Dandelions - One of our favorite weeds — food hiding in plain sight. Any edible weed, hubby has identified and lets them grow. The dandelions are all over our yard, which has never had a pesticide on it since we bought it in 1976.
The roots can also be dried, ground, and used to stretch your coffee - like chicory was in the South. Oh yes, we have a bunch of chicory growing wild too.
I'm so exited! The dandelions are finally starting to pop up! This is my favorite time of the year. Get to sit outside in the sunshine picking dandelion flowers for tea and later wine. If I have too much then I make dandelion jelly out of the flowers. Has a very delicate taste. Then the young greens. Life is good!
For the roots I plant dandelions in 5 gallon buckets. Much easier to gather. Just dump the bucket and grab the roots. No digging involved!
One evening I was watching a rabbit in my yard. The dude was munching on dandelion leaves! Even animals know what's good!