The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-06-12
DandeIion is Good to Eat and by
Pulling it up for Greens and
Salad You'll be
the Saver.
MUST WORK CAREFULLY
Weed Should be Pulled Out by Roots,
Not Just Broken Off II
Best Results Are
Obtained.

Daudelion time is again here. And
everybody will be out fighting the
yellow pest soon There appears to
be a way of killing two birds with
one stene, so far as this campaign
is concerned. Uncle Sam calls atten-
ton to the fact that many wild
spring plants may be used advan-
tageously in the household. He says:
Foremost among these plant is
the dandelion. Its use as yege-
table is so common that 1t is sold In
many city markets. Occasionally IT
is cultivated by market gardeners.
but much more frequently the plants
sold are wild ones and ought to cost
less than cultivated green's. When
someone In the family can dig them
near home there can be no doubt as
to the economy of using them. If
they are taken from the lawn, there
is the further advantage of remov-
ing a. troublesome incorporating
always that the digging is carefully
done. Only the dandelion should be
pulled, not the grass around 1t, and
the root should be removed, not
broken of at the top, else several
crowns Of leaves may grow in the
place of one AS in most stem and
leaf vegetables, the texture and
flavor are both best when the plants
are young
Growing as they do close to the
surface of the ground, dandelion
greens are likely to be full of earth
and grit, and must be carefully
washed and rinsed in several waters.
rr-l. ;ol, l,,c
been rinsed should never be poured
out of the pan over the green's, but
the green's should be lifted out Of
the water 80 that the dirt which has
settled to the bottom may not get
back on the leaves, and for the same
reason the cooked greens" should
be lifted out of the water in which
they are boiled.
1.-The most common way Of using
dandelions is as a potherb or greens.
AS with most greenish vegetables, it
is a mistake to cook them more than
is needed to make them tender. If
they are boiled with one-efghth tea
spoonful QeveD of cooking soda to
each quart of green's used, they will
keep their color better. Young dan
delions may also be used uncooked
as salad, a custom less common in
this country than in Europe. where
the tender plants are sometimes
blanched like asparagus. If more
Candelions are available than can be
used while they are fresh, they may
be preserved for future use. They
may be canned by the method used
by the canning clubs for spinach, or
they may be put down" in salt, ac-
cording TO a household method. In
many homes 1t is a common practice
to preserve dandelion greens with
salt in stone crooks, putting in first
a layer of greens, then a layer of
salt, then more greens, and so on,
until the crock is filled. The dande-
lions are then covered with a close
fitting plate or board on which a
weight "a clean piece of marble or
a stone) is placed to keep the greens
packed solid
"Other wild plants used as pot
herbs are curly dock, pigweed or
lambs quarters, chickweed, mustard
shoots, purple miIkweed shoots,
young horseradish leaves, marsh
marigold sometimes called Ameri-
can cowsIip), poke sprouts, pepper
cress, purslane or 'pusley."