Weeds to fill needs? Regina man touting possible perks of dandelions

Why some residents don't whack their weeds Defending the dandelion, why some residents choose not to whack their unruly weeds. Colton Wiens explains.

It’s the time of year when people are typically preparing gardens and lawns for summer, which usually means whacking weeds, but not for Dan Lindsay.

“I’ll just harvest my neighbour’s and my neighbours will love me, and I’ll get the dandelions,” said Lindsay, who has started using dandelions in his daily meals.

“They’re like 500 per cent your daily dosage of Vitamin K, and like 103 of Vitamin A,” Lindsay told CTV.

Lindsay says he’s been trying to educate his neigbours about the plant’s benefits and encourages them not to kill the flower but instead use the dandelions in foods like teas, salads, and wine.

Dandelions can also provide small amounts of pollen for bees.

“All spices and all these things are medicine but we don’t think about that anymore,” Lindsay said. “We’ve lost that.”

Dandelions are actually a source of fertilizer, but they cause a look some aren’t fans of.

“You have all these yellow dots across people’s front lawns, I think that’s a problem,” said Tim Van Duyvendyk, the owner of Dutch Growers in Regina.

Van Duyvendyk says the weed can be removed by hand, sprayed with vinegar or other organics solutions, but the quickest solution is herbicide.

“Essentially what it does is it forces the plant to grow very quickly and then it deforms, then it dies in the lawn itself,” Van Duyvendyk said. “If you are very neglectful and you don’t water your lawn and you don’t fertilize your lawn then yes, you’re going to get lots of dandelions.”

But even though they’re invasive, Lindsay says they’re part of our ecosystem now.

“What’s a park? A park is for things to grow and dandelions grow,” Lindsay said.

Based on a report by CTV Regina’s Colton Wiens