2011 Herbal Ally Challenge / Dandelion

Kristine over at ( Dancing in a Field of Tansy ) has challenged her readers to join her in an herbal study of 1 plant or ally this year. If you're interested , you can read about it here ( http://fieldoftansy.blogspot.com/2010/12/finding-herbal-ally.html ). Our first challenge was to create a journal cover. I used a regular composition book , gessoed the cover , did my favorite toilet paper technique on the background to add texture. I then added a piece of corrugated cardboard , a square of burlap and a Dandelion atc I created a few years ago. I'm not finished with the cover , but thought I would show it anyway. I chose Dandelion as my herbal ally ..................

Dandelion is a well known herb , with many useful benefits. My first experience with Dandelion started in 2006 when my youngest daughter was pregnant , she was diagnosed with a rare liver disease ( Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy ) that only surfaces when you're pregnant. The liver stops functioning properly , causing bile to build up and poison the body. It causes intense itching over the body from head to toe and can cause the baby to be stillborn. I started researching the itching and knew what we were dealing with before the test came back to confirm it. As I researched , Dandelion kept popping up in the information as a way to help get the bile acids back to normal levels. We talked to her CNP about what I had found on the internet about Dandelion , she had studied herbal medicine before coming a CNP and told us , she couldn't recommend Dandelion , but it was a safe herb to use during pregnancy and it wouldn't hurt a thing if we decided to use it. Since I didn't know much about wild herbs , I headed to the GNC store to buy Dandelion. The ICP started around the end of the 8th month , I think she took the Dandelion about a week before she started leaking fluid and they had to induce labor , which was a Blessing. They usually induce labor early to avoid the baby being stillborn. I'm not sure if the dandelion had time to reduce the bile acids , but it did make us feel better to be doing something. My grandson was born about a month early and he was healthy. My daughter's liver went back to functioning normally after he was born.

The latest walk I've had with dandelion came about a 1 1/2 ago , I was having digestive problems and began researching herbal ways to deal with it. Once again Dandelion reared it's beautiful head. I dug the roots that Fall and made a tincture , started taking the tincture daily. Dandelion helped with my digestive problems and apparently boosted my immune system. I've haven't had a cold , flu or been sick since I started using the dandelion tincture. It's been amazing , since I take care of my Grands while their parents work and I'm constantly wiping noses and dealing with sick kids. Last summer I cooked Dandelion blossoms for the first time , they were delicious. I can't wait for the Dandelion to bloom this Spring. I'm looking forward to cooking and learning more about Dandelion.

~ Dandelion Blessings ~

JoyceAnn