Everyone hates dandelions on their nice green lawn. This nasty “weed” spreads so darn fast, and looks horrible. Those awful leaves, cheap looking flowers…

But! The dandelion leaves are completely edible, great in salads. You can steam and sautee them too! The leaves have a lot of vitamins in them! Vitamin A, C, D, and B-complex. They also contain minerals like iron, magnesium, zinc potassium, manganese, calcium and more!

The yellow parts of the flower are also completely edible. You can dip them in batter and fry up some dandelion fritters.

Even the dandelion root can be toasted and ground up as a healthy alternative to coffee.

So why do we hate them so much?  There are lots of herbal remedies offered by dandelions. I don’t think we’re giving this weed much credit. It’s actually a healthy food source.

Would we feel the same if we walked out into our lawn and go “oh no! I can’t believe it. Look at these large ripe wild tomatoes growing everywhere!”

Wouldn’t you be inclined to bring the tomatoes inside instead of spraying poison on them?

What is the difference with dandelion?

I’ll tell you… The majority of us are simply not use to eating dandelion. We’re also brought up to hate them because of how they spread.  If we could change society’s view of them, I think they would be a lot more welcome on our lawns and we’d actually encourage their growth.

It’s not the dandelion who is ugly and needs to be remedied, only our way of thinking should be..