You can eat dandelion greens, but be careful where you pick them. Some people use pesticides for spiders and ticks around their homes, or weed-killers. You can also boil the greens and flowers to make tea.
I don't use pesticides, but when my dogs start coming inside with ticks, I spray flea and tick killer in their fenced area. I imagine others probably do the same.
Yeah, people that can afford fences can usually also afford to tend to their lawn. Not everyone can afford such luxuries, many folks can just barely afford dog food, to feed their security guard animal.
The spiders are optional. Honestly, you're more likely to encounter their egg sack under a dandelion than the actual mother spider, unless you pluck them early in the morning dew when momma spider might be at home..
Come discuss at !foraging@lemm.ee
I've eaten dandelion before and I'm still hear to tell the story. I've made side dish of the stem. And it taste good. It's a vegetable without a strong taste.
The leaves are grow and sell as salad even if it is not as common as lettuce. It has much more flavour than to stem.
Dandelion leaves can be bitter but some people actually cannot taste bitter. One way to reduce the bitter taste is to pick the youngest and fastest growing leaves out of direct sunlight, as sun exposure increases bitterness.
Not (frequently) mowing your lawn is one of the best things you can do for your local bee population. Dandelions and other meadow flowers are great sources of nutrition for them. Obviously, don’t use pesticides either.