it home and cook it up? (I know, the most natural thing in the world lol)
Is there any concerns with dandelion, or is it as straight and simple as a lot of websites like to make out?

Cheers for any advide
Dan

 

[oldtimer]

Welcome.

The French for dandelion is "****-en-lit". If I tell you that the en-lit bit means in the bed, you can work out the whole translation for yourself even if you don't speak French. This describes one of the effects that dandelion can have. Also be aware that dandelions in parks and along paths may have been sprayed with something, including dog pee.

Although the roots can be dried and ground up to make a kind of coffee substitute, in my view the best way to eat the leaves is raw, mixed in with other foraged edible leaves, as on its own it has rather a bitter taste.

the **** should make a word of 4 letters beginning with p and ending with double s- oh, and an i in the middle. Obviously a prudish computer programme at work!

 

[Ogri the trog]

Yup, as well as the ****-en-lit mentioned by Oldtimer above, there is another old English name for it "Johnny-****-the-bed-at-midnight"!

I'll also second the caution about leaves found near common pathways - they could have been sprayed with weed-killer or grass conditioners not to mention animal waste or had something even worse transferred from the boot-soles of those same dog walkers. I would try to find somewhere out of the way to collect your salad leaves.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Haggis]

Herself gathers the greens and washes them, then "wilts" them with a bit of bacon drippings. My Grandfather would gather the blossoms and fry them in the mornings to eat with breakfast, and sometimes for wine making; this latter I supposed was for we grandchildren to sneak sips when he was away from the house. I think I would be slow to gather greens or blossoms along roadways and sidewalks; they might not harm me, but they would give me bad vibes to think too much on possibilities.

 

[danb159]

that was exactly the kind of advice I was looking for and a free french lesson. What more could I ask for. Safe to say it is better to forage on the path less traveled?

 

[Toddy]

If you have space enough for a plant pot, then they grow very well indeed in a sunny spot. Kept moist they'll grow big fat tap roots when the weather chills down.

You can grow them as salad leaves pretty much all year round in a pot.
I like dandelion coffee from the roasted roots.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[danb159]

Cheers Toddy, that might be the best thing to do. Looking at how vitamin rich the leaves are, I'd feel stupid not to.

 

[northumbrian]

if you find the leaves a bit bitter tasting try putting a pot over them for a little white , it supposedly makes them more palatable .

cheers Andrew.

 

[Macaroon]

Try the Dandelion leaves mixed with Wood Sorrel and some Ramsomes - food of the gods! All compliment each other

 

[xylaria]

I like red vained dandilion mixed with sorrel and daisy leaves. Dandylion is a bit bitter on its own, but mixed with other leaves esspecailly something tasteless like over wintered perpetual spinach or shop bought lettice it lifts the flavour.

There differant races and subspecies of dandilion, you don't need know what their proper names are, but there is quite a variation in flavour from pleasant chicory to very bitter.

 

[horsevad]

Hi guys, first of all I will post a seperate thread in the introductions soon. This is my first post although I'm a long time lurker.

I've just been over to my local park this morning and bought home a few dandelions I found just off of a small foot path for dog walkers and the likes. I know that dandelion is edible and I know that I've positively identified it, however there is something worrying me about eating it.
this is the first time I've ever went and picked up some wild edible so I don't know too much about it. Ironically it feels unnatural to jut cut up some dandelion from the park, bring it home and cook it up? (I know, the most natural thing in the world lol)
Is there any concerns with dandelion, or is it as straight and simple as a lot of websites like to make out?

Cheers for any advide
Dan

The dandelion is actually a rather interesting plant. It is certainly edible, has a wide range of medical effects, of which some are yet to be fully understood.

The leafs posses very little digestible material - it will not provide you with energy. It does, however, contain some vitamins - mainly A , C and K and calcium.

It should not be eaten in excess - some chemical components (mainly inulin) in the plant may affect the level of blood sugar.

Some further reading about this remarkable plant and its chemical properties:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24611722
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23261487
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22168277
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20849941
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20006217
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19678785


Foraging for wild edibles should preferably be done in areas with very little human disturbance.


//Kim Horsevad

 

[xylaria]

I used to forage in north london. There is plenty of good edible wild food in urban areas that is perfectly good to eat. Shop bought isn't free from toxins so I am not worried about the environment in london. You catch worse stuff from fox urine than dogs. Simply washing anythng that grows below knee height removes most nastiest. Don't think just because waitrose has organic unwashed carrots on special that the cellophane makes them any cleaner than a dandelion pulled from hyde park. The shocking thing I find with london is how black what comes out your nose is,seriously I don't worry about urban foraging simply breathing city air is such a toxic load whatever the plant takes in is tiny. Fungi are another story.

 

[Harvestman]

So long as you forage it from a dog-free area you should be ok, and Xylaria's comments are very much on the mark. The diuretic properties of dandelions are certainly true, but can be exaggerated. The flowers are rather more potent than the leaves in that regard.

Lots of other stuff is diuretic and people consume them without any concern (diet coke is an example of an off the shelf diuretic). Once you have achieved overnight continence training there is really no issue.

The other thing to say about dandelions is that there are over 400 UK varieties/subspecies/species and they are a difficult group to sort out. Each version will be subtly different in terms of flavour and other properties.

 

[xylaria]

They are not the sort of plant that could be eaten in quantity. Then again some muppet managed to top himself by eating a kilo of sorrel juiced. Inulin causes flatulence, I have never noticed dandelions having that effect.

 

[Toddy]

I didn't know there were so many varieties of them. There you go, sommat new learned

I've never noted any flatulence from them, though dandelion wine certainly makes me need to piddle

I wash food and my hands before I cook for other folks; for myself when out foraging I don't bother. One doctor reckoned that it's because I do forage like that that I'm not crippled with RA; that in effect giving my body's immune system a constantly changing set of things to keep on top of is a very good thing, and stops it attacking my joints.

I also wonder about some of the so called 'organic' stuff; especially the crops grown abroad....where 'night soil' is a commonly used fertilizer
Tbh, I think I'd rather have British cow**** than ...well, you get what I mean.

M

 

[danb159]

Well this has been rather more insightful that I first imagined lol. Some really great tips, great knowledge and lovely idea's for further use. I like what Xylaria was saying, breathing in London air alone is toxic, let alone eating some of the processed junk from supermarkets. I find it very strange how I can pile away chocolate bars and refined sugars without worry, but picking up natural and healthy food causes an issue. A state of media brainwash I imagine (but that's for another day).

Thanks for the great tips guys

 

[Goatboy]

You could make some Dandelion wine too to drink while reading the book!
[h=2]Dandelion wine[/h]
The petals from enough complete dandelion flowers to loosely fill a gallon container
4.5 litres of water
1.5kg sugar
Zest and juice of 4 lemons
500g raisins, chopped or squashed by putting in a carrier bag and pounding, or 200ml can of white grape juice concentrate
1 sachet of white wine yeast
Yeast nutrient
Boil the water and pour over the petals. Cover and leave for a couple of days, stirring occasionally.
Pour everything into a large saucepan and add the lemon zest, bring to the boil then stir in the sugar until dissolved. Continue to boil for five minutes. Take off the heat and add the lemon juice and the crushed raisins or grape juice concentrate.
Clean the fermenting bucket thoroughly using a campden tablet, pour in the mix and cover until cool. Add the yeast and yeast nutrient and cover. Ferment for three or four days then transfer into a demijohn using a sterilised sieve and funnel. Fit a bubble trap and allow to ferment for a couple of months, rack-off into a fresh demijohn and leave until clear then bottle. Ray Bradbury would be proud.

The Bushcraft magazine did a nice wee article on using them a while back. A useful plant. We were always taught the use the stalk sap as a wart treatment as kids.