Cut the grass 4 days ago. Got up this morning and there was more yellow than green. The lawn is covered with dandelions. Now some deep thinkers say that if life on earth ceased to exist cockroaches would some how manage to survive. But not alone. They'll have to share the planet with dandelions.
Couple of years ago I had my driveway black topped. The following spring there was a dandelion growing on it. No dirt. It grew. How did it do it? The property next to me is a farmers field. Every year he roatates his crop. Wheat, corn, soy beans. One year I thought, "this is strange he's growing mustard plants". Nope. Dandelions had taken over all 140 acres. Right now the field is a sea of yellow. If you bored a hole to the center of the earth you would find dandelions. The sun? An ocean of flames? No. An ocean of dandelions.
It's like trying to stop rabbits from getting busy with each other. When I put down a stone path I also put down double sheeting and lime stone. No use. I have one dandelion per square inch growing through my weed wall. You end up feeling like Wile E Coyote. The damn bird paints a tunnel on the side of rock and you run into it. Then the train comes through and flattens you. But you keep trying. It's obsessive. The little yellow fellow becomes you're white whale.
I think it might be time we made peace with the dandelion. When I was in highschool I had a friend whose father made dandelion wine which we called Nuevo Diente De Leon because we had all taken grade 10 Spanish and wanted to impresse the girls. Once a year he'd swipe a gallon jug and mayhem ensued along with hangovers, headaches, vomiting and the spins. I learned early that the dandelion can be a dangerous foe.
You can make coffee out dandelions. You can eat them. The plant is rich in vitamins A and C. It contains vitamins K and H. I didn't know there were vitamins K and H. Dandelions are full of surprises. The leaves are good for liver detox which of course helps the long term effects of dandelion wine.
So why fight it? As of today I'm declaring the dandelions on my property...flowers. Beautiful yellow flowers. Minitaure suns to brighten my day. Something to admire. Something to take delight in. Somethings to savor. The neighours will figure I'm just too damn lazy to get rid of them. But I've decided I will co-exist with the dandelion. I will become mellow with yellow.
I had the same convo last weekend.
Dandelions just need better PR. They're rather pretty, let's be friends with the dandelions.
You see. If all learn live together it could be a better world. 'Course it would be an even better world if they'd let us use weed killer again.
Rick, you love your animals and seem in sync with nature so I think it is best to ban the weed killers. What started the aversion to dandelions? Probably because they have an ugly weed surrounding them. The yellow is really quite pretty.
Mary: Actually the last line was just a joke. I'm a real tree hugger. When I look at the farmer's field next door it's quite beautiful. Not really an aversion it's the stigma that goes along with it. If you have a lawn full of dandelions the neighbours know you're not pulling them. With non-flowering weeds you can't tell.
I try to plan 3 new trees every year and hate when I have to cut one down even if it's just to thin things out so the other ones can survive. I didn't use weed killer even when it was legal. Wouldn't want any of the animals to get it on their paws and lick it off.
Nice when they are yellow, but rather ugly when they turn to seed I think. And then there is the scorn of your neighbours to deal with.
Ken, thankfully my neighbours live about a quarter mile down the road. I'm going out now to cut the lawn so all the little yellow critters will be gone in a couple of hours.