This Spring I have been reflecting a lot on dandelions. Their bright yellow faces have cheered me. Their hardiness and resilience have encouraged me. They are everywhere and so taken for granted!   They are mowed down, poisoned with weed killer, dugout, and defamed. But children love them and relish picking fistfuls. The abundance fills a child's heart and imagination.
My favorite way to enjoy dandelions is to eat them! First of all, there is the wonderful memory of "picking" them with my Grandmom Jule. She would never get them around the house, even though there were tons because there were too many dogs in the neighborhood. This wasn't an exaggeration because at one time the dogs outnumbered the people in our area. So we would go to the corner of the farm, back near the woods in the six acres of asparagus my dad raised and we would pick them. Now, this had to be done in a certain way! One took a knife and with surgical precision, inserted it into the ground near the plant, deftly cutting the root. The plant needed to be whole- no palm-full of leaves, please! The plant was dusted off and put in the paper bag. When we had enough my grams would march us back home. She did the hard work of washing them. I never remember eating any because as a kid I hated cooked greens!
Years past and I spent time teaching in Watertown, NY. Dandelions reappeared in my life. It was a season and many of our Italian parishioners vied for the best places (often cow pastures) and the biggest dandelions (before they flowers of course)! It was a joy to gather them and the skills my grams taught me stood me in good stead as I picked along with some of the most awesome gatherers I'd ever met. But something changed - now I ate them with great relish. We ate them in a salad with homemade dressing that often included an anchovie or two. We ate them sauteed in oil and garlic. We filled ourselves with this wonderful Springtime tonic so rich in iron.
Last week, craving a dandelion feast I picked some - actually a lot. I had experienced picking and eating but I had never had to clean them! Well, I blessed every friend who had done that job! It took over three hours to get the mud, pine needles, and grass out of them! I was weary from standing at the sink but the delight of eating them with two lovers of dandelions - and myself - made up for it.
What a celebration of the goodness of Earth and the gifts of Spring!

Images courtesy of wildedibles