dandelion. burdock. yellow dock: the sacred herbal triad of spring

submitted by jes morgan of good4you herbals

dandelion , burdock + yellow dock are known to be super beneficial for spring detoxification . i love to combine these three and make a root tincture to take daily before meals . but they offer us so much beyond this capstone remedy …as the roots give us their deep healing gifts , their leaves give us rich amazing food . in this short blurb i’ll give u guys the low down on impressing ur hipster friends

yellow dock leaves on the right + dandelion leaves + flowers on the left


all about the roots ::

i like to harvest the roots either in the fall of the first year of their cycle or in very early spring of their second year cycle . all these plants are biennials, meaning they live for two years . i personally like to wait for the spring harvest to obtain the meatier second year roots . in order to do this, u have to remember where these magical beauties grow, so u can go back and harvest the roots before they start producing leaves . once the plants start producing leaves, the energy of the medicine tends to go upward . i like to harvest the roots at the full moon in pisces in march . here the energy is all the way up in the roots and not so much towards the ground . but honestly, if u get the roots before they start producing leaves, u are golden (just like color of yellow dock roots,  lol) . each one of these plants offers us amazing medicine . yellow dock root specifically is excellent for detoxifying the liver . the best way to intake the plant in this fashion is through a tincture . obtain the fresh yellow dock root or dried if u can’t find it fresh . fill a pint size of quart size mason jar up to almost the tipity top with the roots . pour any type of alcohol u’d like over it . if u like vodka … then go for that . rum or anything that u like to enjoy on those wild nights . as long as the alcohol percentage is 40% to 50%, u are fine . fill all the way to the top of the jar with alcohol . shake everyday + strain in two weeks or when the plant material looks like all of it has been absorbed in the alcohol . yellow dock root will yield an amazing yellow color . you can do the same with burdock + dandelion root or combine all three to make the magical herbal bitters triad tincture ! dandelion root is specifically excellent for the liver as well . burdock is amazing for purifying the blood . these three roots together make an excellent bitter tonic . i like to take a dropper full of the triad 15 minutes before meals to help with digestion ! it is amazing amazing stuff .

all about the leaves + flowers ::

as far as the magical leaves go , i love harvesting the leaves of dandelion to make all sorts of creations . my favorite thus far is herbal pesto . just replace the basil in ur pesto recipe with dandelion leaves and u are good to go ! i love using yellow dock leaves to make food that requires cooking a little longer . yellow dock is a little less tender than dandelion leaves – so i like to add yellow dock leaves to recipes like lasagna, omelets, etc . all these greens can be used in recipes that require greens like kale, etc . creativity goes a super long way . definitely be confident about yellow dock leaf identification because there are a few toxic look-a-likes !  i also enjoy using dandelion flowers to make fritters ! play around with the consistency to from a paste and voila ! u can impress ur hipster friends for ages to come . don’t forget in the fall u can harvest yellow dock + those velcro like burdock seeds to grow some in ur back yard for many years to come . btw, did u know velcro was inspired to be invented by burdock seeds ? nature is the greatest gift giver  .

dandelion flower fritters


find these plant gifts in my etsy shop ::

with these three amazing plant friends of mine i have created a few products for my herbal co. judge not tea is my blood purification spring tonic . it features dandelion leaf + root, burdock root and yellow dock root . i also offer the amazing bitters tincture i mentioned above as well as a DIY tincture kit to make ur own at home . happy harvesting + creating !