Dandelions are starting to pop up all over my yard. I welcome the happy little yellow reminders that spring really has sprung and I can put away the snow boots.
I know it's really common to spray dandelions with roundup and be rid of them. I'm going to be putting them to good use instead – there are a bunch of great uses for dandelions!
- Save them for the bees! Honeybees love dandelions. Since bees need all the help they can get these days, leave them your dandelions! We need our pollinators.
- Harvest dandelion root. Dandelion root can be eaten or made into a coffee-like beverage that is great for your kidneys.
- Eat them. The entire dandelion plant is edible and super nutritious. The flowers are delicious in stir-frys or just cooked on their own with a little salt and butter. Early spring leaves are great in salad!
- Make body products. Try lip balm, dandelion salve, or lotion bars.
- Make wine. Yes, dandelion wine! It's delicious and easy.
Whether you're eating them, or using them on your skin – pesticides are not your friend. Don't harvest dandelions anywhere chemicals are sprayed!
Have you ever tried any of these ideas or heard of other uses for dandelions?
Jessica
Hooray for dandelions!!! Yes, they always signify the end of a cold season…finally closing that chapter and opening a new, warmer one. 🙂
I have made coffee with them before (yum!), infused them into body products, but have not eaten them yet. We have a dandelion smoothie recipe on our site, but I have yet to try it. Thank you for reminding me…I’m going to give it a go! OH…and I have not made wine, but am intrigued!!!
Great post and very timely. 🙂
Kristen
We feed them to our Guinea pigs! They love them!
Kylie Worthington
Awesome! I love them too. 😉
Green Moms Network Week in Review
[…] Don’t just weed out those dandelions! Put them to good use! Everblossom has 5 health and beauty uses for dandelions! […]
carol
Novel ideas on using dandelions. I’ve been putting them in my smoothies and after reading this post, I will try them in my salad. The dandelion root “coffee” sounds interesting. Thanks!
Jessica
we love our dandelions!! 🙂
Cat
I love dandelion coffee! It’s the closest (and healthiest) alternative I’ve found to the real deal.
Kylie Worthington
Yes, it’s delicious!
Sue D
I always like dandelions for our honey bees and this year for the first time I made dandelion jelly.
Kylie Worthington
Sounds wonderful!
Lisa
Do you know of a wine recipe?
Lisa
I am trying the following wine recipe now: https://winemakermag.com/232-dandy-dandelion-wine. I just racked it off the lees at the 3 week mark and it is a beautiful yellow. I expect it to clear over the summer and may be ready for a taste around Thanksgiving. There are many recipes that use citrus as the acid. I opted to use the wine acid blend (partly because I had it on hand from my experiments with my grapes and partly because I wanted to taste the dandelion instead of lemon or orange).