Friday, June 4, 2010

For the love of dandelions

by June

Warning, warning to all delicate ears! I am about to utter something (apparently) shocking: I love dandelions.

I had no idea mine was a love that dare not speak its name. Then, I was invited to a barbecue in a neighborhood that prides itself on smooth grass lawns that cascade from every front porch down to the street — a street (I might add) that looks as if it is swept for the pleasure of the children who scoot around the cul-de-sac on their trikes and bikes. I didn't know many people at the gathering, so I was engaging in one of my favorite social activities; I was eavesdropping (or as little Fern used to call it "earsdropping").

A man with a beer says to his neighbor: "You know what I found in my lawn?"

The neighbor shakes his head. Uh-oh. He knows what's coming and doesn't even want to hear it.

"Yep," confirms the man with the beer, "A dandelion."

"Did you call The Guy?" the neighbor asked.

Oh, he called The Guy all right. I gathered that The Guy was responsible for the care of the lawns (which tells you how far I was from my comfort zone, a zone where I am responsible for nagging Birch to mow occasionally). I felt sorry for The Guy. He promised to get that filthy weed out of there and to redouble his chemical efforts to make sure another one didn't pop up its downy head anywhere near the cul-de-sac.

Really? Really? I mean, it's a sunny-bright flower that gives the bees something to buzz about long before the rest of the blossoms wake up to spring. Then it turns into a puffball — a puffball! — which happens to be one of the most amazingly engineered seed delivery systems on the planet and the best natural toy ever.


And the chickens look beautiful pecking insects on a stretch of new green tufted with yellow buttons.

Not to mention, dandelions are food! Food! Dandelions are one of the earliest greens after a long winter; they were prized by our grandparents who didn't have Whole Foods down the street. Just ask Laura Ingalls Wilder. Dandelions can be soup, salad, even wine.

The dandelion's long taproot digs way down, even into clay, breaking up the soil like a little tiller, and then it sucks those minerals up to the surface where other plants use them to thrive. I read somewhere (but can't remember where) that it's great to compost dandelion roots; all those beneficial minerals end up in your garden. (I'm assuming it had better be a hot compost or the roots might start growing again, but maybe one of the real gardeners around here will comment and make us all wiser.) And — I have this on the authority of my sweet daughter Blossom — you know that white milky stuff that oozes out of a dandelion stem? That stuff makes warts go away! Blossom has the wart-free big toe to prove it.

Okay, I understand that dandelions can get into places where a gardener doesn't want them. I have one under a rose bush that seems bigger than the rose bush. And the rose bush has thorns, and I have to go through the thorns to get to the dandelion. So the dandelion wins.

But I am not going to poison the thing. We live on a river we love, a river where our children float twig boats and paddle about in the deep pool. It's a river filled with trout. Great blue herons nest along it. Blossom and I once got very still in our shared innertube and watched a heron scoop a fish from the current and swallow it whole.

We do what we can to protect our river, and we know that anything we might spray on the dandelions is going to end up there.

We call it our river because we hear it at night when we're falling asleep and because we hike to its waterfalls with picnic lunches and because we float on the current and watch the birds. We call it ours, but really that river belongs to all of us — you and me and the children who aren't here with us yet. It's such a small, precious planet we share. These days, we're reminded of that in heartbreaking ways. The weather is weird. Oil gushes into the Gulf, threatening life and livelihoods far beyond where the leak is. Just last weekend, we gardened in the gloom of smoke from forest fires in Quebec -- a day's drive away.

We are all neighbors — me and you (wherever you are) and that man with the dreadful dandelion in his lawn. I wonder sometimes how it happened that we have transformed good things (like dandelions) into bad things that we combat with truly bad things (toxic chemicals) that in turn threaten other good things (the water we depend on for life itself).

Fern was riding in the car recently, watching the world go by. It was when spring was new and suddenly green. Some of the lawns had dandelions scattered merrily in the grass. Some didn't. "I miss the dandelions," she said as we swept through a manicured neighborhood. "It doesn't look natural."

It isn't natural. Dandelions are adapted to be wherever their seeds can drift. So maybe we all should let ourselves love them as we did when we were little: Pick a puffball, pucker up, blow. And if one of those little seeds drifts off and starts to grow in a place we just can't abide, let's promise one another, as neighbors, that we'll fight it with something just as natural as the plant itself. I hear boiling water works every time.


33 comments:

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary said...

Count me in as a dandelion lover. What's not to love about a happy yellow flower that turns into a puffy, fluffy flower that you can wish on?

Food Hog! said...

Finally!!! I have found some one who understands the joy of seeing a dandelion! So beautiful. So colorful. And who doesn't make a wish when they blow on the puff balls just as we all did as a kid. Once I asked my husband if he could be any flower what would it be??? He said dandelion. "Why?" I asked, "no one likes them and they keep coming back."
"Exactly." Was his reply.
And from then on when ever one of us is feeling down or stressed we say "Dandelion" to each other and it always brings a smile to each of our faces. And we pick them for each other and leave them in places where they can be "found" by the other. Such as placed by the coffee pot so it's the first things "he" sees in the morning and it will bring a smile to his face.
I refuse to get rid of my dandelions in our yard. I take pride in seeing the yellow carpet of flowers and my heart breaks a little every time I mow one down.

6512 and growing said...

From one dandelion lover to another: I understand. Even my kids know dandelions are food. Your pictures are amazing, particularly the one with the one seed still attached to the flower base.

Here is a post I wrote about dandelions:
http://6512andgrowing.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/i-dig-dandelions-and-apricot-blossoms/

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

I love dandelions too. Like your chickens, our chickens and turkeys relish dandelion greens! I let all mine grow here. I'll never understand what it is about human nature that, just because something is common, adaptable, and thrives, that we have the need to extirpate it. I'm with you. We drain into 'our' two creeks here, and our property is very hilly. Everything drains to the creeks. Some days I'm so glad we live here, and not some chemical warfare crazed dandelion hunter!

elizabeth ~ so wabi sabi said...

I was really enjoying dandelion early this spring when nothing else that was edible was green. I'm afraid that the people at your barbeque would be very disturbed by yard. We also live on the water (a very large creek that some call a river) which is home to herons, raccoons, crayfish, trout, mergansers, osprey, and even bald eagles. It helps me understand these our interconnectedness and that must be difficult for people who are so far removed from nature.

I love the photo with the one seed left.

Tracy said...

Such beautiful photos! I'm a dandelion lover, too!

Catherine said...

What a beautiful post, June! I didn't know that dandelion milk can fight warts! Wow! This is truly an amazing plant! This war against dandelion is so crazy, it's the same here in Quebec. I can't believe you had the smoke from the fires down there!

tom | tall clover farm said...

June, when is a post more than a post? What a lovely and poignant reminder that what we do individually affects the world collectively. Your photos are as warm as the moments they reflect.

In the spring, my lawn is lush and dotted with shiny green dandelion clusters. In the summer, our dry season, the lawn turns to brown, but the dandelions remain green as peas, looking like green appliques on a burlap bag. Here's to the fine weed we all love and to the fine words that remind us it's no weed at all.

Libby said...

What a wonderful post June. Once again you have that easy ability to make me weep. :) When the girls and I walk they easily point out the lawns where "the spray guys" have done their dirty work. We'll take our endless dandelions, thank you very much.

Laurie said...

Count me in too! I love this post, & the one seed left picture!

JGH said...

Another lovely post and Oh, I hope that man never comes to visit me!! I heard a quote recently that I like a lot " The man who worries night and day about the dandelions in the yard will find great comfort in learning to love the dandelions." or something like that.

Unknown said...

I still remember the taste of that wine my grandfather snuck to me---I decided Dandelions were more fun to blow and wish with than drink--but they sure brought joy to each generation that day.

Garden Girl said...

Amen, Sister! I don't want dandelions in my veggie beds, but I sure don't mind them in my lawn. And even in the veggie beds I wouldn't poison them... just get digging!

Flo said...

fabulous post, June. I knew they were useful but thanks for all these new tips, I will be trying them out! hope you're all well, nice to catch up on your blog :)

Colleen - the AmAzINg Mrs. B said...

OK..add me to the list of dandilion lovers - I see many on a lawn and I think "Look - a whole feild of WISHES"..

And, I l.o.v.e dandilion jelly!

Wendy said...

I had the dandelion conversation with my mother. She said something about having dandelions and how they needed to talk to their "lawn guy", and I exclaimed, "What? You don't eat them?!?"

My husband says if you want to control the population of a "pest", invite a predator. In the case of dandelions eat them, and given that we have very few dandelions in our yard, I guess it works :).

I'll have to pass along the wart cure to my daughter. She'll be very interested ;).

inadvertent farmer said...

Super post...seriously! I too love dandelions...if it weren't for them I would certainly have no yard, lol!

Your photos are stunning as always, Kim

renee ~ heirloom seasons said...

You can hear the river from your house at night??!!! Oh how lucky. I once lived that close to a river, at least we have many beautiful ones not too far from home.
We love dandelions too! I think next spring we are going to have to have a dandelion festival!

Jeanene said...

I love dandelions. I brought seeds over to the Dominican Republic and I have about 15 of them. I've thrown seeds all over the place but I don't think they like to much heat and clay.

Your little goaties are so cute. We have ponies that follow my children everywhere. It's wonderful for the children to grow up caring for all these beautiful animals.

We have ants everywhere to. They love to make their home in our sound system, printers - anything electrical. Unfortunately, outdoors we have lots of fire ants to that are big menace on the farm, they eat everything and we just have to respect and live with them.

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