Can you preserve dandelion greens?
- Thread starter jimmywalt
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I don't think freezing would work, but you can certainly air-dry them. Spread them on a screen or something similar to get good air flow so they don't go mouldy. The large mesh bags that oranges or onions come in are also useful for drying greens.
Don't stop with just dandelions! Plantain (Plantago spp.) dries well and is great for stopping diarrhea. Willow branches can be bundled and dried. It is high in protein and also has pain-killing properties. Blackberry and raspberry canes can be bundled and dried with the leaves on. Just be certain not to make bundles too thick because the plants must dry before they can go mouldy. You'll soon get the hang of it.
Don't stop with just dandelions! Plantain (Plantago spp.) dries well and is great for stopping diarrhea. Willow branches can be bundled and dried. It is high in protein and also has pain-killing properties. Blackberry and raspberry canes can be bundled and dried with the leaves on. Just be certain not to make bundles too thick because the plants must dry before they can go mouldy. You'll soon get the hang of it.
You can freeze dandelion greens after cooking, if you like them that way.
I don't think my rabbits would...
I don't think my rabbits would...
I think you could freeze dandelion greens. I've frozen goldenrod and mimosa for my own use and it worked for those quite well. Why not try a bit and see how it goes?
alforddm":18igpene said:
Could you tell us a bit more about your experiences with freezing greens? Especially how you would feed them to the rabbits?
MaggieJ":2qucdnrq said:
I haven't tried to feeding them to the rabbits. I've used them for herbal teas with great success. I just put them in a plastic bag and freeze. I don't know for sure that rabbits would eat them but I can give it a test. I don't have alot of dandelion around here (I'm trying to remedy that) but I can see about the goldenrod we have tons of that. <br /><br /> __________ Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:34 am __________ <br /><br /> I tried feeding a bit of frozen Goldenrod to the rabbits this morning. I was finally able to harvest a fairly large batch yesterday and froze it right away.
The rabbits ate it with gusto. I did not try to thaw it just grabbed the bag from the freezer, walked outside, and dropped a bit in several cages. Not one rabbit rejected the frozen goldenrod.
I know from my own use that freezing preserves the medicinal qualities of goldenrod. I use it with other herbs as a decongestant/sinus relief. It works especially good on the little golden flowers which just turn to fluff if you try to dry them. I don't know for sure how dandelion will react to freezing but I would be hopeful that at least some of the good qualities would be preserved.
