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DANDELION (Dente di Leon) is the Italian heirloom dandelion, not the chicory that is often sold as dandelion. This is the same green my Italian Grandmother used every Spring to make her delicious Frite Verde omelette. It is a bitter/sweet flavor. Pick young before it blooms. 30-50 days. 50 Seeds.
MEDICINAL: The reason my Grandmother had this tradition (and generations before her) is that Dandelion is a wonderful spring tonic, helping to cleanse toxins from the system. In any of its forms and uses, it has a stimulating effect on the whole digestive system, liver and kidney functions and will move your bowels gently.
GROWING TIPS: Easy to grow. Plant as soon as ground can be worked and harvest the young leaves for culinary use. Older leaves are too bitter to be edible. Let your older plants mature through at least one-two growing cycles and harvest the long thick taproots in the fall for either for medicinal purposes or to roast, grind and add to your coffee or brew on its own. The flowers make a "wine", really more like a liquor (see recipe below).
DANDELION WINE: Pour a gallon of boiling water over a gallon of the flowers. Stir well and cover with a blanket and let stand 3 days, stirring occasionally when you think about it. Strain and boil the liquid 30 minutes adding 3 1/2 lb. of loaf sugar, a sliced ginger, grated orange rind and sliced lemon. When cold, put a little yeast on a piece of toast and add to the brew. This will cause the necessary fermentation. When it has stopped "working" (usually after about two days) put in a cask for two months and then bottle. The resulting liquor is an excellent tonic, extremely good for the blood.
CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM GARDEN SEEDS & PLANTS offer hundreds of heirloom and vintage open-pollinated varieties! Most have histories dating back centuries and are tried and true producers. Some are rare, or threatened with extinction. When you grow a plant from heirloom seed and save that seed, you are participating in a practice that goes back for generations. Our grandparents and their grandparents grew these varieties. Often the seeds were prized possessions carried to the New World when they emigrated.
Ever notice how most seed catalogs require you to buy (and pay for) much more seed than you could ever possibly use in a season? If you have a budget for garden seeds, this limits your choices! Although seeds can be viable for longer than one growing season, it requires that they be stored at a consistent temperature and humidity. Few of us do this. CherryGal sizes its seed packets for the home gardener, because we know you may want to grow 5 different lettuces, or three different corns, and don’t want to have to take out a second mortgage to do so! CHERRYGAL SEEDS ARE A TREMENDOUS BARGAIN!
All seeds offered are FRESH stock, with high germination rates. Varieties are specially selected for home gardeners. If you want the flavor you remember from grandma's kitchen garden or the beauty of her cottage flowers, choose CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM SEEDS.
ABOUT OPEN-POLLINATED SEEDS . . . All CherryGal Heirloom Seeds are heirlooms (dating at least 100 years) or vintage (mid-20th Century or older) OPEN-POLLINATED varieties. This means saved seed will be true to the parent. Don't be dazzled by the never-ending array of hybrid seeds promoted by gardening suppliers. First, seeds from that produce will not grow true to the parent -- you have to keep buying hybrid seed. Second, most hybrids are developed for market – not home -- growers with an emphasis on extended shelf life, storage and shipping qualities -- NOT flavor, texture and all those other elements that home growers seek.
All CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM SEEDS come from reputable growers (most of them small farms) and wherever possible ORGANIC suppliers (so noted). By buying CHERRYGAL SEEDS you are supporting the growing worldwide movement of SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE and with a little practice you will be able to save even more money in the future by growing open-pollinated varieties and saving seed for next year. Please Note: CherryGal Heirloom Seeds are guaranteed to be fresh stock, but are not guaranteed as to results (sorry - we wish we could, but there are too many variables in gardening) so please do not ask to return. However, we think you will be pleased and would like to hear about your gardening success!
SHIPPING: I endeavor to ship my seeds as quickly as possible - usually within 24 - 48 hours. If there is a need for more time, as in the case of resupply or early 2008 initial supply, you will be advised at time of purchase and shipped as soon as possible. In the event an item becomes unavailable or temporarily out of stock I will offer you a chance to substitute another selection or refund you immediately. I package my seeds for shipping in a manner appropriate to the amount and type of seed - larger orders and larger seeds require more packaging. I also combine multiple orders of the same seed variety, where practical, in one envelope unless you request otherwise. This is an ecological measure, not a cost-saving one.
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