Kitchen Garden Forum

On my regular dandelion hunt on the lawn I note that some have a deep tap root, while others are shallow, with lots of tiny roots. An internet site says that Taraxacum officinale, the dandelion, has a deep tap root. What are the others? Are there more than one species?
John N.

I believe there are.

As you may know, several cultures welcome them to the dinner table - if you want you can even buy seed for some of these (if you're too squeamish to eat the weeds out of your own garden!):
http://www.seedsofitaly.co.uk/product/84

Hi Colin,
Certainly Dandelions are quite nice if they have been blanched for at least a couple of weeks otherwise they are, to me, exceedingly bitter.
If you find a really good big specimen, remove any signs of coming blooms, put a ring of New Advanced Slug Pellets around the plant and cover with a 2 gallon bucket making sure there is no possible source of light can penetrate under the bucket. If necessary push some soil round the margins of the bucket. It makes a splendid addition to a salad.
For it to be ready to eat it must be at least a very light yellow colour.
JB.

That's useful to know JB.

Sadly in our household, most dandelions are reserved for the pet Guinea Pig, who eats them so quickly they don't touch the sides on the way down. It will prove quite a challenge to find them before he does - maybe hiding them under a bucket will serve two purposes!