Nutritious Greens On The Way

I'm starting to see plenty of dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) emerging with all the recent warmth and rains. It's interesting that Americans have spent so much time, money and chemicals to try to rid this horrible "scourge" from their yards. The word dandelion comes from the French term Dent-de-lion which means "lion's tooth" and is a reference to the finely cut leaves. I'll have to say that we try to eliminate dandelions in our primary lawns (and garden beds) at RBG although, at home, I don't bother as I don't mind the dandelion which has a long history in cultivation. In Europe, you might find rows of dandelions planted strictly in the vegetable garden. The photo above was taken Friday just outside of the Horticulture Center. Dandelions have long been used as a food source as the leaves, flowers and roots are totally edible. Dandelion greens are the tastiest when picked young as they get more bitter as the plant blooms and goes to seed. However, boiling older leaves can minimize some of that bitterness and the leaves are always edible despite the variability in bitterness. The leaves are considered one the the top five most nutritious greens on our planet and on the top 10 list as one of the most nutritious vegetables as well (more nutritious than broccoli). The greens have significant vitamins A, K, C, E and also calcium, iron and fiber. Low in saturated fats and cholesterol, the greens are tasty in any salad or stir fry.

Dandelion flowers open during the day and close at night. In other cultures, the flowers have long been admired and I've read that dandelions are highly prized in Japan for their beauty. The roots of dandelions have had many historical and medicinal uses and have long been used as a coffee substitute as well. The roots actually have as much betacarotene as carrots (ounce for ounce). I searched for "dandelion root" on Amazon.com and came back with 460 results (producte. I also read a article that indicated that over 55 tons of dandelion roots are roasted and used as a coffee substitute annually. Now, that's alot of dandelion digging! Of course the seed heads (seen below) can appear almost over night and seeds can travel over 5 miles with optimum "drifting conditions." While I'm not advocating protecting every dandelion in our yards, I'd like to just pass along some tidbits that may give it additional consideration as a nutritious food source. Check out www.mofga.org/Default.aspx?tabid=756 for some additional factoids. Of course, don't use any part of dandelions as a food source in areas where there have been chemical treatments.

I was in briefly on Saturday for a Home Garden Tour Committee Meeting (Tim, Patrick, Cora, Jean, Barb, Dave, Bill, Janet and me) and saw Janice and Pat potting up sedum divisions while Larry and Bill were working on odds and ends as the weather fluctuated between cold and cold and rainy. Our compost sale seemed to be going ok and next weekend in our big tree sale, compost sale and Earth Day activities. It will be a busy week.