Drying Dandelions

Winters coming and I want to stock up on dandelion leaves before the snow comes. I was thinking of dryong them, but I had some questions.

1. What is the best way to dry them?
2. Do they keep their nutrients?
3. How do I feed them to my torts? Wet? Dry? Mixed in with other food?

Any help would be great! Thanks!

I can't help with how to dry them. I have bought them in a shop and I they do retain nutrients, though probably not all. Joe has flatly refused to eat them no matter how I presented them.

I was thinking about doing the same here.

We have a small counter top dydrator we bought on Amazon a few years ago. Less than $100 and we have done tons and tons of jerky with it.

As for feeding I would guess that rehydration and mixed in with their other food would be the way to go, but it may just be a trial and error thing. Every tortoise will be different here.

I believe properly dehydrated it should retain the majority of its nutrients.

The best way is to use dry moving air (not heated). Heat is the enemy of nutrients other than what the actual desiccation might do. Keep the drying or dried leaves out of light as much as possible, and for sure do NOT dry with sun. If you do use heat don't exceed 112 degrees F. Big stacks of leaves will dry much less well than laying them out individually.

A pretty simple way to do it is get some needlepoint screens as large as works well for you, and then you can lay one down, place leaves on it, then lay the next one direct;y on top of the leaves. That allows enough space for air to get to each individual leaf. Put them in a dry place of your house and run a regular fan over them.

I've made stacks as high as 20 sheets, that are 24" x 36". They will dry faster yet if you use dowels (pencils work) to make a larger space between each sheet, or you can but stainless steel drying racks as well.

This stuff, it's called needlepoint canvas, get the plastic with the largest size holes that is available.

If you look at supplies for pot growers on line they have these hammock like things, but they are IMO expensive.

I feel the best way (although there are probably various ways...) is to pick the dandelion flowers and set them in the sun. Later that day, or the next day, they're perfectly dry! There was a rainstorm a few days ago, but new dandelions grow constantly, and I dried some fine today. It doesn't work to dry them indoors for me, they dry great under the sun! I looove dandelions.

flowerlab said:

I feel the best way (although there are probably various ways...) is to pick the dandelion flowers and set them in the sun. Later that day, or the next day, they're perfectly dry! There was a rainstorm a few days ago, but new dandelions grow constantly, and I dried some fine today. It doesn't work to dry them indoors for me, they dry great under the sun! I looove dandelions, I can ship flowers or seeds if anyone is looking.

flower lab

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The sun's UV breaks carbon carbon bonds, reducing nutrient value.

Well Kapidolo, I wouldn't worry about that. Dandelions are a superfood for both us and animals.
A lot of intelligent raw foodists and gardeners use the sun to dry herbs and flowers, if you are overly worried about that, use a dehydrator. I ship out fresh dandelions that haven't been dried by the sun, usually you dry them for a winter reserve.

Fresh snacks still better than packaged food that was made months or years ago, sitting in plastic or a warehouse.

My first attempt at drying out some dandelion last week ended up in a shoebox full of moldy flowers lol.

I've got a couple of trays off dandelion flowers drying in my food dehydrator right now... looking forward to giving Darwin some variety next January.

Jamie

flowerlab said:

Well Kapidolo, I wouldn't worry about that. Dandelions are a superfood for both us and animals.
A lot of intelligent raw foodists and gardeners use the sun to dry herbs and flowers, if you are overly worried about that, use a dehydrator. I ship out fresh dandelions that haven't been dried by the sun, usually you dry them for a winter reserve.

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hence post two in this thread.

Hi, I thought I would revive this old thread instead of creating a new one.

I am drying some greens and flowers from the garden before my tortoise (greek ibera) arrives mid August, and was wondering if anyone had advice. My greens so far have discolored quite a bit in the process. As in loosing their green côor and turning yellowish.
Reading your comment about sun drying @Kapidolo Farms, I am wondering if this is my mistake. I have been using a drying mesh hanger with four levels, I give everything a lot of room, single layers, and I hang in the sun for a few days (4/5). Once dried my dandelion greens are on the yellow side even though they were fresh and green when starting.
I don’t dry big quantities, and am in LA where it’s quite dry.
Should I hang stuff under my porch where the sun can’t touch it, or indoors where there is possibly even less light? You mentioned keeping leaves out of the light, I was wondering why.
I am trying to not use power so no fan, just the natural breeze.

Additionally, should I prep my greens in any way? I have been drying everything with stems on, that part can get a big twig-like. Are the stems impossible to eat for a baby/young tortoise?

For storage I am using canning jars, I keep the lid loose.

Thank you for any advice you are able to share!

Here is an article about preserving green leafy vegetables and fruits for humans attached below. What they are saying is to blanch the green leafy vegetable first before drying them. Not sure how much work you want to do. But blanching keeps the color of the green veggies. Like Kapidolo Farm says, the needle point canvas is really handy to dry on. You can buy the plastic needlepoint canvas at Michaels and Joanns. I would dry the greens under your patio or in the shade so the sun doesn't uv damage the greens. Use the plastic needlepoint canvas and use sticks or dowels to give them air space to dry faster and you can even use a fan to gently blow on them to dry faster. Once they are completely dry, you can use canning jars like Agathaade says but ok to close tightly to keep them dry, if they get moist, they may mold and taste bad. In many countries, drying vegetables was a common thing to do, and done right they retain most of their nutritional value and don't taste that bad. Dandelions are on the bitter side so I would combine it with other greens that are more sweeter like wheat and other grasses when you feed your tortoise.
Best wishes on your dandelion project!

Thank you for the document! I’ll try moving my rack in the shade of the porch and see what happens.
I would love to avoid blanching if I can, I’ll test a few things.
In the meantime, are discolored dried greens okay to keep or should I toss them?
Does discoloration mean they have lost beneficial nutrients?

I hang the dryer things in a room with no lights on, unless I'm in there, and run a small fan. I've dried plantain leaves, chicory, and hundreds to pounds of mulberry. You might just rinse in fresh water, or use a sprinkler the day before you harvest. I've had yellowing in some batches of cactus chips in a forced air/heated dehydrator. I have not figured out why every once in awhile I get yellowed chips. All the mulberry has always kept all it's bright green. If the mulberry leaves were yellow on the tree they dry yellow. Plantain and chicory stay green too. The temp in the drying room is in the 70's.

Sun has a few effects on things, it can activate a pathway in some plants to produce D3 (not a mistype) but it can also destroy some nutrients. Why sun can 'sanitize' is also why sun drying may not be best.

All storage should keep the dried plant material away from heat, light, and air. Moisture is the other enemy. If you want to go the extra expense there are those little packets of desiccation crystals that draw moisture out of the air. In a sealed storage bag they have minimal effect if you plan to use your dried goods with two years.

My full process for mulberry is to harvest, wash, and hang in the dryer hanging things - all within a few hours.

Thank you so much for your tips @janevicki.
I appreciate you sharing your breakdown @Kapidolo Farms. I’ll switch things up asap!
I’ll hang my drier in our garage, it’s mostly dark and there’s good ventilation, meaning there are huge gaps under the doors and in other places I’ll see if I can avoid a fan that way.
Thks!

Ive had a lot of luck using this type of dehydrator for many things....including hibiscus greens, flowers, dandelion greens & flowers, etc.

Wolfie said:

Winters coming and I want to stock up on dandelion leaves before the snow comes. I was thinking of dryong them, but I had some questions.

1. What is the best way to dry them?
2. Do they keep their nutrients?
3. How do I feed them to my torts? Wet? Dry? Mixed in with other food?

Any help would be great! Thanks!

Click to expand...

I dry any of the green my tort decides not to eat. I put mine in the convection oven at 250 degrees for approx. 10 minutes. Then I keep in Tupperware and give to him as a snack.

In the meantime, are discolored dried greens okay to keep or should I toss them?
Does discoloration mean they have lost beneficial nutrients?
[/QUOTE]
The discolored dried greens are fine to eat, maybe lost some nutrients, but my herbivore torts are devouring cows and eat a lot so to me a little discoloration is ok. What you have to be careful of is mold. Must dry completely so you can keep the leafy greens as long as you can. ?

Thank you for your insight.