Eat Your Weeds: Dandelions

Eat Your Weeds

We’ve had a lot of rain in Southern California and that means lots of WEEDS. But as Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted as saying, ““What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.”

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Yesterday I was “weeding” our garden and I was amazed at just how many dandelions we had. Since we don’t use chemical pesticides or fertilizers in our garden I decided to make them into a salad. Dandelion greens are regularly sold in gourmet food stores and farmer’s market for about $6-a-bunch, but you can get them for free with just a little work on your part.

In the picture above I did my standard daily salad of greens, brazil nuts, goji berries, hemp seeds, avocado, olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt, but I substituted my usual kale for dandelion leaves.

If you like bitter greens, such as radicchio or rocket, then you will love dandelions. If you are like me and you don’t care for bitter, then be sure to pick the young, soft dandelions that have a baby greens-like texture. They are not as bitter as older leaves.

However, one thing to remember is that bitterness in plants usually means that they have a detoxifying benefit. The entire dandelion plant is edible. Eat the leaves as you would any other green and dry the roots for a detoxing herbal infusion when added to hot water.

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Here is an article with other “weeds” that you can eat. I personally love purslane and I am looking forward to when they come into season closer to summer! Mallow is another one that is easy to find in SoCal. Enjoy!

http://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/eat-dandelions-9-edible-garden-weeds.html

#EatYourWeeds

#Dandelions

#EmberLiving

 

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Los Angeles: Recycle Your Christmas Tree

For super detailed information including drop-off locations around the city visit: http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/xmastrees/index.cfm

Christmas Tree Recycling Program

The City of LA Bureau of Sanitation has CURBSIDE collection for Christmas trees. If your Christmas tree is too big to cut and place it inside the green waste bin, simply place the tree next to your green waste bin on collection day.

Using your green bin to recycle Christmas tree?

1. REMOVE all ornaments, decorations, tinsels, and stand from the tree
2. CUT tree in pieces to fit into the green bin, and
3. PLACE the tree pieces inside the green bin for regular pick-up on collection day. Collected Christmas trees will be recycled into compost and mulch.

Multi-Family Residential Recycling

Program Participation (MFRRP)

Residents of multifamily buildings are requested to place their Christmas trees at the curbside on the day of collection by the Bureau of Sanitation. Please remove all ornaments, decorations, tinsels, and stand from tree.

Visit the City website at www.lacity.org for collection day information