Common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, is a highly nutritious plant imported from Europe and used by all for it’s medicinal values. As for it’s edibility you can eat the sound flower buds and flowers but remove the green sepals first. Medicinally, it was used as a stomachic, tonic, diuretic, laxative and aperient. So basically it affects the stomach, gives you energy and relieves constipation.

Dandelion Wine

Here is a recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients:

1 quart yellow dandelion blossoms, well rinsed

1 gallon boiling water

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

8 cups white sugar

1 orange, sliced

1 lemon slice

Directions:

1. Place the dandelion blossoms into the boiling water, and allow to stand for 4 minutes. Remove and discard blossoms, and let the water cool to 90 degrees F (32 degrees C).
2. Stir in the yeast, sugar, orange slices and lemon slice; pour into a plastic fermentor and attach a fermentation lock. Let the wine ferment in a cool area until the bubbles stop, 10 to 14 days. Siphon the wine off of the lees and strain through a cheesecloth before bottling in quart-sized, sterilized canning jars with lids and rings. Age the wine at least a week for the best flavor.

Prep time: 1 hr. Cook: 10 minutes Ready in: 21 days

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

Common Dandelion Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software. Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Brill, Steve. Wild Edibles Plus. Computer Software. WinterRoot LLC. Version 1.5. 2012. Web. Feb. 15, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 1914-1915

Foster, Steven and James A. Duke. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. 2nd. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Print. pg. 145-146

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 237-238

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 550

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 362-363

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 84-85

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.