Today's forage find and tincture production was a spontaneous affair.
I'd gotten a new tool to till my tiny veggie bed with. During my very first use of the thing, I discovered it was especially useful for digging up dandelions, roots and all. Within a few minutes, I had a mess of dandelion greens and roots.
Back in the house, I snipped the greens off the roots with scissors. Next time I will snip them off another inch or more up the leaf, well above that white part, because the stems near the roots are tough and bitter.
I've heard different techniques for cleaning medicinal roots. Some people don't clean them at all, but let them dry a bit so that they can easily brush loose dirt off. Some people rinse them well.
Here are my roots drying on a plate, while I looked up what to do with them next.
I opted for the middle road on the rinsing question - I dug any dirt clumps off, brushed off loose dirt, and rinsed the roots very lightly.
There may have been disagreement on just how clean the roots should be, but every source I consulted about making dandelion root tincture said the same thing about the next step, whether they had rinsed the roots or not: cut the roots, tiny hair-like roots and all, into small pieces.
While many sources said just cutting them into small pieces was enough, some sources suggested then grinding them with a mortar and pestle, or even blasting them with an immersion blender. My mortar and pestle are packed for a move, and I avoid using power tools, so I went with the cutting them up small method.
There was some disagreement about when best to harvest the roots. All suggested to dig them up when they were not in flower, but some said to do this early in the spring while others said late in the fall was the best time for maximum medicinal effect. As I understand it, when the plants are in flower, the nutrients are above ground.
But everyone agreed on the next step: cover the chopped up roots with alcohol, either vodka or grain spirits.
There was also some disagreement on just how long to let the root and alcohol mixture steep before straining out the tincture, anywhere from two weeks to several months. Most suggested the longer time, so I'll be letting this steep for at least a couple months.
I don't keep alcohol in the house (for a very good reason) and had to go out to buy a bottle. My trip to the liquor store, which is one mile from my home, took longer than digging up the plants, separating the greens from the roots, rinsing the greens and the roots, cutting the roots, and covering them with vodka.
In a few minutes of my time, I had made a medicine that is helpful for many, many conditions, including cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, inflammation, digestive issues, diabetes, and food poisoning, among many other diseases. Dandelion root promotes healthy livers, healthy skin, healthy bones, and gastrointestinal health. And these are only some of the benefits of the root! The leaves and flowers have their own medicinal effects, subjects for another post.
At this point in my quest to know more about the mighty dandelion, it seems there is nothing it isn't good for.
I consulted many sources for this post and, as usual, Dr. Axe puts a lot of information in a concise and informative article.
Here is a second link with some cautions about dandelion as contraindicated with many common pharmaceuticals, along with a lot of information about its benefits.
Here is a link to the instructions that I actually followed, almost to a T.
And for anyone who might want to know what tool I used (which might just get a post of its own one of these days, it is THAT cool), look here for the video that convinced me to spend the $35 on it.
I have to confess, I am not a salad lover. I eat salads of course, because I must. Very often I find myself in a restaurant that has nothing I would actually choose to put into my body (Food Snob Alert!). I then resort to salads, in order to be socially acceptable, but I don't really enjoy them. I think about the toxins that the greens were grown in, did the kitchen staff even rinse these, how much sawdust is in this cheese, etc. I refuse to order salads with mesclun or field greens, which are nearly always inedible if you ask me.
I've also tried cultivated dandelion greens from a few different sources and have found them to be, well, disgusting. Tough, bitter, blech.
Not so with these tender young greens!!! They were excellent! I made myself a salad. Since I had so enjoyed the salad I'd made earlier in the week with wintercress, I made the exact same one with these dandelion greens, and it was even better than the last.
Endive, dandelion, thinly sliced lemon peel, salt, freshly ground black pepper, really good olive oil. Simple and fabulous.
