The first blossoms aren't even close to arriving yet, but it's time to start thinking about one of my Dad's favorite recipes. You will need:

One 5-gallon plastic bucket (or thereabouts)

One gallon of dandelion flowers

One gallon of boiling water

Three lemons

Three oranges

Four pounds of sugar

One yeast cake, or one packet of dry yeast

Bottles and corks

Place a gallon of dandelion flowers in the bucket, pour a gallon of boiling water over them, and let stand for 24 to 48 hours. During this time, the flowers should rise.

Add the juice from the lemons and oranges, and stir. Add the sugar and the crumbled yeast cake (or packet of dry yeast) and stir lightly every few hours until the fermentation ceases. (When it stops bubbling, fermentation has ended.) Strain, bottle, and cork.

There's roughly a zillion slightly different recipes for this, so feel free to experiment.

Onward and upward,
airforce

My Dad made chokecherry wine when he was drinking. Apparently it did nothing but give everybody the runs.

I don't drink for medical reasons, but I can see how this would be useful. I understand in a pinch you can make tea and eat dandelion leaves.

A lot of allied POW's in WWII supplemented their rations with a salad of dandelion leaves. They're rich in vitamins, and actually pretty tasty if you gather them early enough. I've never tried it, but I've heard that roasted dandelion root tastes a little like popcorn.

Onward and upward,
airforce

The greens have a distinct citrus like flavor. Good as a suplament to add to a salad.

Be sure where you harvest them has not been treated with any herbicides.

Apparently dandelions can be used for those who need insulin. I read a while back that is reduces the need for insulin by as much as 90%. I mention this for those with this problem and suggest you do your own research as I know nothing in regards to this. Just thought some may benefit from this.

Serve the wine and pass the ammo.

I forgot to mention, only use the flowery parts when making dandelion wine, not the green sepals. They're bitter, and will spoil the taste.

For all you winos out there, here's my uncle's recipe for beetroot wine:

Six pounds beets

One gallon water

A few grains of rice

Four pounds sugar

(Optional) Two pounds seedless raisins

Juice of two lemons

One packet dry yeast

Slice the beets thinly, and boil in one gallon of water for two hours. Strain and pour (while still hot) into a large crock with sugar, lemon juice, and raisins. Stir vigorously until the sugar is dissolved.

Let stand, and add yeast when cool. Stir three times a day for 10 to 14 days. Strain and bottle.

You could, of course, take a page from that dumb "Moonshiners" show, and distill these wines into brandy. I don't know why you would; from four or five quarts of wine you'll only get about a pint of brandy. And I just don't see too many people gathering the fifty or so gallons of dandelions to make it worthwhile.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Very interesting "Leonidas". I'm an insulin dependent diabetic myself. I'll look into this.

Swab, If I can remember correctly. It was the dried out roots. I am going to look and see If I can find the article I read. It was an Off the grid news article. If I find it I will post it or get it to you.

I seem to recall my cousin telling me something about this. The roots contain a form of insulin, and this caused some excitement for a little while, until it was found none of the insulin substitute actually made it into the bloodstream.

This was quite a while ago, and I can't find anything about it now. I'm still looking.

Onward and upward,
airforce