If you have been with us for a while then you already know that the dandelion is edible. All parts can be eaten, the greens and flowers are usually eaten. The roots are good for medicinal purposes. Fall is perfect for harvesting dandelion roots. The roots will have stored up loads of nutrients to carry them through the winter.
You can take advantage of this by harvesting them now in the fall and all the way through winter is the temperatures allow in your area. You can dig down into the ground a few inches along side a root and then carefully work it out of the soil or you can do it the easy way with a weed and root remover which allows you to remove dandelion, thistle and other roots without all the kneeling and crawling around on the ground.
Once you have dug your dandelion roots you can use them fresh to make tinctures and teas or you can dehydrate them so you can store them in a mason jar to use over the winter. Common Sense Home shares instructions on dehydrating them and a couple of recipes to make with the roots. There is a recipe for congestion and another for helping to detox and get rid of cellulite.
Take advantage of this free weed that is probably in your yard right now just waiting. Do not ingest and plant from a yard where weed killer or other chemicals have been applied. When the yard green guys knock on my door asking if I want them to come control my weeds.
I always politely decline by telling them, No Thank you, I may need to eat them one day. lol. I get funny looks but thats okay. Besides I think the dandelions look very pretty in spring when the grass is all shiny and green and the dandelions pop up for a couple of weeks with their pretty yellow faces.
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