The Nutritious and Versatile Dandelion Herb

Most people won't need to buy dandelion seeds to grow the nutritious dandelion herb as it propagates readily in most lawns, gardens and even in the cracks of pavement. Sure, you've always viewed it as a foe, but this helpful herb is really a friend reputed to remedy many ailments including acne, eczema, PMS, yeast infections and gallstones.

Before you yank out this fast growing weed and toss it in the trash, consider it's nutritional value and you may want to save it for a salad!

The dandelion herb is loaded with vitamin A, vitamin C and many minerals. These can be found mostly in the leaves although some do use the flowers. Dandelion seeds are best left uneaten to make more dandelion plants. The leaves are also a powerful diuretic which can aid in urinary disorders and are reputed to help detoxify the blood. Even the roots have medicinal value as an anti inflammatory and liver stimulant and the white stuff that oozes out from the stems is said to help treat warts!

This yellow flowered weed sprouts up almost anywhere and is quite easy to grow whether you want it to or not! It prefers full sun and can propagate through seeds or roots. The yellow flowers bloom in late spring and then turn to fluffy white balls where hundreds of dandelion seeds detach themselves on umbrellas of fluff to fly through the air and start a new plant elsewhere.

The leaves of the dandelion herb are bitter tasting and can be used in salads or cooked by either boiling, sautéing or stir fry. The leaves will be most tender and tasty if picked before the plant flowers. It is best to eat them raw as they will retain most of their vitamins and enzymes that way. 1 cup of raw dandelion leaves contains 1.5 times the RDA of vitamin A.

Now when you pull out those pesky weeds, you may want to think about saving off some of the leaves and improving their health by putting them in your next salad. Perhaps next summer you'll find yourself rooting for those airborne dandelion seeds to take root and produce another fully leafed plant for next years salads!

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