The lowly dandelion

There is a vacant lot next to us with a plethora of dandelions flowering right now. I got up early before the kids and harvested some of the flowers for jelly and the roots for medicinal tea.

The roots, leaves and blooms of the plant are edible. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a serving of uncooked dandelion leaves contains 280 percent of an adult’s daily requirement of beta carotene as well as more than half the requirement of vitamin C. Dandelion supports a healthy urinary tract, kidney and liver functions. When harvesting, be careful to select plants that have not been exposed to herbicides or pesticides.

The above picture is what I foraged. I think I'm going to need a LOT more of the root to get a substantial amount to actually use! That may be a job for the boys this afternoon.

The flowers were easy to harvest, but oh my achin' back!
I followed THIS RECIPE from one of my favorite blogs.

After washing the roots, I sliced them thin and put them in the dehydrator. Once dried, they can be steeped in boiling water for tea, or roasted and ground for coffee.

Dandelion root tea is an excellent diuretic and liver detoxifier.
Kinda like "spring cleaning" for the body!