Would You Care for Some Dandelion?

Did you ever eat dandelion? My grandmother O'Brien loved them. Every spring she was eager to get to the meadows to cut the new plants. "The young ones are the best," she always said.

The countryside in Maddox Cove, Newfoundland was covered with dandelion and Nan delighted in them. She picked huge bags of leaves which 'boiled down to nothing' in the pot according to Nan. I always wished they did 'go away to nothing' because I hated them. Dandelion always tasted sour to me. Nan served them with boiled dinner. I thought that everything else in the pot was tainted by the dandelion.

Rick and I have waged war with dandelion in the lawn for years and have not used herbicides on them for a long time. Digging them out is the preferred method of course but they are so numerous this year that task seems insurmountable. The stalks appear to duck their heads when the mower passes, only to pop up again when it is put away.

I wish I did like to eat them, maybe I would think differently about the plants.

Dandelion anyone?