Year after year I watch dandelions bloom in my front yard. In the spring, beautiful yellow flowers pop up in April. This year I wanted to harvest them to infuse into the oil. Below I share my method and some helpful tips!
Maybe next year I’ll try my hand at dandelion wine!
Harvesting Dandelions
Dandelions are so simple to harvest! Simply place the stem between your fingers, pull up on the base of the flower, and off they pop.
I walk around my yard and grab all the flowers that are fully opened and look like they are in prime condition. Healthy flowers make the best dandelion oil. Of course, I leave some dandelions behind for the bees as they are often their first source of food in the early spring. Sometimes I find a dandelion that has several black ants on it. I tend to leave those be as it can be difficult to get all the ants off the flowers.
Picking dandelions is a fun activity for kids as well. My children love helping me pick flowers… and grass… worms… rocks… everything!
One important note: if you treat your grass with pesticides or weedkillers, I would recommend not harvesting dandelions from your yard for at least a year. The half-life of glyphosate is between 2 and 197 days, although a “typical field half-life of 47 days has been suggested.” (Source: National Pesticide Information Center Since we’ve lived in our current home for several years now, I know my grass has not been treated with any pesticides.
Fresh or Dry Dandelion Flowers?
When I began researching how to make an infused dandelion oil, I was surprised to see so many suggestions to use fresh dandelions.
I am always worried about mold and bacteria developing in my infused oils, which is why I tend to stick to dried herbs instead of fresh ones. However, I came across some very helpful tips from the Herbal Academy for making a fresh dandelion blossom oil. They suggest wilting the blooms and slow infusing over low heat to help cut the moisture.
I followed this advice and it worked out well!
First, I wilted my dandelion blooms for 24 hours. Then I slow infused the dandelion flowers in oil over very low heat 10-12 hours/day for 5 days. Finally, I strained the flowers and stored the oil in a sterilized mason jar.
I’m planning to use my oil to make a dandelion salve in the next few weeks. I can’t wait!
How to Make Infused Dandelion Oil
I shared a little bit about my process above, but here is my step by step process for gathering, drying, and infusing dandelion flowers in oil. You can also do this method in a slow cooker, but I just happened to do mine on the stove.
Gather several cups of fresh dandelion flowers.
Place flowers on a clean paper towel or dishtowel to dry for 12-24 hours. Remove any stems or leaves.
Place wilted dandelion flowers in a sterilized mason jar. Press down gently to fill 3/4 of the way full.
Cover wilted flowers completely in oil (I used high-oleic sunflower seed oil, but olive, jojoba, or sweet almond would also work for making dandelion oil).
Cover jar with a coffee filter and rubber band or cheesecloth and rubber band so that water can evaporate but no dust/crumbs can enter the oil as it infuses.
Place mason jar in a small saucepan of water. I placed a jar rack (like those used in canning) under the mason jar to lift it off the direct heat of the burner. The water came up about halfway on my mason jar.
Turn on very low (try to keep the water temperature around 100 degrees).
Infuse for 10-12 hours per day. I typically am home most days, so I could do this for five days straight. However, there were times when I left the house and turned the burner off. I do not recommend leaving your stove unattended.
After your infusion is the strength you would like, strain the dandelion flowers from the oil using a cheesecloth.
Store the infused oil in a sterilized mason jar for the shelf life of the oil.
Using Dandelion Oil
This oil is for external use only.
Dandelions have long been used to relieve joint pain and muscle aches so this makes an excellent massage oil! It also makes excellent base for DIY pain-relieving balms, ointments, and creams.
How are you going to use your dandelion oil?
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DIY Dandelion Oil for Sore Muscles and Stiff Joints was written by Katie Vance.
#Massage #Oil #Remedies #Infuse #Garden
