Here’s the proper way to harvest dandelion:
- Pick large and vigorous plants and leave the small ones aside because their roots are small and because they’re not ready yet, plus they are good for birds, beetles, and bees.
- Work through the moist soil using a dandelion root removing tool or a simple garden fork, but be careful not to break or damage the root because the medicinal properties that you want, depends on the sad that can be found in the tough tubers.
- Once you get the root out of the soil, give it a gentle shake to get rid of excess soil and scrub it thoroughly until it’s clean. Now you can either preserve the roots or use them immediately.
How to preserve dandelion roots
You can use dandelion roots freshly out of the soil if you want to get the full medicinal purposes experience, but you can preserve some of them for later uses. First, you have to dehydrate them.
If you have a dehydrator, then you don’t have much work to do, simply slice the roots (make sure they are cleaned first) into strips equally sized, then dry them until they become brittle.
An alternative method is to wrap every whole root with a long piece of string, then hang them in a dry and cool place that has good airflow for a couple of days until they become brittle. When they dry out, cut them into small pieces.
Whatever method you choose to do, make sure to store the dried root in a glass far for an entire year. To know whether or not the roots are dried correctly, the outer flesh of the roots should have a dark color and the inner flesh should have a creamy white color.
