Dandelion Friend or Foe

Dandelions get a bad rap from gardeners and lawn freaks. Many do not know (most survival minded do) that Dandelions are food and medicine in one. Most of the info here is from http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html


This post is about growing them intentionally for food and medicine use. Yeah I know some of you are cringing and hoping you are not the neighbor of that person. These little "weeds" are a great source of vitamins such as B-1, B-1, B-2, B-5, B-6, B-12, C, E, P, and D, biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc. The root contains the sugar inulin (see below), plus many medicinal substances.


It’s supposed to strengthen the entire body, especially the liver and gallbladder, where it promotes the flow of bile, reduces inflammation of the bile duct, and helps get rid of gall stones. This is due to its taraxacin. It’s good for chronic hepatitis, it reduces liver swelling and jaundice, and it helps indigestion caused by insufficient bile. Don't use it with irritable stomach or bowel, or if you have an acute inflammation.


Dandelion root’s inulin is a sugar that doesn't elicit the rapid production of insulin, as refined sugars do. It helps mature-onset diabetes, and I used it as part of a holistic regime for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). The taproot is edible all year, but is best from late fall to early spring.


You can also eat dandelion flowers, or use them to make wine. Collect them in a sunny meadow, just before mid-spring, when the most flowers bloom. Some continue to flower right into the fall. Use only the flower’s yellow parts. The green sepals at the flower’s base are bitter.


Collect dandelion leaves in early spring, when they're the tastiest, before the flowers appear. Harvest again in late fall. After a frost, their protective bitterness disappears. Dandelions growing in rich, moist soil, with the broadest leaves and largest roots, are the best. Select the youngest individuals, and avoid all plants with flowers.


I myself saw first hand people who loved these plants. While stationed in Alaska shortly after the huge influx of Vietnam refugees my new neighbors being from Vietnam asked me if they could pick my dandelions and of course being uninformed I said yes. They would pick the leaves while they were still very young and curly like a wild fern plant. I know better now why they picked them.


The article also says that there are no poisonous plants that look like the dandelion. Chicory and Wild lettuce are similar.


Now everyone knows how fast these things grow and how tough they are. So what could be better than growing them as a supplement to your diet. They are perennial and even if you snap off the root to eat it they will grow back eventually. Here where I live they even make it through the worst winters every year. The plant is also self fertilizing so it does not need to be pollinated. Basically they are sexless.


This is just some Food for thought as it were. Give it a try and see if it would be a viable addition to your survival needs. You could even raise them indoors in one of those herb gardens they advertise on TV. That way you could control the spread of the seeds to your neighbors yard and remain friends. I suggest getting seeds from a plant far from people so that you avoid any pesticides or should I say try to avoid them as much as possible.


Next time you are on some remote trip and see one growing give it a try and you may be surprised at what you taste. Yes I have tried them and they are not bad. Try getting the leaves before they spread out.


As with anything I put on this blog, the info is there for you to do your own research. Do not take my word for it and that of the author who's info I have presented.

This is for "D" the vegan gun toter

Well thank you first of all for posting a comment "D" to my Meat food for life. You said in your post that many vegetarians/vegans do not eat meat for environmental reasons. I think that is a good cause since I do not want polluted water, land, air or food for that matter. But to say that eating only vegetables is saving or helping to save the environment is a bit of a stretch.

Unless the veggies are harvested by hand, transported by horse drawn wagon (methane)and use no water to grow them, have no fertilizer to help them grow, and the seeds just appear out of thin air then they are not as GREEN as you think.

Even organic veggies require fertilizer to grow. If compost is used this must be stored some where and transported by truck (diesel fuel or gasoline)or packaged in plastic bags (oil based) and then shipped. Even if it is shipped by trains they use (diesel) for generating electricity to make it go (more economical than trucks). I have never seen a train pull up to my local garden store or grocery store. Even if the grower picks it up himself fuel is used. If manure is used then we are back to Cows (methane), horses or exotic animals such as elephants, etc. These require feed that also must be transported the same as the compost. The amount of methane produced by these animals is HUGE so there we go again with the pollution factor. You could have your own compost pile but it better be HUGE and start now so you will have it for your future garden.

As for growing your own veggies for a vegetarian I would say that 1 acre per person would be advisable. Now weather is a major factor with any garden. I assume all those who are vegetarian's live in Florida, California or some other great year round climate. Otherwise you better can enough for winter (canning requires Heat=fuel). Now that garden does not produce, milk (cows again), soy products in quantities for food (I would not want soy as my only food), Sugar if used, coffee same, oranges, bananas, olive oil, rice, coconuts, tea, avocados, nuts, salt, pepper, various other spices, grape fruit, apples, dates, molasses, pomegranate, kiwi, star fruit, honey, juices, peanut butter, butter (cows), cashew butter, pineapples well you get the point I hope. Most of the non U.S. grown products must be shipped by boat or train and they are far from environmentally sound. Ever seen what ships dump in the ocean?

I did not even cover the stores that sell these products or the people who work there and I would say they drive to work, not walk in most cases.

Now I hope every vegetarian that grows their own food has sufficient water for it in the form of rainfall. If not then water must be provided from other means such as the city, county or through irrigation canals. All use some sort of power to get them to you. Even the irrigation canals cannot flow up hill. Not to mention the chemicals (oil again) used to make water safe for drinking, except for the irrigation canals.

Now vegans do not eat eggs but vegetarians do and these eggs have to be transported, refrigerated, inspected(light source, electricity)and packaged. Now the people who do this may not be as GREEN as their product and I am sure they drive to work (fuel). Does it require any fuel source such as electricity to make the recycled egg cartons?

Now we won't even go into the production of the seeds. But energy must be used for packaging, transport, and the growing of the seed producing plants to begin with.

You also mentioned that I was wrong about the lack of vitamins in a pure vegetarian / vegan diet. Yes they have many vitamins but if cooked improperly say goodbye. How can you be sure they are cooked properly. I suggest drinking the left over water or using it for soup to insure that you get the vitamins. Steaming is the best way to cook them. If you are eating them raw you can get the full benefit of the nutrients. But who could eat raw veggies for life. I suggest you still take supplements for your health just in case.

I agree "D" with your train (no pun intended) of thought, yes, cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, geese, turkeys and other food animals do produce products harmful to the environment. But being a vegetarian or a vegan is not much better and much more expensive in the long run.

You also mentioned you are a gun toting vegan. Where do the components come from for gun powder, the steel for the weapon or the lead, you get my point.

Again I thank you for your post but as long as humans live on this planet no matter what we eat we will still contribute to some kind of pollution and there is no way around that unless you can live without food, water and shelter.

Thank you again "D". This post was not meant to put you down in anyway but to help you see the truth behind any diet.

Meat food for life

Well here is something that just wrangles me, Vegetarians. Now I am all for "to each his or her own" but being a vegetarian makes no sense to me. Most of the country of India (Hindus) are vegetarian with cows treated like gods running all over the place. There are an estimated 40,000 cows in Dehli alone roaming free. Are there any starving people in India? They would be short a few cows if I was hungry. Here we call them a hamburger on the hoof or what ever is your choice cut. But I digress. In this country vegetarians mainly choose that path not for religious reasons but for the sake of the living thing. To be sure most vegetarians have no religious background since in the bible it tells you all about eating MEAT!

When a vegetarian tells me that they can never get full and are always hungry I just want to sit them down and show them what a meal is really like. I would get them a nice New York Steak or a T bone with all the fixin's and see if they are still hungry then. Now myself I do not eat the huge hamburgers put out by the fast food chains, but give them a triple decker burger and some greasy fries and damn if they won't be full then.

Now even our teeth are geared to meat eating. Take an elephant for example it has teeth for grinding vegetable material down so it can be digested. Our front teeth are for tearing the meat and the back teeth are for further chopping of the meat.

What happens to your digestive system if you only eat veggies, you are always taking a dump that's what. Try eating a high fiber diet when that is not your normal diet and see what happens. Imagine just eating plant material forever and you get the picture.

Now I am not against vegetables. I love my corn, green beans, beans in general, rice, potato's etc. But this is not what our bodies were designed to run on. You must take huge amounts of supplements with a veggie diet to maintain proper health.

One other point about Veggies, it has been my experience that most are LIBERALS! Who among other things hate guns, approve of abortion, want my money and think that the OBAMANATION is the greatest thing since soybeans.

The whole point of this post was to vent some again.

Just give me some good ole MEAT thank you. In fact I think some steak is in order tonight. Maybe I will eat the veggies portion besides mine.