Sunday, February 6, 2011

Herbal Ally Challenge 3 and 4

I haven't drawn my dear friend dandelion this week , but I found an older drawing and a few of my favorite pics to share plus another tea recipe.
Dandelion Tea
8 Dandelion flowers
12 oz. boiling water
Honey to taste
Boil water ~ pour over flowers ~ steep 5 to 10 minutes
strain ~ add honey to taste ~ Enjoy !
Dandelion ~ Taraxacum officinale


Diuretic , Tonic , Stomachic , Aperient , Deobstrent

In other words ..........

Beneficial for urinary problems and urinary ulcers , obstructions of the liver , gallbladder and spleen , diseases of the biliary organs , rheumatism , digestive problems , sedative. Skin diseases such as eczema.

Other Uses

Sap from Stems ~ Is used to remove warts

Roots ~ Can be used to make a red dye

Leaves & Roots ~ Liquid Plant Food

Flowers ~ Beer and Wine

I'm looking forward to trying dandelion as a liquid plant food and making the red dye this Spring. I had never heard of using dandelion as a plant food before , found that to be very interesting.

~ Dandelion Blessings ~
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8 comments:

  1. tansyFebruary 6, 2011 at 6:28 PM

    i've used the blossoms to make syrup, jelly and fritters but never thought to make a tea! now i'm itching to get out and pick some to try...come on spring!!!

    i love your drawing! did you add it to your journal?

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  2. karismaFebruary 6, 2011 at 7:04 PM

    Interesting! I thought that tea was made with the leaves although one would imagine the flowers would be nicer. I must give it a whirl. Mind you my dandelion flowers have all turned into wishes! Our extreme heat conditions have made nearly everything go to seed or curl up and die.

    I also love the drawing, very nice. :-)

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  3. Flassie's Fil'aFebruary 6, 2011 at 7:50 PM

    I heard that dandelion flowers are good for depression. Not sure where I heard it. Have you heard of it before?

    A liquid food plant. Mmm. That is interesting and a red dye too.

    Have you made dandelion lemonade?

    God Bless You and Yours!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. JoyceAnnFebruary 7, 2011 at 3:48 AM

    Hi Kristine ~ I have some blossoms frozen , was planning to make Dandelion wine , but never did. So I made a cup of tea after finding that recipe , it was tasty. I've made jelly and fritters too , hope to make syrup this spring. I didn't add the original drawing to my journal ,have plans to frame it. Although I may add a copied print of the drawing later. Glad you mentioned the idea.

    Hi Karisma ~ The tea was pretty tasty , so be sure to give it a try. Glad you liked the drawing , Thanks !

    Hi Flassie ~ I haven't read anything to that effect , but dandelion does have sedative properties. So it makes sense that it would help with depression. I've never made dandelion lemonade , have you ?


    ~ Dandelion Blessings ~

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  5. Comfrey CottagesFebruary 7, 2011 at 4:48 AM

    Beautiful picture:)Come on spring! I want to try the flowers in tea also. Isn't that funny, used them every which way but tea! Very nice Joyce Anne :) xx

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  6. Flassie's Fil'aFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:40 PM

    No I haven't made the lemonade yet. I hope to this summer or spring.

    Roses are red,
    Violets are blue;
    But they don't get around
    Like the dandelions do.
    ~Slim Acres

    Happy Valentine's Day!

    I seen tansy was making
    herb vinegar and looked
    up cleaver vinegar and
    found some info. Think
    I will make a cleaver
    vinegar. I added some
    links at my blog about it.

    God Bless You and Yours!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. KelleyFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:02 PM

    I love dandelion flowers too. They do make me happy just seeing their bright yellow flowers! I recently found a long forgotton bag of dandy flowers I had picked last year.. all turned to seed now. Husband looked scared.. your not thinking of PLANTING those are you?! Can't wait 'til Spring!

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  8. AkasaWolfSongFebruary 9, 2011 at 10:13 AM

    Dear JoyceAnn....
    This was especially helpful to me...I suffer from extreme eczema and right about now it is driving me nuts! I will gather some leaves for that, this spring. As for the flowers that has to be a priority too.
    I am also intrigued by using it for plant food...I'm willing to try it as well.
    I love your drawing!
    Hope you have a good week, and your kids arrive soon...stay safe and warm my friend!
    Blessings on the gentle winds to you! xoxo

    ReplyDelete