Get Rid of Dandelions? No, Grow Them and Eat Them!
Don't worry that your neighbors will think you're crazy. Just tell them that you're favorite color is yellow or that you're a horrible gardener and want some success in growing something. While most all of your neighbors are doing their best to rid their yards of dandelions, you will be the lone pioneer, watering them from your garden hose reel, nurturing their growth, and being the sole beneficiary of their medicinal and nutritious worth, that is, until your neighbors catch on.
My four year old son is simply fascinated (as we all were) and enthralled with the fun of blowing the wispy seeds of dandelions into the air. At first, I would admonish him, beg him to cease, telling him that the seeds would produce weeds and not flowers, that we wanted to remove them from our yard, not propagate them. He could only see that the yellow flowers, to him, were pretty, and couldn't disagree more with their "weediness". So I performed some research.
I remembered distinctly, being from the South, my grandmother, "Mamaw", using dandelions in salads, combining it with several other "weeds" to make delicious, hearty, and inexpensive fare for us all. I wondered if that was simply frugal cooking, or if there was actually some nutritional value in these yellow-headed scourges dominating my otherwise lush, green lawn. Surprisingly enough, "Mamaw" knew what she was doing and wasn't just cutting corners to save some money. {Continue to PART TWO}