One man's treasure....

One man's garbage is another man or womans treasure! I know my neighbours, and likely my landlord sigh when they see the amount of dandelions I encourage to grow in my yard, how I wait to mow the lawn until they are nice and big... I could never live in one of those fancy neighbourhoods because I looovvve my weeds!

And when we are talking about Dandelions what is not to love?

Lets start at the top shall we?

The flowers can be added to tinctures to make a more complete remedy, they can also be used to make wine, or eaten in omelettes or pancakes. Medicinally they have a mild pain releiving quality.

The Seeds (shown above) are antibacterial specifically for the lungs and can be added to tinctures or used in teas and infusions.

The Sap found in the stalk of the flower is antibacterial and antifungal, it can be applied directly to the skin and will help with scar tissue and acne and will also help to get rid of warts.

The Leaves are a great blood purifyer and builder, they are high in potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and a variety of B Vitamins and other minerals and also help with calcium absorbsion. They are helpful lymphatic cleaners, a mild liver tonic and they help to open urinary passages and help to destroy acid in the blood. Leaves can be used in teas or infusions, eaten as a salad green, in juice or used in tinctures.

The Roots are a powerful liver detoxifyer and great for the treatment of helpatitis as they actually help to reduce liver swelling and will help to stimualte activity in the pancreas and spleen and aid in digestion. They can be used in tinctures, teas or infusions or decoctions.

While Dandelions do grow abundantly make sure that you are harvesting the right plant! Dandelion leaves are smooth and hairless, below are some that I harvested recently.

I really believe that the things we need are all around us and most of us are surrounded by dandelions! These are a great and easy herb to add to your diet in some way, even if you just pick a few leaves and add it to your tea you will be doing your body such a world of good. Remember that even the smallest actions can have big results and when that action is adding a powerful medicine and many vitamins and minerals to your body that is bound to help bring your body into balance to allow it to heal itself.