After reading some of the threads about dandelion control, I got to thinking and checking . What I found was rather interesting. Health food stores sell a variety of herbal compounds for urinary health. Many of these contain dandelion root. Their prices generally range in the six to twelve dollar neighborhood for these products.Seems that if you harvest them and dried them in your dehydrator,as an herb they could be marketed to a health food store. Advantages: all organic (use of chemicals on weeds usually kills them), easy gardening (weeds just grow), add color while growing, the flower heads of harvested roots and leaves are edible as wine , breaded fries and greens. Disadvantages: They are a "weed" so you would want to confine them away from your regular garden areas. A raised bed with a window screen cover during puffball time would work well I think. This way you could stop production and pasteurize the growing medium when done to eliminate the chance of future growth. What a way for "weed" control.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), May 19, 2001

Answers

I'll be willing to do that if you can find a place to buy them!! We have them every where here!!

-- michelle (tsjheath@nci2.net), May 19, 2001.

michelle,

Look in your area for an apothacary/health food store that stocks locally grown organically produced herbs and undercut the growers price they are having to pay for the dried root.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), May 19, 2001.

Jay, you just expressed my theory of weed control. Just declare them a valuable and delicious culinary delight and you will never have enough of them.

I will be rich next spring as my children have been "blowing wishes" all over my yard with the puffs. Maybe not rich but we will be healthy.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@hotmail.com), May 20, 2001.