If you’re wondering if dandelions are good for you, the answer is a resounding YES for most people. Growing dandelions to eat is some of the cheapest superfood you can grow!

Yes! Growing Dandelions on Purpose!

Many people dread those early yellow blossoms in spring of the common dandelion as a dreaded weed to combat. But the bees and other pollinators love dandelion plants and we do too. Not only are we not interested in getting rid of the dandelions in our yard, we’re actually growing dandelions to eat! That’s right… we PLANTED some dandelions on purpose!!

DANDELIONS: Don’t kill ’em… grow ’em and eat ’em❣️😎💚

Dandelion Latin Name: 

• Taraxacum officinale

Dandelion Common Names:

• Dandelion
• Dandy
• Dandies
• Lion’s tooth
• Blowball

Our favorite edible weed plant is the dandelion. We especially love dandelion salads with toasted hazelnuts or pine nuts and roasted garlic and balsamic dressing. Here’s that dandelion greens recipe we use most often because it’s a delicious, quick and easy recipe: Dandelion greens salad recipe.

We also use dandelion greens for green juice and the roots as well as dried leaves and flowers for dandelion tea for detoxing and tonifying the liver^[1]https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/dandelion

From cursed weed to natural cancer cure… don’t kill the mighty dandelion!

Dandelion Nutrition – Taraxacum Officinale

Dandelions

• More vitamin A than spinach
• More vitamin C than tomatoes
• Ample iron, calcium and potassium
• Provide food and medicine, from root to leaf to flower

You can find a more extensive breakdown of nutrition in a cup of dandelion greens in this article on dandelion salad nutrition and benefits.

What Parts of the Dandelion Can You Eat?

All of the dandelion plant is edible. This lion of a plant is about more than just the dandelion leaves. From root to stem, flowers to leaves and even the dandelion seeds, the entire plant is edible and medicinal with many dandelion benefits for health and enjoyment.

Dandelions are SUCH an amazing little powerhouse of a plant, that our future farming visions include the possibility of growing dandelions to eat and to sell commercially.

Meanwhile, we’ve got some growing in our hugelkultur beds for the past couple years and have planted new ones this year.

Dandelion Side Effects

Dandelions are not poisonous or toxic.^[2]https://www.poison.org/articles/plant

People who are allergic to related plants such as ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, and daisies, may not be able to enjoy dandelions. Also, dandelion stems contain latex, so anyone with allergies to these plants or related allergenic substances should approach with care and caution.
~SOURCE: NCCIH.NIH.Gov

Dandelion for Detox

Popular for detox, dandelion root tea is a powerful ally in health and wellness. However, some people may experience unpleasant discomfort in the lower back area of the kidneys.

While it’s not uncommon to experience some areas of discomfort during any kind of detoxification, if this happens to you, it’s best to discontinue consumption and check with your doctor. A good naturopathic or herbal medicine practitioner should also be able to guide you in a safe detoxification process, with knowledge to guide you through and according to any symptoms.

DISCLAIMER: The information in this article and website cannot be construed as medical, nutrition or health advice. We are not medical professionals and are only sharing information gleaned from our own experience and research. 

Dandelion Leaves are Edible

We LOVE the dandelion green leaves for salad greens!! Just writing this, my mouth is watering and I’m longing for a huge bowl of green leaves with a couple dandelion flower heads for garnish for the pop of color and nutrition. Our favorite dandelion salad greens recipe is with balsamic vinegar and toasted hazelnuts.

Okay, so I went out to the garden and harvested some dandy greens and am enjoying that salad even now, along with some wild violet tea that was harvested and dried this past week, in spring of 2022.

Most people prefer the tender dandelion leaves that are harvested before flowering because they’re less bitter. I’ve found dandelion greens to be more flavorful in spring and more bland when harvested in fall.

However, I love them anyway I can get them. Served with a little balsamic vinegar with olive oil and roasted garlic, toasted hazelnuts or pine nuts tossed with a little feta crumbled and/or boiled egg (both optional) and man… it’s a taste I never grow tired of.

• Yes, you Can Eat Dandelion Flowers
• Dandelion Roots Are Edible
• Even Dandelion Seeds Are Edible

CAUTION: DANDELION ALLERGIES

We enjoy eating dandelion greens and drinking dandelion tea so much that we actually planted a crop of dandelions in our experimental hugelkultur bed. We had to be patient though because you can’t start harvesting dandelions until the second year. Now we’re enjoying the dandelion greens so much that we planted more.

GARDEN SNIPPET:
Don’t discard the dandelions… eat them or dry them for tea! Dandelions offer tremendous nutrients and detox directly from nature’s medicine cabinet.
~GardensAll.com

A Market for Wild Roots and Weeds

Many in the GardensAll and Planting for Retirement communities are interested in earning money from their surplus produce as well as figuring out how to earn a living growing intentional crops for market.

Growing dandelions for profit may just be one good option, IF you also like dandelions. If you’re growing to sell, be sure it’s a crop you also enjoy.

We like the idea of earning money growing and selling these nutrient packed powerhouse of a plant that delivers food and medicine from every part of its being.

Dandelions deliver food and medicine from root to leaf and flower.

The Dandelion Market

In 2014, these were the going rates in the Kentucky market, as published on ProfitsFromNature.com.^[3]https://www.profitsfromnature.com/may-root-prices-kentucky/ Naturally, prices will fluctuate each season and year, so always check with your local buyers.

Herbs – Price per Dried Pound 

• Goldenseal  $18.50
  (Note: Most dealers don’t want you to start digging any goldenseal until June because the quality will be better then.)
• Goldenseal tops $5.00
  (Note: Dried tops must be green in color, not brown. Do not dry in direct sunlight.)
• Bloodroot $12.50
• Virginia Snake Root $100.00
• Star Grub Root $75.00
• Mayapple $3.50
• Black Cohosh $3.75
• Prickly Ash Bark $2.00
• Dandelion Root $1.00

Dandelion Greens

• $2-$4/lb for Fresh Dandelion Greens currently retail from between $2-$4/lb in the NC area grocery stories and sometimes more for organic.
• $27/lb for Dried Dandelion Leaves – average price in bulk; costs a lot more in tea bags

Naturally, to sell dried dandelion leaves would require a commercial dehydration or freeze drying system, which can be costly. However, if you’re investing in any kind of farming of specialty crops, this would definitely be worth researching.

Plan for Waste

Consider the possibilities of after market and added value products for any crop you plan to grow. If you’re growing elderberries, for instance, consider the prospect of selling frozen elderberries and/or jams and syrups.

To plan for added value products converts possible excess crops and market leftovers into more profitable items.

If you’re growing dandelions as a specialty crop for profit, please drop us a note. We’d love to chat with you to learn more. We can also add your information and farm name and link to this article as well.

 Herbs and Weeds for Healthier Consumers

Here’s an excerpt on Yankee Magazine that sums up the marketability and market potential of growing and selling edible weeds. Though this is a bit dated, it gives you an idea of trends.

Recently I read that dandelion greens are selling for $9 a pound at trendy markets. Known in the trade as “yuppie greens,” purslane and lamb’s quarters have become just as desirable.

It seems a very odd time to start charging high end prices for things that grow for free and were, for the most part, a cornerstone of survival for many during the Depression. Though it doesn’t seem like an odd time to start appreciating what grows in our yards and in the near forests. According to your own taste, there is an abundance of food out there that can be had for free.
~Edie Clark, writer, YankeeMagazine.com^[4]https://www.yankeemagazine.com/article/marysfarm/foraging

Some people earn money killing dandelions. Others earn and benefit by growing dandelions to eat!

Weeds Feed Your Garden Soil

Okanagan Biodiversity Farm

Michael “Skeeter” Pilarski, famous permaculture instructor and wildcrafter, talks about the street value of dandelions and polyculture.

He calls this 0.85 acre plot “edible acres” or “Okanagan Biodiversity Farm”. He grows about a hundred different crops on this plot as a market garden including raspberries and elecampane. And… he grows—and sells—weeds like dandelions!

Michael lets the dandelions go all season, and then he harvests them in the fall and sells them! During the growing season, the dandelions and other weeds feed the surrounding plants.

Dandelions are solar collectors, distributing collected energy to nourish the soil and feed your plants.

Skeeter explains that plants like dandelions are solar collectors and pump half of their collected energy into the soil to feed the web of life which then fertilizes other plants. Weeds also help to keep the soil from getting compacted. Tap-rooted weeds (dandelions have a wonderful tap root) can also bring nutrients up from deep soils.

“Weeds in your pathways will feed your crops. Bare dirt will not feed your crop.”
~Michael “Skeeter” Pilarski, permaculture instructor and wildcrafter

4 Kinds of Weeds in the Garden

Skeeter says there are four kinds of weeds in the garden:

1) real weeds that he doesn’t like
2) weeds he makes money on
3) crops that have spread
4) native plants

Other weeds he likes to encourage includes lambs quarters, red root and malva neglecta (aka common mallow or marsh mallow).

Skeeter likes the tap-rooted weeds, like dandelion, because they don’t spread with rhizomes.

We hope you enjoy this video with permaculturist and wildcrafter, Michael “Skeeter” Pilarski, as much as we did.

$900 for selling your weeds..?! 

(And it’s legal in every state!)

Shared from Paul Wheaton’s Permies.com^[5]https://permies.com and YouTube channel.^[6]https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsakAmIBPWSKOQrnuOXIsjA

The Health Benefits of Weeds May Wow You!

Dawn Jackson Blatner, a Chicago-based dietician and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association shared in a Wall Street Journal article by Anne Marie Chaker:

“These plants learned how to protect themselves from the sun, the wind, the bugs, and those who eat them are reaping the benefits of that matrix of immune systems. One man’s weed is another man’s wonder food.”
~Dawn Jackson Blatner, dietician^[7]https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124338226000356493

“One man’s weed is another man’s wonder food.”
~Dawn Jackson Blatner, dietician

Dandelions for Curing Cancer

Long used for detox and healing, dandelion is now being studied for healing cancer, with positive results.^[8]https://reset.me/story/dandelion-root-kills-cancer-cells-in-lab-tests/

Enjoy this Tedx presentation on ‘Nature, the Best Chemist’ by Dr. Siyaram Pandey.

“The best chemist is nature.”

Nature’s “Farmacy”

Obviously, cancer is very serious and not something to treat alone. Consult you doctor and doctors working in this area of alternative healing and get informed for intelligent application of the best treatment options for you.

When we begin to realize the power of this humble little plant with the lovely yellow flower for pollinators (and people), we’ll never again think of it as a weed to get rid of.

Dandelions to Eat and Other Uses

• Flowers for:
  • salads
  • fritters
  • wine
  • tea
• Leaves chopped into:
  • leafy green dandelion salad
  • mixed salads
  • green juices
  • soups
  • steamed
  • sautéed
  • dried for tea
  • dried and powdered for:
    • capsules
    • green juice
    • sprinkled on any foods
• Roots dried for:
  • tea
  • coffee substitute (dandelion root coffee)
  • supplements
  • tinctures
• Stems for
  • Wart removal
  • Diabetes^[9]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5553762/#ref151

If you like coffee substitutes, you may want to try dandelion root coffee. One of our favorite brands for coffee substitutes is Teeccino.

Though hard to find, we’ve tried two different brands of dandelion wine… one we liked, the other we didn’t. But we’d like to try making our own as well.

With so very many options from this one little edible weed, perhaps you’re ready to consider growing dandelions to eat and for oh so much more!

Doses for Dandelion Remedies

The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia recommends the following doses for dandelion, posted in a study on the benefits of dandelion for diabetes:^[10]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5553762/#ref151

• Fresh leaves 4-10 g daily
• Dried leaves 4-10 g daily
• 2-5 ml of leaf tincture, three times a day
• Fresh leaf juice, 1 teaspoon twice daily,
• Fluid extract 1-2 teaspoon daily
• Fresh roots 2-8 g daily
• Dried powder extract 250-1000 mg four times a day

Dandelion greens salads – here’s a super simple dandelion salad recipe. Or if you want more on dandelion nutrition, you will enjoy this article, which has the dandelion recipe for salad using dandelion greens at the end.

And… as promised, you can find the Potato Leek Soup recipe at the end of this article on edible backyard weeds.

And… we’ll close with this enchanting time lapse video of a dandelion flower growing from bud to blossom to seed over a one month period.

Eat the Weeds!

Chickweeds

Some of our favorite weeds to eat from our yard besides dandelions are chickweed, wild violets, garlic chives and ramps. We use chickweed in salads and soups and also on sandwiches in much the way you’d use sprouts or microgreens.

Chickweeds are also a good substitute for watercress in our favorite potato leek soup, which is great hot or cold, depending on the time of year and your preferences. We’ll include the link to that recipe in this article on backyard weeds you can eat. and also at the end of this article as well.

Chickweeds are a good substitute for watercress.
~GardensAll.com