I have a a few food items in the Dandelion Archive: tea, coffee, wine and syrup, but these are the first dandelion flavoured worms! I got them the other week from someone I know who makes lots of sweets and drinks from foraged wild plants. According to the ingredients they are made with dandelion florets. I've tried a few (obviously) and they taste really lovely. And I have saved a few for the archive too.
There's a new exhibition of beautiful paintings by Helen Thomas opening next month at Wakefield Cathedral. Dandelions and Double Yellows runs from 10 July - 15 August 2021.
She's also asking for submissions for an online gallery of pavement plants. There's more details and information on how to send your photos on Helen's website (the final deadline for submissions is 23 July 2021).
I'm in Wakefield in July and plan to go and visit the show. I can't wait to see Helen's work: weeds & dandelions are right up my (overgrown) street.
Image: Helen Thomas
I've highlighted a few dandelions spotted in films on this blog, but I think this one is pretty spectacular.
I was watching Ice Age (2002) and got this screen shot of Sid eating the rhinos Frank and Carl's salad:
Carl "A dandelion! I thought the frost wiped 'em all out"
But spying the dandelion Sid plucks it up and declares " Oh! Yum-o! A dandelion! Probably the last one of the season!
And promptly eats it, swooning with its deliciousness.
My mum tipped me off that there is currently a re-run of the BBC series 'A to Z of TV Gardening'.
Presented by Carol Kirkwood* it's a programme made up of archive clips previously shown on the BBC - so it's a repeat of the repeats.
31 minutes into the programme there's a feature on dandelions showing footage from Countryfile in 2008 where presenter Ben Fogle visits Paul Richards who grows dandelions as a crop for 'the alternative therapy market'. He then interviews Dominic Price from Plantlife International, who explains the complexity of the dandelion; and he finishes with interviewing Debs Cook from the Herbal Society in her charming kitchen for a 'gourmet dandelion masterclass in soup'. They add leaves to the soup and there's also a salad with both leaves and flower petals in. Ben sips Dandelion and Burdock, confessing how he doesn't remember it as a child (I bet the pop man never visited posh Ben's house), and she shows him coffee made from dandelion roots.
Here's a link to the programme - it's on the BBC i-player for another 26 days:
A to Z of TV Gardening. Series 4: Letter D
*Carol introduces the dandelion segment holding up what she thinks is a dandelion, but quite clearly it isn't! Looks more like a Hawkbit / Catsear type of flower.
Dandelions made it to The Chase quiz show last night. I don't especially watch it, so it's a fluke that I saw it.
The question: What part of a dandelion can be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee?
A: The root
B: The stem
C: The petals
The contestant got it right (the answer is A: the root). However, the Chaser got it wrong! Ha.
