Hello, New Subscribers! Thanks for being here. Let’s talk about dandelions!
You can eat the leaves in a salad (use the young ones, they’re not as bitter). Roast the roots for tea. The greens can reduce inflammation, are loaded with vitamins, and lower blood sugar. (This is more than you ever wanted to know about dandelions! 😂) But when the airy little whisps of the dandelion seeds begin to fall away and are carried off in the breeze, it’s a sure sign summer is almost here. When you were a kid, surely you have picked one and blown hard to let the seeds fly into the wind.
These images show just how beautiful the lowly dandelion is. I used my little macro lens on these. It’s a challenge to get it just right, but so worth it.
Nature is crazy smart and presents her efforts in a gorgeous and logical way. Perfect symmetry, seeds equipped to travel and propagate lawns and road sides everywhere.
If I had my way, instead of a manicured lawn full of chemicals, we’d plant wildflowers, including dandelions, attracting bees and hummingbirds. And never have to mow!
Now, you won’t look at dandelions the same way again! Go make some tea!
Having lost a major client, Substack is helping me pay the bills. I’m grateful for all my subscribers, paid or not. I’m thrilled you’re here. ❤️
Beautiful pictures 💚. Dandelions are beautiful, a park in town I love to visit has softball sized ones and they’re amazing. Wildflowers and grasses make for more beautiful lawns, require less maintenance, and doesn’t harm the environment like non-native grass.
I used to live next door to a very old man who had a waist-high hurricane fence around his property. It was a pretty quiet street, and his was the only lot with a fence all the way around. (He must have had a dog at one point.) Anyway... when he died his property sat untended for over a year; the dandelions filled that yard, front to back. One day, when the dandelions had reached their "fluff" stage, I was looking after my niece and nephews, and they begged to be allowed to blow on the fluffs. We grabbed a few through the fence, but the lure of the thousands of others was too much. After a bit of consideration I decided why not? So I lifted each one over the fence and for 15 minutes they went crazy, running through the yard, arms stretched, as the seedlings filled the air like a snow flurry. It was delightful. By the next year the property had been cleaned up, the yard mowed, and the property sold. But much to my amusement, all of the carefully manicured lawns on that street were now rife with dandelions... dandelions everywhere! It still makes me smile to think of it. Score one for mother nature!