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I can’t fathom why anyone hates dandelions. The entire plant is edible and they’re a cute little flower.
Some people are allergic to joy.
Not joy in general; just other people’s joy.
Some people derive joy from seeing others suffer, that’s true.
joy is bitter killer
And they are amazing for bees
I heard their pollen doesn’t provide enough nutrients for the hive/queen. Specifically protein.
Here’s a link to neat bee article. Go pollinators!
https://www.gardenmyths.com/dandelions-important-bees/
Protein contains amino acids, and some of these amino acids are essential. That means the organism can not make them; they have to get them in food. Dandelion pollen is low in valine, isoleucine, leucine and arginine, essential amino acids for honey bees.
Dandelion is consider a poor quality source of protein for bees.
Still better than short cut grass.
That’s true, but it’s better than no flowers. I see this comment pop up pretty regularly in reference to dandelions as a source for pollinators as if eliminating the flower would be of little impact. Dandelions are one of the first flowers to show up for the pollinators, even if they don’t provide the best food for insects it’s still something, especially in sterile modern suburban landscapes. .
That link lists the first foods for pollinators. Lots of things on that list which surprised me. We’re replanting our yard with native plants this year. If you like birds and wildlife this is the best way to attract them.
I also learned this year dandelions aren’t native to North America.
That’s where clover and wild strawberry come in to play.
Yeah, I don’t even get mad at them any more. They are hardcore survivors and proliferators, and will have a welcome haven in my lawn to piss off dick neighbors like in the post
Did you know you can get them in pink and white?
Really piss off your neighbors!
I saw a bunny once systemically behead a bunch of dandelions in an area. It was cute and scary.
Goats love dandelions. It’s like cocaine
maybe they’re allergic to the pollen
They’re technically an invasive species in North America. Been around long enough now that they could maybe be considered native. If you’re looking to do a natural lawn in NA, though, you should probably still consider them a weed.
That’s a good point, and I fact I keep forgetting. Probably because the people who typically take issue with them aren’t concerned about native species (if they were, they wouldn’t like the grass either).
Dandelions never hurt anybody.
You must not have met HOAs.
HOAs have hurt people.
Not that I’ll ever buy a home but I would never buy one in an HOA
I’m sure there must be some based HOAs out there that encourage this sort of thing instead of forbidding it. You just have to not live in Normieville.
That’s a contradiction. HOA’s are by definition Normieville.
I don’t see why it would have to be though. A bunch of oddballs could certainly get together and create one to protect diversity in their neighborhood from a normie invasion.
The most well-intentioned HOAs can easily go to shit when power-tripping assholes, with all the free time in the world, take them over.
The reverse is true as well, take over your HOA if you’re so angry at it
If structured through direct consensus democracy, rather than the appointment of leaders, the Karens will be powerless.
For the same reason why very few companies are worker owned co-ops: people suck and capitalism doubly so. That’s why we very rarely can have nice things.
In the case of HOAs, the bad ones (which are the vast majority of them) exist to extract profit (in the form of increasing property values, fining anyone who doesn’t follow their petty rules, and sometimes even take someone’s home for breaking the aforementioned rules) and exert as much control over people as possible.
In the US at least, laws regarding HOAs are a grotesque combination of under-regulation and regulations specifically crafted to FACILITATE abuse rather than discourage it.
Perhaps, but as long as there is no law that says you can’t have an HOA that fines you for having a McMansion with a monoculture lawn instead of a natural one, it’s at least possible in theory.
I pay an HoA, its like $30 a year. While they dont encourage it, they dont care either. They really dont do anything except twice a year they bring out garbage trucks/dumpsters to the nearby school to dump/recycle things too big for a trash can.
In Germany the city does that at least in smaller cities. Twice a year you can put all stuff that doesn’t go into regular trash out at the street and it gets collected. Think broken furniture, old electronics etc. People empty their garages and basements of all the stuff that accumulated. It’s common to have a walk through the neighborhood on these days to see if there is some cool stuff in there. Got my first skateboard that way as a teenager.
80% of new developments in America have HOAs. We’re totally fucked.
But they did stand in the way of this guy selling herbicide
Dandelions actually do important work for your lawn. They break up the hardened soil to make the ground softer for the grass to grow in. Letting dandelions grow will lead to a more beautiful lawn.
I like dandelions. I’d let them grow even without the additional benefits just because they’re pretty. And also fun for kids when the seeds mature and you can pluck them and blow them into the wind.
I completely agree. But for all those that want the lawn to be beautiful and healthy it’s good to have that knowledge about them. They’re useful and good looking. And you can make shitty wine from them.
I’ll pass on the wine but I’m down for everything else.
Reasonable
How shitty of a wine are we talking about here? Boxed wine that’s been exposed directly to the sun for months?
Not too bad, not too good.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/IDXyfmBbyJM
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Also, pollinators love them!
They do!
People can eat dandelions. So, free food? Where?
You can eat dandelion greens, but be careful where you pick them. Some people use pesticides for spiders and ticks around their homes, or weed-killers. You can also boil the greens and flowers to make tea.
So maybe I get a yummy meal, maybe I just fucking die?
I’ll roll those dice.
I’m not in Australia. The only spiders I know of that might nest under a dandelion are small American jumping spiders.
They’re effectively harmless, and honestly I wouldn’t eat them, as they are our cute 8 legged kittens that eat the other bugs out there.
Look first, if no bugs or spiders, then free dandelion food yo! 👍
Eating the spiders is not an issue. Eating pesticides that people use against spiders is.
In my area, when people don’t cut their lawns, they damn sure ain’t paying for pesticides.
I might even get a little protein too?
The spiders are optional. Honestly, you’re more likely to encounter their egg sack under a dandelion than the actual mother spider, unless you pluck them early in the morning dew when momma spider might be at home…
Almost all of our spiders are completely harmless. Even the black widow and brown recluse are not as dangerous as people think.
We spray for bugs because people don’t want house spiders in their house.
People that are too lazy or can’t afford to cut their lawn typically also can’t or don’t care to afford pesticides.
Edit: I’ll eat the spiders too.
Not (frequently) mowing your lawn is one of the best things you can do for your local bee population. Dandelions and other meadow flowers are great sources of nutrition for them. Obviously, don’t use pesticides either.
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https://www.piped.video/watch?v=_2NGeTbzDXU
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Dandelion greens are really good for you. Plus as others have noted monoculture lawns are pretty bad for the environment. Better than impermeable surfaces but still not great.
You can make Dandelion wine, coffee, dandelion salve, dandelion syrup, dye your clothes and eat them, to mention a few uses. - maybe he should sell them.
I’ll pass on eating my clothes
Don’t knock it 'til you’ve tried it.
I’ve made dandelion wine and dandelion root tea, both good. A wonderful little treat of a plant.
Yeah but that sounds an awful lot like work.
Oh no! Your neighbour will really be upset now…
What they meant us your lawn has less than the regulation number of dandelions. Quick, go gather seeds and start replanting!
Worked in animal crossing
Do the dandelion dance! Blast techno! Wear a speedo! Celebrate nature’s bounty, yo!!
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
It doesn’t say what to do with them… If I see something like that with no context, I’m breeding ginormous people-eating dandelions…
Now that’s an interesting plot twist
That’s better than someone dousing the lawn in roundup.
Personally, I prefer the slovenly lions.
Dan the lion?
Free Dandelions! From the sidewalk to the fence!
Pretty soon your neighbourhood will be lousy with Italians
