This spring while flipping through the garden catalogs, I came across pink dandelions. Yes, pink!! I wanted to order them so bad! Of course Brian told me he would have to bury me in the back yard if I did that so I restrained myself. Seriously though, so cute!

Over the last few years, dandelions have been a real conversation in our house. We used to spray for them every year with a vengeance. Now that we have free range poultry and an avid interest in holistic health and nutrition we try and steer away from chemicals as much as possible.

Quarantine has found people trying all sorts of different things in their kitchens this spring and apparently dandelion jelly was a hit! I wanted to get in on the action and taste the “Sunshine and Honey” myself. I was actually a bit jealous when I would see dandelions growing in other yards before mine!

Alas, we finally have a healthy crop of the pretty yellow flowers and I am ready to make some magic!

What you need to get started

• Dandelions
• Sugar
• fresh water
• powdered pectin
• measuring cups
• gathering bowl
• large pot
• spoon
• strainer
• water bath canner
• jars
• canning tools (jar lifter, funnel, spatula)

Now that you have gathered your tools, head out into the yard with your gathering bowl and start to gather your “Chemical Free” flowers. Be sure you are familiar with the location you are gathering from so you know the flowers do not contain chemicals or pollutants. You need at least 4 cups of petals. That is A LOT of flowers. You are going to use your petals to make a tea. The tea will be the “juice” for our jelly. If you want your tea a bit stronger, you can add a few extra petals. I did not. Next time I think I will try a stronger tea.

Now that you have your flowers picked, settle in on the couch with a good tv show or your favorite audio book. This part is going to take awhile. You are going to separate the petals from the dandelion head. To do this, I found it easier to break the flower in half and using my finger nails, gently scrape the petals from the flower base. It is a process, but worth the end result! Be careful to not have any green bits mixed in with your petals.

Once you have your petals harvested, pour 8 cups boiling water over your 4 cups of petals. Steep the tea in the fridge for 24 hours.

When the tea is done steeping, strain the liquid out with a strainer. You can use clean hands to squeeze any excess from the petals as well. You should have 7-8 cups of liquid.

To make the jelly, combine the tea, 4 tbsp lemon juice and 2 boxes of powdered pectin in a pot. Bring to a boil. Add 8 cups of sugar and return to a boil. Boil hard for 2 minutes. Be careful that it does not foam over. Remove the pot from the heat, skim off the foam and add to sterile jars.

Process in the water bath canner for 10 minutes. 15 minutes if you are over 6000ft elevation. Remove from water bath and let cool 24 hours.

** My jelly took 2 weeks to set. This could be because I made such a big batch. You could try halving it to see if it sets faster. Powdered pectin can also take longer to set than liquid. In my experience I have found I like the consistency of my jelly better using powdered. Liquid seems “overset” to me.

Dandelions have many health benefits.

• They contain vitamins A,C,K, E, folate and small amounts of B vitamins.
• They are full of powerful antioxidants. They contain beta-carotene and polyphenols.
• The polyphenols in the flower may help reduce inflammation.
• They contain chicoric and chlorogenic acid which may help reduce blood sugar.
• They may lower cholesterol and in turn heart disease risk.
• They may reduce blood pressure.
• May promote a healthy livers in animals.