Lilacs

It's early May, Mother's Day is right around the corner and that always brings my mind to lilacs. My mother loves lilacs so every year I try to find some recipe somewhere that I can make for her using those wonderfully fragrant, beautiful blooms. Sadly, I have never had success. One year I tried to make lilac perfume but in the end it came out smelling like burned popcorn, eww! Not exactly the scent I was going for. Through much research I have discovered that it's near impossible to get a true, natural lilac scent. It can be synthesized by chemical/perfuming companies but to use the flowers at home to get the scent...not so much. One point of interest here, I have recently discovered that an essential oil producer has discovered how to make an essential oil but it is such a difficult process requiring so many flowers that it is ridiculously expensive and only a few people in the world can afford to buy it. The good news is that I refuse to give up, I will continue trying different methods of extracting the scent.

So now we know that at this point in time I have no suggestions for using those amazingly scented flowers for anything that we want to put the scent in. BUT! There is hope. The flowers are completely edible. I was doing a little online research and found an article (http://www.henriettes-herb.com/blog/lilac-flowers.html) that said the flowers are bitter and sour and don't taste very good. While within that same article (I believe in the comments section) someone said they pull the flowers out of the green parts and suck on the end where there is a sweet drop of nectar. Well, I don't like to take anyone's word for something so I went and picked a blossom head and gave it a try, first I pulled the flower out of the green part and sucked on the end (like you would do with a honeysuckle flower) and sure enough, there it was, just a tiny hint of sweet, it was actually very good.  well, since the flower was now in my mouth I chewed it up and noted that yes, it had a bitter taste to it but it wasn't all that bad. The worst thing about eating them is that because lilacs are astringent I had a slight dryness on my tongue that lasted a little while, I didn't time it but it was more than a couple of minutes. It wasn't horrible and definitely would not deter me from eating more of them but I just noted that the dryness was there. I ate several more and even shared a couple with my dog who begged for more and found it to be completely acceptable. I would absolutely put them in a salad. I don't think that I would eat them as the only ingredient in the salad but throwing a handful onto the top would be great. Maybe I'll have to try that for lunch. If I were to compare the bitterness to dandelion greens I would have to say that dandelion greens are substantially more bitter and much less pleasant to eat than lilacs.

I suppose now is a good time to talk about the technical part of lilacs. The botanical name is syringa vulgaris and it is part of the olive family. It grows as a shrub that can get to be as tall as 30 ft but most of them usually like to stay in the 10 ft. range. The leaves are really very simple growing between 2 and 5 inches long and between 1 and 3 inches wide.  They are opposite each other on the branch and have a leathery feel to them. Leaves are shaped sort of like hearts but elongated and don't generally have the dip at the top end opposite of the point.  The flowers are mostly 4 petal individual flowers grouped in bunches on stems. Occasionally you will find a single flower with 5 petals and folk lore suggests these 5 petal flowers are good luck.  The flowers come in a variety of colors like pink, white, purple and I have heard of, but never seen in person, yellow. They have an unmistakable scent that makes you want to close your eyes and take a deep breath, breathing in as much of the smell as you can. In my opinion, lilacs are easily the most beautiful and best smelling shrubs there are.

So what can you do with these wonderful, beautiful flowers since we already know that preserving the scent is very difficult at best? Well, we already talked about the fact that they are edible so there's that.  Lilacs are also astringent, I mentioned that earlier after tasting them. How can that astringency be used? Lilac tea makes a very nice facial toner. I have to mention at this point that there is not a whole lot of medicinal value to the flowers, most of the medicinal properties are in the leaves. If you make a lilac leaf tea it has been known to help with skin problems like burns, rashes, cuts and scrapes. Similar to lavender. Drinking the tea can help get rid of intestinal parasites, it acts as a febrifuge which is a fancy term for bringing down a fever. The effects on fever are not reliable though, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't so please make sure you have other options available. One more thing it does is it is an anti-periodic, another fancy word but this one means it stops certain symptoms from recurring.

So to sum up, lilacs smell wonderful, are simply gorgeous, a tea from the flowers can be a nice facial toner and a tea from the leaves can help heal skin wounds, get rid of parasites and help certain symptoms from coming back.

There are a few things you can do in the kitchen with lilacs. Making candied flowers to decorate candies or cakes (really nice looking on petit fours) is one. You can eat them raw in salads like we talked about. Garnishing a side dish would also be a good use for them. (I'm thinking a beautiful garnish to green bean casserole, put a ring of the french fried onions around the outside edge of the casserole then just inside that, a ring of lilac flowers or even an entire flower head in the center of the dish resting on top of the green beans after the cooking/baking part is done).  I personally dry the flowers and add them to other dried, aromatic flowers in a dish.  (potpourri)

Lilacs are often used in aromatherapy instances to help ease tension, they are very calming and relaxing. They can even help with some memory issues that are caused by tension or stress.

Thank you for reading and I hope that you have learned a little something.

What is the first weed you think of when someone says "Spring"?

For me, the first thing I think of when someone says spring is dandelions.  As soon as the snow is gone I start watching the weather forecasts for warmer temperatures. I also start looking closely at the ground for the first signs of dandelions, every time I walk out the door my eyes are glued to the ground. I even shuffle my feet a little to disturb what is left of the leaves from the fall hoping to see a glimmer of green poking through the dirt.

Now, some of you might be thinking that I have totally lost my marbles and hey, you might be right! But not because I look for dandelions. Dandelions have been considered the scourge of spring and summer for far too long, not enough people know what a great thing they have growing right out there in their yard. They spray poisons on them to get rid of them and why do they do this? Many years ago someone decided it was more pleasing to have their lawns symmetrical, all the grass has to be of the same variety, the same height, the same color, perfectly manicured. Dandelions don't fit into that vision. They are green, sure, but what about those obnoxious yellow flowers? They certainly do not fit into the "boxed lawn" view.  Well, I'm here to tell you that those lawns are not my idea of a great lawn. Mine is a sea of yellow dandelions, purple and white wild violets and purple creeping charlie flowers, varying colors of green.

I'm going to focus on dandelions now.  First the technical details:

Botanical Name: Taraxacum Officinale
Root System: Taproot
Leaf System: Basal Rosettes
Reproduction: Seed and Root pieces
Family: Aster

Description:

Dandelion flowers are probably one of the most identifiable flowers out there. They are a bright, sunny yellow, they can get to be as much as 2 inches across and they sit on top of hollow stems that grow straight up from the plant base and can be as tall as 20 inches.  When the flowers ripen they turn into grayish white colored puff balls that have the seeds attached at the ends. The seeds are dispersed by wind.  [1]

Dandelion leaves grow in what is known as "basal rosette" which simply means that the leaves grow out flat at the base of the plant and form a circle around the base.  They are very deeply lobed in most species and have pointed "teeth" at the points of the lobes. Some varieties are less deeply lobed than others and in some,  the lobes point backwards toward the base.

The dandelion has a taproot for a root system, that means it has one, large, tapered root that sometimes has smaller roots coming off of it. Older plant roots will separate at the head of the tap root forming a second or even third plant. The older the plant, the more "extra" plants will grow off of the taproot. The root itself has a dark outer skin and a light, whitish yellow inner flesh. There is a white, milky substance within the root. This milk is pretty bitter tasting but if you can tolerate bitter, it's really not too bad tasting.

The name "dandelion" comes from the French 'dent de lion' meaning 'lion's tooth'. [2]

Dandelions are everywhere, you can find them in yards, empty lots, roadsides, parks and woodlands, finding some to eat should not be a problem.  Wait! EAT? Are you kidding? Nope, I'm not kidding, I love eating dandelion flowers right from the ground (I don't recommend eating them straight from the ground because they can contain dirt, bugs or even poisons from weed sprays but I eat from my own yard where I know what is there) I like to pull the yellow petals out of the green calyx and eat them as they are but there are recipes for dandelion flowers out there that are amazing also, I'll give you one of my favorite recipes shortly.  I don't care so much for the bitter leaves and stems so I have alternative ways of eating those, again, I'll give you a good recipe for those too.  Many people say that if you get the greens early in the spring when they are just babies that they won't be bitter. In my experience, this is not true. They are always bitter but there are ways around that. You can boil them, pour off the water and boil them again, they would then be similar to boiled spinach and the bitterness will be significantly decreased. You can sautee them in bacon fat. You can also put a few of them into your salad with other lettuces and vegetables.

Are you ready for the recipes?  Here you go!

Dandelion Fritters (I got this recipe from: http://learningherbs.com/remedies-recipes/dandelion-fritters/ )

2 cups of prepared dandelions (prepared means bracts and stems removed, washed thoroughly)
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup milk
1tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 egg
large amount of high heat oil
sea salt to taste

Mix the dry ingredients together then add the egg, combine well
Dip the flower blossoms in the batter coating both sides
Fry in hot oil until golden brown
Cool slightly on paper towels

Now what to do with the greens?  Make a smoothie!

This is my own recipe.

Dandelion smoothie:

1 cup packed dandelion greens
1 apple cored
1 orange peeled and sectioned

put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth
You can add distilled water if the original is too thick.
You can also add more fresh fruit or substitute other fruits.

Okay, great, we can eat the dandelions but how healthy are they?  Well, they have a ton of vitamins, minerals and even fiber in them like vitamin C, beta carotene (our bodies convert that to vitamin A),  they have phosphorous, zinc, magnesium and calcium. That's a lot of good stuff for a weed. I've had some people ask me if there is a negative side to dandelions, my answer is always "sure there is", the world revolves around balance, if there are positives there has to be negatives. The negatives to dandelions are actually quite small. Anyone taking medication for hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) should avoid dandelion since it helps to lower blood sugar, if your blood sugar is already regulated then dandelions could drop it too low causing more problems. Also, some people are allergic to the white sap that dandelions contain, if you come into contact with the sap and find yourself itchy or getting an irritation, it's best to avoid them since the sap is in every part of the plant. Dandelion contains a type of fiber called inulin, there are some people that are allergic to this type of fiber and should avoid ingesting dandelion.

We know, now, that dandelions can be eaten and are healthy, the next question is "What can dandelions do for us?" Dandelions can be used for many things, for example, they are good for bone health, liver, diabetes, urinary problems, acne, weight loss, jaundice, gall bladder issues, constipation, high blood pressure and anemia. Another awesome fact is that dandelions contain high levels of antioxidants, vitamin C and luteolin which can help reduce your risk of cancer. Luteolin actually binds to prostate cancer cells and makes them unable to reproduce and renders them completely ineffectual. That's great!

What about acne? Well, acne is more a symptom than a disease in itself. Acne indicates there could be any one of several issues going on inside your body. A hormone imbalance, an overly fatty diet, too much stress (who doesn't have that??!!), so we want to treat not only the outward signs (the pimples) but also the inward cause(s). Dandelions can do both. Drinking dandelion juice will detox your body, it's also a diuretic, stimulant and antioxidant, they help your body regulate your hormones. Externally you can apply the sap to the blemishes themselves. The sap can stop microbial infections which reduces the signs of acne (pimples be gone!).  [3]

These are just a few of the amazing things that dandelions can do for us, for more information on anything in this post, please see the references listed below and Thank you so much for reading about dandelions!


References:
[1] http://www.turf.uiuc.edu/weed_web/descriptions/dandelion.htm
[2] http://www.herballegacy.com/Chhabra_History.html
[3] /www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-dandelion.html

So here we are, day 1 of  "The Weeds You Need", The goal for this blog is to present one weed, plant, flower or herb at a time and maybe we can learn a little more about the green things that share our space. My information comes from many sources, some of it I find online, some of it from books and some of it from courses I have taken over the years, not to mention all of the knowledge from generations past. I will link back or credit my sources when possible.

Herbs have literally saved my life and I will post about that.  I use herbs on a daily basis for everything from medicine to "beauty" products (like lotions, lip balms, moisturizers etc) to food to using them on/for my animals.

I really hope you enjoy reading and learning everything that I have to share, herbs are my passion and there is nothing I like more than to share all of the great things they can do.