Dandelion Winemaking - 2007

I love making dandelion wine. The dandelions appear free of charge in your own back yard. It is SUPER easy to make this wine, and it tastes really nice. People are always amazed when you offer it to them. Instead of dumping pounds of chemicals on your lawn, and cursing these gorgeous yellow flowers, why not take advantage of the natural bounty! The greens from dandelions are really good for you too, and are great in a salad.

Make sure of course that nobody has sprayed your dandelions with nasty chemicals. The traditonal last day of dandelion picking is May 22nd but I picked these on May 23rd. They seemed fine to me!

All told, from one small yard I managed to pick 24 cups of dandelion heads. These are the most ever! It only took maybe 1/2 hour. You want to leave the stems and leaves - just pick the head itself with the little green under-leaves that are attached.

For 24 cups of dandelions you want 3 gallons of water. Boil the water on its own with nothing else in it. Once that water is boiling, mix in the dandelion heads. Let that cool a little, then pour the mixture into a ceramic or glass container. Do NOT use metal for this step. Put saran-wrap over the top of the container to steal it up.

You're going to let this sit for 2 days, as is. Well, maybe 3 if like me you realize you need more yeast :)

Day 3 - Adding In the Fruit

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