This is my first wild forage of the season. Dandelion and Milk Thistle. The pictures below show a time span of 2 weeks. Harvest, wash, dry and crush.
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Wild foraging is fun and relaxing. This is one of my favorites as these grow abundantly in my area. I only harvest the leaves at the beginning of the season to make tea. At the end of the season I will harvest the dandelion roots and stems, otherwise if I pull them all up at the beginning then...well no more plants!!
Dandelion and Milk Thistle are wonderful detox teas. They are also full of vitamins and minerals. Like Vit. A, B, C and K. They are also chocked full of free radical neutralizers (polyphenols) as well as iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium. They have inulin which helps maintain healthy gut bacteria. This tea is also anti inflammatory. The main thing I use this tea for is to Detox. It is a good overall "detoxer" but focuses on the liver. Anyone who drinks alcohol, takes over the counter medication, prescriptions etc would do well to drink this tea.
A little about foraging these plants: DO NOT forage these on the side of the road where the highway dept. sprays herbicides. Harvest from a pasture or vacant lot you know isn't sprayed with chemicals.
How to drink this tea: Place a teaspoon of the herb in a tea bag and steep in 8 oz. of hot water covered for 10 minutes. Do not boil. (Boiling is for the roots and the stems. We will cover that later this season) I add stevia to mine before drinking. You could also add a local honey after it has cooled a bit. Never "cook" honey if you are wanting the nutritional benefits as it will kill all the good stuff.
Store the crushed leaves in a glass jar labeled with the date and contents. Store in a cool dark cabinet.
Other good info: Use a pair of rubber gloves to crush the leaves. It works better than your raw hands and if there are any small thorns on the milk thistle then you won't get pricked.
Dandelion leaves are wonderful sautéed with spinach. It increases the nutritional value!!
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