Season of Dandelions

It is the season of dandelions. This year they are especially fat, luxuriant, dripping with milky essence, dense with green spears of leaves and fluffy gorgeous yellow bundles of petals. The bees are all over them, the mason bees and bumblebees both gathering their rich golden pollen. This is the sort of thing that makes the heart of an herbalist sing.

Yes, I am an herbalist; one of that tribe of people who loves plants, even the so-called weeds, who uses them for medicine, who listens to the spirits of plants talk. And I am also one of the people who find deep healing from the plants; at night when my joints ache with arthritis, it is the golden light of dandelion that brings me ease.

Dandelions are native to Europe and it is thought that they were "accidentally" brought over to America with the first settlers. This I doubt; the earliest European settlers knew well the medicinal value of dandelion, and I am certain those earliest herbalists made a point of bringing these seeds as one of their most important medicinals.

In the last century or so in American life, most of us have lost our connection to plants, and also to a sense of how they can help us. I remember vividly as a child in the '60's, watching my dad go out to his green lawn, armed with a long screwdriver and a deep sense of insult, stabbing those damned weeds to the heart and removing every last one of those persistent, obnoxious pests.

Today I am one of the people who finds the sight of dandelions a gift from Great Spirit. And it is us, the herbalists who are trying hard to keep the old knowledge and the dandelions alive. We know that dandelions have roots which help our bodies clear out the gunk, while the fresh green leaves are not only a tasty addition to a salad, but help support the kidneys as they clear out the gunk.

It also turns out that dandelion can provide a wonderful infused oil which can be rubbed on painful muscles or joints. For myself and for clients both, I can attest to the pain relieving power of dandelion flowers.

This is how I make it: every April I watch carefully for the first dandelions coming to full bloom. I wait for a sunny morning and pick them before noon, as this is when the flowers are open andmost full of their essence. I lay them out on a window screen and let them dry overnight. I then place them in a jar, filling it with olive oil to at least 2 inches above the wilted flowers, cap the jar tightly and place it in a sunny window. Each day I shake the jar, mixing the ingredients. At the end of 2 weeks, I strain the oil/flower mixture through cheesecloth or paper towels, and squeeze out the last bits of healing oil. I store in a clean jar in the frig, being careful to label and date the jar. When the muscles spasm, the joints ache, the feet hurt, a rub with dandelion oil can help me find my way though the pain.

So here's to the season of dandelions! May they forever bless our lives.

Janet Partlow