Dandelion and Violets, oh, JOY!

Taraxacum Officinale by anemoneprojectors

I am sipping a lovely cup of Spring.

When I nipped meself outside yesterday to feed the chickens (and spoil the neighbor's goats because I'm a sucker for a pitiful bleat), I found my yard sprinkled with golden coins, sparkling in the pooling sunlight.

They are Dandelions, people! Dent-de-leon, Tooth of the Lion, golden disks of beauty and health and wonderment. 

You know, that horrible weed that people poison their yards to get rid of? Yeah. That one. I don't hate on "weeds" and I welcome their presence in my native landscape...in other words, I did a dance of joy.

I went through the yard with scissors, snipping the golden flowers from their leafy crown pedestals and managed to gather up a large handful.  I also snipped a small handful of violet leaves and flowers from the quickly-strengthening patch I planted a couple of weeks ago.

After the chickens were fed and the stinky goats fed and petted, I made my way back into the house and put the kettle on.  I rinsed the dandelion heads and violets in clean, cold water and tossed them into a jar. When the water was just about to a boil, I poured it over the flowers in the jar and sealed it up tight. I left it there on the counter all day, and all of the night, shaking it occasionally when I walked by. 

This morning, I put a bit of honey in my travel mug, added a splash of hot water, stirred it together, and then topped it off with the strained contents of the jar.  FRESH dandelion and violet infusion, what a gift!

This drink is high in vitamins, specifically vitamin A.  It doesn't taste like much, to be honest, but there is a definite green flavor, a freshness that cannot be denied.  I expected there to be more bitterness, as I left the green bits on the bottoms of the flowers, but no. It is a delightful, refreshing drink that I have before me now.


Things I want to do with Dandelions this season, and what I know about them:

• Harvest roots and pickle, dry, and otherwise experiment and learn about them. The roots are great for anemia (high in iron!), and are a liver tonic. They also increases hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which aids digestion and allows more of the nutrients of your food to be absorbed into your system.

• Use the greens to make pestos, salads, and more. I'm learning to appreciate bitter flavors, and can feel the gastrointestinal benefit. They are also really high in calcium, vitamin A (½ cup of greens has around 14,000 IU of vitamin A).  They are also loaded with caretones which are known cancer-fighting agents, and help move radiation through your body and OUT.

• Dandelion flower cordial, fritters, cookies, and more! You can do anything with these little guys, and there will be more infusions and teas in my life.  I made a dandelion mead last year - I should post that recipe and share the experience in another post here soon.

• Dandelion flower oil and salves.  Dandelion oil is very nutritive to the skin, and is an excellent oil to use topically for cysts, particularly breast cysts.  Add some aloe to it for an amazing sunburn relief.

Do you have dandelions yet? Do you nibble on your yard like a crazed rabbit?  If you know there are not chemicals sprayed, you should go get your nibble on and learn about this versatile healer that is so despised by those with solid green, boring yards!

What's Coming Up in my Garden?

Spring is close...everyone that I see is big-footed and falling over themselves in a state of twitterpation. We had a lovely, loud rolling thunderstorm last week that must have woke up the snakes, and the goats who live next door reek of rut.  There was snow and rain all at the same time yesterday, and the roosters are losing their ever-loving minds...Spring must be near with all of those signs...

Last week was warm and lovely, a tease to make me cringe these ice-coated mornings of late. I woke on Wednesday and was go, go, going all day!  My housemate and I went down to our lower lot to do some maintenance to the area ignored during winter weather nastiness.

Biddy, June 2010, Modern Scribe Photography

The lower lot is where the chickens live, and since their pen and coop needed a serious raking and cleaning, we let the biddies run around the yard on their own for the first time since we've had them.  I get nervous because there are foxes and hawks, but I am glad that we let them free for a while. They were overjoyed, just a-scratching merrily, trimming grass and bug-hunting. We added new straw to their coop after dumping the old litter into the compost and turning it over for the first time this year - oh lovely, tumbling black dirt! It does my heart good to see such simple beauty.

While the hens kept themselves entertained, Sarah and I raked out the planting bed from last year.  The old dead grass gave way without a struggle in the damp earth, and the baby plants there were easily removed to give room to the clumps of yarrow bursting forth like vivid, ferny fireworks.  I transplanted some wild yarrow from elsewhere in the yard last spring, and now that it's had a year to settle, she sure has taken happy root in that well-draining spot!  I look forward to the smoke blends, the tea, and the tinctures that sweet and potent yarrow will be sharing with me this next season's turn.

There's also a new friend who will be sharing space with the yarrow this year.  Since I've left the swamp, I've missed the giant violets that filled my yard near the creek (read: drainage ditch).  On the local FreeCycle, someone posted about free violet rhizomes, and I jumped at the chance!  I picked up the plastic potato bag full of rhizomes and root clumps and skeedaddled back home like a kid with candy...so when we cleared the garden bed and turned over the soil, we planted the violet rhizomes under the sweet-smelling earth and after only a couple of days, I see heart shaped little leaves lifting up towards the sun, and there is one bud just waiting for a bit of warmth to bust!

It's the strange clock dance of Daylight Savings Time this weekend coming up...all I care about is playing in the widening expanse of sunlight in these warming days. Blessings and warm rain to you all!