From Weeds to Wine.

Enthusiastic wild-plant foragers will list the many virtues of dandelions: the young leaves can be used in mixed salads, slightly older leaves can be prepared as cooked greens and the plant's root can serve as a coffee substitute. Making dandelion wine from the bright yellow petals of the flowers is a spring ritual in parts of Europe, where locals produce a delicate vintage that is consumed for its own sake but also has been taken in small daily doses as a “tonic” for purifying the blood. Like most country wines, dandelion wine is absurdly easy to make and requires mainly patience— first, because collecting enough flowers for a batch and stripping the petals requires lots of time and effort; and secondly, because it can take a year or longer for a wine to ferment completely and to mature to drink-ability. The basic equipment needed for home wine making doesn't cost much, and some of it you can recycle or scrounge for free. Dandelion wine can be served cold as an accompaniment to salads and light entrées, or as an aperitif or after-dinner drink.