Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane


Flowers. Everyone likes flowers. They are pretty to look at. One of God's most simple and beautiful creations, I think. They smell delicious. Some even smell good enough to eat! At least my boys think so =)

When Ben was three, he learned that you can eat certain flowers. His Nana, my Mom, and Mooma my Grandma, his Great-Grandama, taught him about eating Johnny Jump Ups and Dandelions. He loved to eat flowers! We had to watch him so he wouldn't eat anything not etible. He would toddle outside and hog down dandelions. Then he would come up to me, grinning and his little mouth would have a HUGE yellow ring around it. Obviously we have never sprayed our dandelions around here. =) When we walked go over to my Grandma's, Mooma's, he would eat her Johnny Jump Ups, that line her sidewalk.

Then Logan came along and Ben happily taught him this neat trick. Now they both eat Dandelions and Johnny Jump Ups. When we go to other people's house they love to show this off. People get the funniest looks on their faces. Kind of like.... YUCK! I laugh because growing up my grandma, Mooma, would often put Johnny Jump Ups in our salad. They really do spruce up a boring old salad!

Did you know that Dandelions are a natural liver cleaner? Horses love to eat them as well. Their tongues turn black when they eat them. My kids' tongues are usually green after eating a bunch of them =) The boys pick them and chomp off the heads. They leave the stems behind. They don't like the taste of the Dandelion milk =)

Have you ever tried a Dandelion? They are actually sweet! Both my Mom and I tried one, to see what the boys liked so much... well no wonder! They really do taste good =)

So around here, we can't wait for the Danelions to show their fuzzy little faces. Luckily we grow more Dandelions than grass in the spring. It keeps my boys busy!

11 comments:

Loriann said...

Cool! We love new things to try.... My girls can hardly wait for the spring now... Hope that all is going well for you... Love to all. Lori and girls

Anonymous said...

This was a fun story.

My daughter and her family eat dandelions too. (:>)

Unknown said...

Mindy,
I think it's totally fun to eat flowers! :) Did you see my first Wednesday's Walk? It was called Pickin' Dandelions. You would enjoy it. Here is the link:

http://lynnettekraft.blogspot.com/2009/01/pickin-dandelions.html

Sounds like we're kindred! :)

Thanks for sharing!
Lynnette

Kristin said...

I must say that until Lynnette's post about eating Dandelions, and now your post, that I never knew you could eat them. I'm not much of an ourdoorsy girl, but maybe one day I'll try them! :)

Lilyofthevalley - Tanya said...

Enjoyed reading... :)

Unknown said...

did you know you won the gift card over on nj decorators blog???

Unknown said...

teh greens are good for you too... when they are young and tender... before the flowers blossom...

Abigail Kraft said...

When I was little, I was always fascinated by the fact that you can eat some flowers too. I've never tried a fresh dandelion, but perhaps I will one day. :)

Thanks for telling us your fun memory!

--Abigail

Nutty Mom said...

I'll have to keep an eye out for them this year, I'm sure Peanut will love 'em

Sally-Ann said...

What a great way to get rid of dandelions without spraying them!!

Kimberly Pitman said...

My grandma used to put dandelion leaves in our salads. Not bad!

My son was a plant-eater when he was little but it was more like the pothos or peace lily types. Guess he thought those houseplants looked good! I called poison control a couple of times before they alerted me to a list of poisonous and non-poisonous houseplants. (This was in pre-Google days.) :)