Today’s goal: harvest 300 dandelions on Lopud Island
Have you tried something called dandelion honey? It’s made by cooking enthusiasts, not bees. And it tastes like heaven. All you need to do is harvest 300 dandelions and follow a pretty straightforward recipe that includes some sugar and water. Maybe add few lemon slices and vanilla sticks for flavour. You can find hundreds of versions of the recipe online. So, I thought how hard can that be? I’ll harvest 300 dandelions on Lopud Island in couple of minutes. Dandelion is weed. It’s basically everywhere. Our backyard and meadows above Apartments Mihajlovic are filled with thousands and thousands of dandelions. Boy I was wrong. I got back home with enough dandelions to make few cups of tea.
There are millions of dandelions on Lopud Island. Right? Wrong.
Maybe it’s just me, but I truly thought that all those yellow flowers looking at me from below are dandelions. They are not. Thankfully, I called my cousin Silvia Vlahušić, the co-owner of Acanthus, Dubrovnik based company specialised in landscape horticulture, and sent her few pictures just to double check which one of the plants on photos is dandelion. I just got – no, no and no. How could I be so wrong? They looked all the same to me… Turns out they are cousins, just like Silvia and I. But, not so nice and friendly. So, I simply threw them all away for wild goats to eat. Have you seen those on Lopud? They are so beautiful. But that’s another story. Back to dandelions.
Let’s play a game
So, how does a dandelion look like? Based on Edible Wild Flowers dandelion flowerhead has about 150 to 200 yellow ray florets and no disk florets. Dandelions have a toothy, deeply-notched, basal leaves that are hairless. They can grow as high as 30 cm. You can eat leaves, root, and flower. Dandelion leaves can be added to a salad, cooked, dried and frozen. You can make honey, tea or juice from the flowers. The root can be made into a coffee substitute. And let’s not forget – you can make a wish by blowing into one. That’s the best part!
Ok, now let’s be honest. Would you recognise which one of the flowers on the photos is dandelion? Yes? Ok, then It’s just me. Maybe you could pick these 300 dandelions for me when you visit Lopud. I’ll gladly share dandelion honey with you!
Featured Author
Beti
Hi! I’m Beti, the daughter of the owners of Apartments Mihajlović. I’ll probably be the one you’ll talk to long before you get to the island, since I manage all the bookings. I’m happy to help you with any questions you might have.
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