I loved dandelions! Still do. Every spring, bucket in hand, found me in a nearby field picking dozens of the round fluffy seed heads. I then blew them far and wide. If I caught a flying seed, I’d make a wish. The green stems were then thrown into the bucket and carried to the small fish pond, in front of the house, where I filled it with water. I then scraped the stems with a dull knife, threw them into the water, where they produced fascinating curls. I also made a chain necklace, with the stems, by placing the narrow tip into the wide hollow at the bottom.
The Pennsylvania Dutch also love their dandelion as food. I remember watching Mom, during early spring days, with a bucket and knife, head for the meadow and dig up dandelion greens. She always said, “I can’t wait too long or they’ll be bitter!”
Once she brought them into the house, she’d cut off the ends, wash them, and let them dry. When it was supper time, she’d fry a large piece of ham. She’d make her bacon dressing in the same pan, so it would have the ham flavor. The bacon was cut in small pieces and fried until crisp. She used a mixture of sugar, salt, flour, egg, vinegar, milk or water. It was cooked until it thickened, and then poured over the greens, and topped with slices of hard-boiled eggs. This dressing was served over boiled potatoes.
One time, my husband, who never had dandelion dressing before, had Easter dinner at Mom’s home. Harry put his dressing next to the boiled potatoes, on his plate, and was immediately told, “Oh, you put the dressing on the potatoes!” He did just that and has enjoyed the dressing ever since.
There is a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that you have to eat greens on Green Thursday (Maundy Thursday), the day before Good Friday, so you’ll be healthy all year.
Pennsylvania Dutch aren’t the only people who love their dandelion. There are numerous springtime Dandelion Festivals throughout the world, that create their own traditional dandelion delicacies in foods and beverages, such as bread, sausage, ice cream, lasagna, coffee, tea, wine and more.
A Dandelion Festival that is held in Dover, Ohio has this motto: “The best way to control dandelions is to eat them.”
Still another motto for their Dandelion Festival is found in White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia. It states, “In celebration and appreciation for the determination of the dandelion, the gusty little flower fights its way through velvety lawns, dodges mowers and weed killers, and against all odds, reigns supreme as it blankets our village each spring. When you look at a field of dandelions you can either see 100 weeds or 100 wishes. We salute you, our West Virginia Dandelion!” Their emblem consists of four different dandelion growths.
Vineland, New Jersey, started its first Dandelion Festival in 1973, and is known as the “Dandelion Capital of the World.” Local farmers harvest dandelions, selling them to markets along the east coast.
The University of Rochester, New York, also celebrates a Dandelion Day, due to the legend that the campus once held fields of dandelion in the cow pasture. In 1954, the University adopted “dandelion yellow” and blue as their official colors. Their official song is called, “Dandelion Yellow.”
Just to mention a few other festivals are those held in Napa Valley, California, Burlington, Vermont. Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, Wauhyan, Illinois. Other countries are Zealand, Netherlands, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Japan.
There is an organization, Military Brats Registry – children of military personnel – whose flower emblem is the dandelion. The end of the poem, “The Dandelion,” written by Chelsea tells why it was chosen: “…children of the World, blown to all corners of the World, we bloom everywhere.”
The Crayola Factory, Easton, Pennsylvania, got in the act as well. In 1990, eight crayola crayons were retired into the Crayola Hall of Fame. One of the colors to replace them was “dandelion.”
Dandelions are also loved for their medicinal properties and nutrition. The leaves contain minerals and vitamins, such as A,C,K, and B-complex. It is a good source of calcium, iron, potassium, to name a few. It is a natural detoxicant, diuretic and body-cleanser. It is one of the oldest tonics around. It was well known to ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, the Japanese and Chinese.
The name dandelion itself comes from the French “dent de lion,” meaning lion’s tooth, referring to the lion-toothed leaves. It is also known by many common names: blowball, candkerwort, doonhead, Irish daisy, milk witch, fortuneteller, Monk’s head, puffball, face clock, wet-a-be and pissabed. (My mother called it pissabed because it could cause some children to urinate in bed. – it wasn’t me!)
It’s scientific name is Taraxacum officinale, which comes from the Greek words for “disorder” and “remedy.” The Latin name “taraxacum” was first found in 900 AD in Persian writings.
According to Dr. Douglas Schar, in “Thirty Plants that can save Your Life,” “It’s actually a native to Asia. Over the centuries of trade the dandelion is likely to have spread from the Orient to Persia, to Arabia to Europe and from there to all parts by way of colonials.” Some scholars tell us the seeds came across on the Mayflower because they weren’t found in America prior to 1620.
These hardy plants grow wildly in open fields and fast. They can root in cement and gravel. They open during the day and close at night. They have a long flowering season and when a puff ball blows away in the wind, it can be carried for miles.
How did this beautiful yellow flowering plant, so rich in medicinal value and nutrition, become so hated and considered a weed? It’s those gorgeous lawns we see nowadays at every home. Americans spend billions of dollars to eradicate these so-called pesky weeds.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, when asked what a weed was, said, “A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.” I think he’s right. The virtues of the dandelion need to be rediscovered once again – by you and me!
Carole Christman Koch grew up in Berks County and has been published in numerous publications. She has a passion for writing and has many stories from growing up on a farm to raising children to humorous stories about her and her husband to everyday stories to season stories and more.
