Crafting with Dandelions: Making Dandelion Jelly and Dyeing Wool
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ก.ค. 2024
- Hello friends! Dandelions fall into the category of flowers that make a great resource for both food and crafts. This is why I'll say they're actually the best flowers, eventhough they have a bad reputation. In this video I shall attempt to prove that to you by making a dandelion jelly of dandelion honey and by dyeing some Belgian Milksheep wool with it. This of course only scratched the surface of all the possible things you can use dandelions for. So let's go and forage some of this nature's gold and let's get crafting! And cooking! And failing! Because if there's one thing dandelions teach us: you don't have to be perfect to be entertaining, right?
While I want to convince you that from a human perspective dandelions need a new reputation, I also want your attention for this very informative and nuanced video by @ParkrosePermaculture about the bees' perspective on this: • Dandelions: Great Earl...
If you want to join in on the chaos, you can join the patreon via: / mijnwolden
You can also find me on Ravelry and Instagram as @MijnWolden
If you enjoy spinning, yarn, knitting, fiber arts or any other traditional craft then this channel is right up your alley. Maybe you could hit that subscribe button?
#crafting #naturaldye #dyeingwithdandelions #dandelionjelly #foraging #dyeing - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
While I want to convince you that from a human perspective dandelions need a new reputation, I also want your attention to this very informative and nuanced video by @parkrosepermaculture about the bees' perspective on this: th-cam.com/video/wwNFrXKMJII/w-d-xo.htmlsi=s2zs_F1s3Eo5_bn7
Oh I love her. She’s one of my favorite TH-camrs!
When my daughter was 4-5 years old, her kindergarten teacher took the entire class out for a nature walk, they collected dandelion flowers and made dandelion jelly. It sparked a childhood memory of our neighbour in Switserland making dandelion jelly and giving us a few pots. So I asked for the recipe and made more. It’s been a returning staple at our house ever since.
My grandmother taught me how to make mead. I still make meads, fruit wines and ciders. One ofmy favourites is dandelion mead. I use dandelions from my garden (it’s a dandelion and clover paradise), honey from a local beekeeper, a few citrus slices and wine yeast. I make some sparkling and some still. Some of it gets finished dry, some semi-sweet and some dessert wine sweet.
For the jelly and the mead, as picking the petals is a tedious job, I pick a few flowers each day and puck them petals apart. I store them in little freezer bags until I have enough for a batch of mead, wine or jelly.
Every Spring, we treat ourselves to dandelion salad. It’s delicious and apparently, extremely healthy.
Last but not least, here’s a bit of linguistic trivia for you. In some parts of the French speaking world, this plant is actually called ‘dents de lion’ rather than ‘pissenlit’. And the name ‘pissenlit’ actually refers to the plant’s diuretic properties. I thought you’d enjoy this little tidbit of completely useless trivia. 😊
The floof looks really pretty!
First of all your videos are not mediocre. I LOVE them. You are so authentic, unique, funny, and real. Keep making videos. I love them❤❤❤
I couldn’t agree more!!!!
I've got no plans of stopping 😁
Dandelions are the most perfect flower. They feed the bees. We can eat them in jellies and salads, etc. We can drink them in dandelion wine. Children can pick them freely. And yes you can dye wool with them.
Exactly 😁
Dandelion root is good for your kidneys and bladder. It can also be roasted for a nice drink. 😊
Two minutes in and I have to applaud you for colour coordinating your skirt, jumper, fridge and cabinets XD
And my tights too! 😂
You doing the squish his head to your husband in the background was hilarious 😂
Thank you 😁
I'm here for real life projects and am grateful that you take us along. Jelly not settling does happen quite often. And dandelion honey is delicious.
I'm interested to join you in a new attempt on a project, that would be so interesting!
Jelly is weird in that way, I've never had jam not setting...
@@MijnWoldenit might have needed more acid to change the ph balance. I have made pepper jelly and it won't set without the added acid or the seeds being left in.
I love the idea of revenge projects.
Can I give this comment 10 thumbs up?
Someday Ill have a slightly bigger place where I can have pots that are reserved for dyeing! For now, I live vicariously through videos like these❤
I keep making them for this purpose 😉
I love the fact that you put up videos of "failed" attempts, please don't stop doing that. It is very refreshing, also gives a realistic image off what one can expect for ones own first attempt. The internet makes everything look super easy these days and you can really feel like a failure if you don't get it right first time around. When the truth is that almost all beginnings are hard and full of failed attempts, so hurray for you and showing us your hones learning process.
Only showing succesful attempts would be very stressful too, so yay, benefits for all!
I’m glad you show the imperfect stuff and still try new things. I love it!
Thank you ☺️
yay to revenge projects! 🎉
The jagged leaves are the lion's teeth! I do agree that Dandy Lion is a much better name for them with their bright floof of mane-like blossom. I think it's funny that one of the thoughts I had upon seeing your video title was "Well you're in Europe so dandelions are actually good for YOUR bees, over in America people are trying to say that they're good for bees but our native bees don't get much from the introduced plant!" I still like dandelions, of course, I think they rise to the top of "flowers you can eat and dye with" solely because of their puffball "make a wish" seeds that are so fun to play with.
Well yes, I of course can only talk from a European perspective 😅
Thank you for being an antidote to perfection-culture! And yes, I would be interested in revenge shenanigans! Hugs
Thank you ☺️
Hi Jente, I hope you and Dries are both OK xx ❣️❣️❣️
Thankyou so much for sharing this fun video podcast.
I didn't know till recently that Dandelions are edible, I know we drink Dandelion and Burdock.
it seems that whatever language we speak that the Dandelions means the same thing in every country.
Dandelion Jelly is also a new thing to me. I'm not sure that I'd eat the fliwers themselves though.
Your Hand Dyed Fibre looked a pale yellow, but looked quite pretty.
I'd love to see you do a Revenge video podcast, it sounds like it would be a lot of fun.
Happy Dandelion Jelly Making,, Dying and Spinning Fibre Friend 🔆🔆🌾🎉🎡🐑🥰
Take care and stay safe
Lots of love and Big Hugs to you both Jen xxxx ❤️❤️❤️❤️🫂🫂🫂🫂🐕
PS I'd hide your Special Cheese away from your Giant 🧈🧈🍞
He's allowed to enjoy cheese as much as anyone 😂
I'm also a huge dandelion fan. Every part of the plant has value, and they're such cheery little friends, popping up everywhere. One of the things I love about your channel is the fact that you keep it real. No one has to be perfect, and much of the joy of creating comes from experiment and play. Even if you didn't make jelly, you have syrup. If you like wine, add a little to some Moscato, if not, try some seltzer. Both are yummy.
I drink neither alcohol nor fizzy drinks 😅 the latter because of sensory stuff. But I think it could be very refreshing with some icy water too 😁
Perfection is overrated. I love your content! So thankful you have been willing to put yourself out there for us to walk the path with you! Thank you so much.
Glad to be of service 😁
The thought of going somewhere to find dandelions blows my mind lol my entire yard is mostly dandelions!
Mine is too, but a bit too close to the Road for consumption in my opinion 😅
I just wanted to say that I love the way your brain works. Your honesty, intelligence and self-awareness are joyous. Plus of course you are right imo, dandelions are brilliant in countless ways. To honour them I've actually designed a few knitting patterns based on the tissue structure of a dandelion root :).
My brain is happy you like the way it works 😁
Watching you point at the pot of dandelion flowers and say "that looks done" while thinking you hadn't cooked it for long enough then you having issues with it setting. Feeling like a smug old grandma with all the secret knowledge rn
Even smug old grandmas had to try for the first time 😅
@@MijnWolden of course
I have tried to make dandelion jelly...same results, but yummy outcome. I put it on toast and pancakes. Love your videos!
Yes it would be great on pancakes!
Jente I thank you! I've always thought I was flawed. Now I know I am just a Chaos Goblin and I have family in Belgium! 😅
Where in Belgium?
We love dandelions here. I let them grow and thrive in our gardens. I can never get the jam consistency right so i make dandelion syrup/honey instead lol. We use the leaves sauted in a little butter and garlic but ive not used the root myself yet. Also I feed all parts to my tortoises and my bunny. Spend half my mornings every day out foraging goodies for us all 😅 Love them. They are so sunny and happy 😁 Love your video content always x
Hmmmm sauted in garlic and butter sounds great!
Just want to say, your Lumme sweater completely influenced my to make my own Lumme. I have the yarn in purple and brown all lined up and ready as soon as I finish my current cardigan project. This whole video made me itch to cast it on right this second though because yours looks so lovely!
It's a great pattern! Hope you'll enjoy it 😁
I was wondering when the pectin question would hit you!
I'd definitely be up for some Revenge Projects!
Fresh dandelions are great if you have small birds. Basically, other than the root, they enjoy all the different parts of the plant and it is a good additional source of fresh food for them. They still need their birdseed and so on. What we noticed was that picking one or two plants almost every day out of a dandelion-infested lawn resulted in a dandelion-free lawn in about 4 - 5 years. After that we had to start dandelion hunting further afield. [There are lots of other options for the bees in Adelaide, South Australia.]
When it comes to pectin, if you are going to use a citrus source, the majority of the pectin is in the white pith and even the seeds. The white pith tastes nasty but a good way of using it is to put the white pith, the seeds and even the "casings" that enclose each of the segments into a muslin bag (or a piece of fine cotton or linen fabric tied tightly). That way you get the pectin but you don't get bitter bits or bits with an unpleasant texture in your jelly. Remove bag before decanting the jelly. Since you're using the pith, pips and casings for pectin and not flavour, you could use any citrus that you can get hold of. The best citrus for pectin is very fresh and the fruit has not been in some sort of long life storage or sprayed with wax to make it look shiny or whatever.
For people in South Australia: you might be able to adapt this recipe for Salvation Jane flowers. Salvation Jane has that name because the sheep were able to eat it when they were short of grass and it kept them alive. The flowers are safe to eat. By contrast, DO NOT attempt to make jelly with sour sobs. You might be able to make an interesting dye with sour sobs - but that's definitely a _do not use your kitchen pots or pans_ dyeing project.
Took long enough to hit me :D
I may try making dandelion jelly. I also have wild violets growing in my yarn, hmm.
I used to have a big lilac bush (until my husband pointed to the wrong shrub to be dug out by the gardener), I'm really curious to lilac Jelly as well
Dandelions are seriously underappreciated where I live. You're awesome for showing how useful they truly are 💛
Thank you ☺️
I love dandelions, been making jelly for years. Not only a great jelly but also a nice glaze on ham if you eat ham. Also dye with it.
Hmmmm... Now I want to try glazing ribs with it
I smile real big when I see you have a new video! I'm now very very tempted to do some dandelion dyeing. I have 16 oz of undyed roving....
PS yes! Love watching you have fun and playing with materials and not being a perfectionist. :) I like your videos very much.
16oz would need more than a metric ton of dandelions... But I'd say go for it if you like yellow 🤔
I like the Dutch name paardenbloem better, it is called that because horses like it so much!
Yeah that's the official name here too, but colloquially... Nobody says that, it's pisbloem here and pisbloem there 😁
Loved the quest and the low lactose cheese. 😊
I was overjoyed that this particular cheese is low in lactose, because it was a heartbreak to learn I was lactose intolerant. ''so that means no more oud Brugge?''🥺
@@MijnWolden I haven't tried your particular cheese but really want to! I've been eating Leerdammer on veggie burgers and sandwiches as a lactose free substitute. Do you have regular cheddar/milk/yoghurt over there that has lactase enzyme added to make it lactose free? That's most commonly in my fridge but I miss the cheese variety of my regular dairy eating days.
(I'm in England).
@Bean_Box_Knitting yes! Lactose free milk is better with cereal tbh, but making sauces with it is a weird balance because it gets too sweet real quick.
@@MijnWolden right? I have found this too! 😁
Thank you for sharing your adventures with us. I just love to watch your videos; you make everything so much fun! I will definitely look out for your revenge videos. It’s all learning, right?
It's all learning indeed 😎
That floof does look cute! And I would love to taste that syrup 😋
Great work! I'm glad the jelly still turned out yummy. That's all that really matters.
That's true!
i love your videos so much. i wait each week for you to come on! i love dandelions! our yard is full of them. i cant wait to get at them. i did make a lemonade/dandelion drink. it was so good. thank u for being you!
Awwwww thank you
I love making dandelion iced tea
That sounds like a great use for dandelions too!
Such a good lesson at the end... I'm generally a fast learner so that has become what I expect: to be immediately perfect at something that I do for the first time. Which is of course not a healthy or achieveable thing to strive towards... So here's to imperfection and fooling around!
It is a hard learned lesson for me too...
This was fun to watch, i just dyed wool with dandelions yesterday. My family was giving me a hard time, so i told them I was making dandelion soup, then they saw me put polypay wool in the pot and the had a big protest 😂. I accidentally let the pot boil, for quite some time 😮 but it turned out beautiful. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
So they wanted the soup for themselves, I gather from that?
I love everything about this video and your adventures/experiments! 😄I was pretty indignant as a child when I first learned that dandelions are called pis‐en‐lit in French, but my teacher explained that it's because they're a diuretic (ie. the tea might make you wet the bed!). That pretty much won me over. Now I think it's a pretty darned practical and even witchy name -- diuretic flowers! (Though I still think your defence is pretty great🥰)
They are very witchy indeed! :D
Here in North America these are invasive and easy to find anywhere. The piss names refer to herbal uses. The root tea has diuretic properties.
Yes, we Europeans brought them everywhere we went because we thought it was such an ingenious plant. And then lawn culture came.
I am not here for perfection, I am here for the chaos!!
You came to the right place ;)
Yes on the revenge projects!
Yes!
excellent shenanigans, thanks for sharing them!
Thank you 😁
dandelions truly are a great flower! And I loved what you said at the end of the video. I truly enjoyed watching you make the jelly even if it didn't 100% turn out the way you wanted. Great video!
thank you!
If dandelions were difficult to grow, they'd be so expensive! I love them 💛💛💛
I picked some seed puffs, wrapped them in a tissue last time in Europe, must have thought it was a used one, and did what you do with those... I just wanted some yellow pretties in my courtyard garden...
But, for the less flattering names mentioned in the beginning, dandelion leaves are strongly diuretic. Try eating or making tea with some if you put on waterweight just before your period. Young leaves can be eaten in a salad or cooked like baby spinache, but go easy on it or you'll be running to the loo a lot!
They would be so expensive indeed, at least of lawn culture would stop being a thing as Well...
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have dandelion festivals to celebrate each new spring?
Very!
I now want to try making dandelion jelly, and I think I'll be better at enjoying it thanks to your insight near the end :)
It's worth a try 😁
Thank you. I made an orange marmalade that turned out watery but was the best crepe syrup.
I custom spun pet fur mostly but the dandelion dye is so beautiful. Great job.
I have yet to try it on crepes!
According to my mother, when my grandmother would make jelly that didn't set, they just used it as syrup. Not sure if they ever made dandelion jelly, but I'm sure it would taste just as good
I'm using it as syrup indeed. Been eating sandwiches with cheese and dandelion syrup ever since
:) love the imperfect video. We learn as much when things that go wrong as when things go right! Besides, learning how to rescue a recipe is useful! :) also. Funnier! 😆
Thank you :D and yes you're right, rescueing a recipe is a valuable skill
Sorry, but this video arrived to me as I had just come home from beginning the battle with my neighbors’ dandelions I’ve been tasked with carrying out this summer. So my grudge will not be budged.
At least I know you won't steal my dandelion seeds from me 🤭
You could battle dandelions _and_ use them for dyes, jellies, wine, salads, etc, etc. In some ways that might make the battle easier, it turns a chore into collecting free stuff.
@@MijnWolden I definitely will not steal your dandelion seeds! My clothes were covered in them and I don’t need any more.
@@MijnWolden On a related note… would you like some maple seeds too? I don’t need those either.
I’m nervous about making jam, since I’ve never done it before. However, I have dug up the roots, toasted , and ground them to make a beverage, using a coffee filter. Not bad at all for something dug up out of my backyard. Goes well with honey in a way coffee does not. No bitter, either.
I found jams easier than this Jelly, maybe the whole fruits have more stiffening action in them. I don't know the sciences of preserves 😅
A friend had a go at dyeing wool with dandelions & she got yellow, I tried and got beige 😂! Had not heard of dandelion jelly, may well try it! Thanks for your videos, they’re great.
That's interesting to compare with your friends 😁
They are called piss flowers because they contain a diuretic which helps you release water i.e. wet the bed helps you go for a wee
Yeah, but how many people know this, and how many disgruntled gardeners might actually think they're just piss flowers, because they piss them off? :)
I have made dandelion wine. The separating of the petals was crazy tedious. The other thing we used to do was dredge the flowers in egg and seasoned flour and make savory fritters by pan frying. We ate the greens topped with the warm fritters. So good. I wonder if a drizzle of the dandelion syrup would have been a good counterpoint?!😂
I recently had dandelion greens with special goat cheese in a sandwich. The jelly would have been fantastic there too!
Ah man that all sounds so Tasty!
Or we call them Paardenbloemen 🤗
And using orange juice instead of orange slices puts to much liquid in the mix 🤗
I like dying with dandelion, I might, one day try dandelion jelly.
If you get it right (unlike me), it's really worth it!
Not tried dandelion but have made a rose petal and red currant which is fantastic on vanilla ice cream 🇦🇺🎸⚡️🤘🏿🤘🏼💋❤️
That sounds amazing!
@@MijnWolden it really is. I made a small batch like 6 small jars and gave them to friends for feedback and my friend Kris said that would go well on ice cream. And she was right it’s a very heavily scented papa meillard red rose
Love it all. I love making rose petal syrup, sooo yummy in my tea. I tried dandelion dye last year and my color was soooo light however Chrysanthemum leaves gave me a beautiful yellow. I think I may try a dandilion syrup though, sounds yummy.
It is yummy :)
I agree dandelion is gold! in winter a cup of dandeliontea tastes like summer. Adding dandelionsyryp in tea makes it taste buttery. leafs are healty sallad. And did you know you can roast the roots and make " coffe" of it. I want to try that this summer. Thanks for funny and interesting viedos Mijn!
It's that I don't particularly like coffee, because that sounds interesting. (PS. My name is not Mijn, my channel 'mijn wolden' means 'my woolden'. My name is Jente 😉)
Dear Chaos Goblin ... you are most certainly not stupid, you are very talented, very funny and most important very REAL !! and perfect is NOT real. We have loads of little yellow flowers here on the farm, but, some are dandelions and some are prickly lettuce and some Sow Thistle - and I am very bad at telling the difference. I will try harder this next spring, as I make a lot of jams and jellies and preserves, but the wierder things - today I bottled some Cherry Guavas and last week I made some sweet potatoe jam (quite yummy) and some grenadilla jam and in March I made some Prickly Pear jam (well that was a challenge but also quite tasty) these all end up in gift parcels sent to my family in Johannesburg. And they are not always successful perfect jams ... I must look for some pectin in a box and slap that stuff in my runny bitches 😂😂
Sweet Potato and prickly pear jam sound so good tbh
I love the colors of your cookerhood (afzuigkap) and fridge!!! Can I get that color in the Netherlands? 😍 Probably should have watched this earlier to gather enough paardenbloemen (dandelions) in bloom. My guinea pigs did enjoy the dandelion leaves today, judging by their enthusiasm they are very tasty 😅
My kitchen was built somewhere around the late nineties/early 2000s... So I guess the colour might be out of season now 😅
Dandelions are considered invasive in my home province, (not indigenous to N. America) so the government encourages us to pick as much as possible to reduce their spread. I've never dyed with them but have picked them as food for ducks and geese; they love them! The government has the same policy for other invasive plants like woad, ox-eyed daisy.
You just have woad growing about? 😱
@@MijnWolden Yes, woad was introduced from Europe about a 100 years ago to S. Alberta and it has naturalized taking over for several native species of plants so the province encourages people to dig it up when they see it. It is illegal to plant it domestically. The provincial government is very happy dyers harvest the 'wild' woad to help discourage its spread.
Get revenge! Hehehe
I will 😎
"silly piano music" ? 😂 That's Scott Joplin, my friend, an early 20th century American genius. Look him up, you'll be impressed.
It's not because it's Genius that it can't be silly. The two are not mutually exclusive 😉
I'm making dandelion fritters rn
Bon appetit!
I make dandelion liquor, which is good as digestive. Here, dandelions are called Löwenzahn, which literally translates to „lion‘s tooth.“ I guess it refers to the jagged leaves. The young leaves are nice in salad.
In the digestive, the bitterness of the whole flower head is wanted, but in the jelly it is not. I like to make jelly from dandelions, but my recipe seems a bit different from yours. Mine calls for apple (= rich in pectin, maybe that’s why I never had a problem with jelly remaining liquid).
Yeah, I afterwards wondered why I didn't substitute the oranges with apples instead. I always have apples somewhere in the house... You live and learn :D
I am sad we don't have dandolines here in the Himalayas. And i actually don't know much about the plants here you could dye with. We have loads of nettles. I wonder because the buddhist Master Milarepa meditated in caves for several years only eating nettles and is famous for looking green afterwards. So maybe you could dye with it. Any ideas on that?
Anyways all antidotes to afflictions are great and i am up for another dandolines challenge. Just don't like the word revenge. Maybe I should try the nettle thing for my podcast. Have a lovely day
Nettles dye, yes! You can get many shades of green depending of the time of year. Oh and nettles themselves are also fiber plants. Sally Pointer has some great videos about nettle textiles.
I wonder if you could add your dandelion syrup to sparkling water and make dandelion soda!!?
You could! I just don't drink fizzy drinks because of sensory stuff, but I think it would be very refreshing in some icy water as well
YES!!! REVENGE PROJECTS!!
Yes let's gooooo
Do you have any crab apple trees in your area? All farms or farmsteads in Canada have at least one crab apple tree. I was curious as to why and found out that is how people in the past made pectin at home. This is something you might want to try in the future.
I don't think so actually 🤔
Do you know why the petals have to be filtered out? Is it just a texture thing, or is there another reason?
I think it's an aesthetic thing, a lot of the recipes go for an 'as clear as possible' look.
Oh no the jelly not setting 😅I tried making some apple scraps jally last fall and had the same problem, ended up adding gelatin to it xD
And apple is also a substitute for pectin I've read... Think I'm just going to stick with my normal jams 😅
haha yeahh, I also read that pectin has a heat limit, it will solidify up to a certain temp and duration and then wont jam up passed that threshold, I'm pretty sure that's what my problem was since, like you, I had jelly stuck everywhere on my stove xD
Ah man why is it so difficult haha
Plantitude. 😂
Damnit. How did I not notice the power of that pun when I said it?
How much alum do you use when dyeing your fiber?
I use approx 10% of the weight of whatever I want to dye
Late to the party, but I believe they're called "pisbloemen" as they're believed to stimulate kidney function and would help against bladder infections. So they actually are piss flowers!
Yeah that's why they are called like that... But who actually knows and who uses it as a derogatory term? 🤔
Gosh, who could have eaten the special cheese you had in the fridge? Maybe your mountain of a husband?
I suspect he did, but I won't accuse anyone
in Australia, we call dandylions "peeyabeds" or... "pee your beds". good to know that we're continuing a long-standing European tradition of slandering the very sunny coloured flowers, even after colonizing a whole other continent and introducing them to the fragile ecosystem here. (I think we might have better reasons to not like them here in Australia than you guys would have in Europe, as invasive species are a disaster here)
Europeans: bring dandelions to every continent they colonise, because they're so useful
Also Europeans: "piss flowers"
I think that may be a regional name, I don't remember it growing up in South Australia.
@@resourcedragon honestly, one of my friends also grew up in South Australia, and has convinced me whole heartedly that South Australia is basically a whole other planet. for reference, I have lived my whole life between queensland, ACT, New South Wales and Victoria.
Dandelions are 'mælkebøtte' in Danish - as in milk tub 🫠 heh?
Maybe because of the Milky substance when you break the stems?
@@MijnWolden I think so yes ☺️ a bit kinder to the flower than pis flower 😅