Wild-Harvesting Dandelion Root

Sprouting Roots
Nov 18, 2022
4 min read

I share about my first attempt at harvesting dandelion root.

As mentioned in 'Mint: My First Herbal Love' blog post, recently purchased a second-hand copy of Susun Weed's Heal Wise, which is part of her Wise Woman Herbal series.

I randomly flipped through the book a few days ago and it landed on the information page about Dandelion, which even though is usually seen as a persistent and pesty weed, actually holds strong medicinal properties.

I was amazed at how much I learnt about Dandelion from those few pages; it's probably the most comprehensive read on Dandelion in any herbal books I've picked up. One thing I appreciate about the Wise Woman tradition in Herbalism: it invites and reminds us to simplify. Heal Wise only has 7 herbs included, all of them are accessible to anyone, and invites a deeper dive into the herbs from reading about facts to energetics of the plants, the herbal uses and properties of ingestible parts, and recipes.

Dandelion embodies simplicity in that you can find it anywhere in the world. It is one of the most resilient plants out there, and will grow in cracks on the sidewalk, even in a plant-less neighbourhood of a city. The whole of the Dandelion plant is edible: root, flower, leaves, and even the stem, although you may need to get creative here with how to incorporate it into your life.

The plant is packed with nutrients and minerals. The leaves itself contain [1]:

Folates

Niacin

Pantothenic acid

Pyridoxine

Riboflavin

Thiamin

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Vitamin E

Vitamin K

Electrolytes

Sodium

Potassium

Calcium

Iron

Magnesium

Manganese

Phosphorus

Selenium

Zinc

And even protein!

What is 'Wild-Harvest'?

In the most simplest terms: wild-harvesting is when you harvest plants and food from the wild. 'Wild' being places where you or others haven't grown or cultivated the plant; it grew there naturally on it's own (or, well, with the help of wild creatures with spreading and germinating the seeds) and with little to no deliberate intervention from humans.

Wild-harvesting is a recognised practice in many places. Here in Canada there is a herbal medicine brand called Harmonic Arts that uses wild-harvested plants in their herbal products. I discovered them through their line of medicinal mushrooms and hormonal balancing tinctures.

My Experience with Wild-Harvesting Dandelion Roots:

The day I read about Dandelions in Healing Wise I worked outside in the vegetable garden weeding around the blueberry bushes so we could mulch them for the winter with wood shavings.

The books says the best time to harvest Dandelion is Autumn. After some mental calculation (as I'm still not used to the Southern Hemisphere months and seasons) I realised it's still Autumn here in Canada!

I kept an eye for Dandelion plants while weeding. I took a pronged weeding fork to help loosen the soil and uproot the plant. Dandelion can have deep roots, and sometimes I needed to put the weeding fork all the way up to the handle to get as much of the root as possible.

It can be quite a process, and each time I uprooted the Dandelion I felt sad with disturbing the soil so much. The ground isn't as loose as it could be as the sun doesn't hit the ground here for very long and the cold stays in the soil, otherwise I could have probably just wiggled the plant loose and pulled it out with little soil disturbance.

Processing the Dandelions

Back in the caravan I tried my best with washing and processing the roots (snapping the leaves off while washing them in the sink)so they can sit and dry. Our space right now is quite small and cramped at times, which means the process is a little slower.

Washed, I put them on a clean tea towel to dry before putting them on a plate and waiting until they're dry enough to roast them in the oven. They're currently sitting in a cupboard out of direct sunlight and excessive heat (as I want them to dry slowly).

What now???

All I can do right now is wait until the roots are dry. I could put them in the dehydrator (solar or electric), but I prefer save on the electricity and I'm quite willing to wait.

Once they've dried I'll pop em in the over to slow roast them as this brings out the flavour. It also tastes closer to coffee as the earthy-ness of the roasted root is closer to the earthy flavour of coffee than raw (Dandelion root, on it's own or sometimes blended with other plants like Chicory, Carob and Maca, can be used as a herbal and non-caffeinated substitute for coffee).