Dandelion Wine - Harvesting Flowers
picking and preparing the flowers
One of the first flowers to appear in spring (in our part of the world, zone 2, Saskatchewan, Canada) is the Dandelion. Generally considered a nuisance and weed plant by homeowners that are trying to grow grass in their front yards, the Dandelion is a persistent, hardy and healthy plant. I will not get into the health benefits for the sake of this substack, but they are associated with all parts of the plant, including flowers, leaves and roots.
The first step in making Dandelion wine is picking. This year I picked Dandelions from neighborhood boulevards which do not have a history of chemical application and display an abundance of Dandelion flowers. Because of their proximity I could monitor the growth and wait until the flowers have reached a large size. Size matters when it comes to Dandelion flowers. I found that if you pick the flowers too soon or from younger plants they are relatively small and it is much more difficult to separate the yellow petals from the green receptacle.
I tried to find stands of Dandelions in which the flowers were as large as a loonie (one dollar coin in Canada) or larger. When the plants are not controlled by chemicals or other means, they get larger and larger every year. If you can find such a stand pick as many as you can. It doesn’t take long to get as many as you will need for a one gallon batch (approximately 4 Litres). While you are picking you will notice that ants love the flowers and are visibly evident in flowers that you want to pick. What I do is flick the flower head a couple of times to dislodge the ants or other insects present before I pick it. I collect the flowers in a plastic food grade pail (usually recycled) or a clean bag.
I have been separating the yellow petals from the green receptacle as soon as I return to the house. The reason you separate them is because the receptacle has a bitter taste which you want to minimize. During the separation process it is a good idea to have a protective cover on the surface of the table you are working at. The yellow flowers have a tendency to stain yellow which can be a bit of a chore to remove. You may want to wear gloves as well, but they must fit tight otherwise they become more of a hinderance than a help. In order to physically separate the petals I grap they in my right hand between thumb and forefinger, while with my left hand I grab the receptacle between the same fingers and twist. Once you have practised this you will find it works pretty well. I inspect the petals to make sure none of the receptacle is pulled out with them. You will find that some of the green bracts are pulled out with the petals. I don’t worry about this because they make up such a small amount and would be too much work to remove. Once I have separated enough petals for one batch (approximately 500g see next paragraph) I pack them into a large freezer bag and freeze them to preserve the aromatics and other components, as I don’t know when I will start the next step.
Some Wine recipes I have seen call for adding a certain volume of Dandelion flowers. When you are developing a recipe for anything I would suggest using measures of weight and not volume in order to be consistent, because volume can vary depending on a number of factors. I found the ratio of petals to green receptacles as approximately 2 to 1 by weight. In my first batch of Dandelion wine I plan on using 500g of petals, which fills a large (approximately 27cm x 27cm) heavy duty freezer bag. You will need to pick about 750g of Dandelion flowers to get 500g of petals.