In Memory of Common Dandelions: Dandelion honey and Dandelion cookies

So, I ventured out to forage common dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) with a mission, “Saving native dandelions from invader dandelions!” I returned home with 50 or 60 common dandelions that were all small compared with vigorous native cousins. I researched the reason for the difference, and realized “invader” dandelions are struggling to survive in foreign soil … But, here I had a bucket-full of picked dandelion flowers. They were all cramped and closed. The beheaded flowers … I should be responsible enough to hold memorial service for them … Here is my recipe to extract “dandelion honey” and to bake “dandelion cookies.”

Come to think of it,
 dandelions close their flower when it’s not sunny.
 It was no wonder the flowers were all closed
 in my cooking bowl …

<Dandelion honey Naomi made>

• Maybe 60 or so dandelion flowers
• 300cc of H2O
• 1Tbsp of Lemon juice
• 100g of granulated sugar

1. Wash flowers well and put them in a pan with H2O and lemon juice. Stew them for about 15-20 minutes over weak heat until the liquid in the pan has dandelion yellow color.

Stewing flowers …

2. Let the pan cool naturally. Then, sieve the liquid into another pan, gentry squeezing the stewed flower to extract their honey. The squeezed flowers are for cookies. Please set them aside.

3. In the pan of dandelion flower extract, add sugar. Put the pan over weak heat for 30-40 minutes until small fluffy bubbles come out slowly. Turn off the fire. Don’t let the pan boil!

Dandelion flower extract + sugar in the pan

Bubbles

4. The content in the pan is “dandelion honey.” Please store it in a clean jar at room temperature. It can last long.

Here is my dandelion honey.
 I’ll savor them well, promise …

<Dandelion cookies>

• 200g of butter. If you use unsalted kind, add a pinch of salt for process #1 below.
• 90g of sugar
• 300g of all-purpose flour
• Squeezed dandelion flowers after extracted “honey.” Chop them into bits.

1. Cream butter with sugar using whisk. When the butter is smooth enough, add the chopped dandelions and mix well.

Butter, sugar and dandelion flowers

2. Sift flour in the bowl of dandelion butter. Mix well to combine. Make a log of the dough and cool it in a fridge.

The flowers are incorporated in the dough.

3. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Cut the cooled dough-log in 5mm thick coins. Place them on a baking sheet lined over 2 baking pans … er, mine is Japanese-sized oven so that you may be possible to bake them in just one pan.

4. Bake them for about 20 minutes.

My respect for common dandelions …

I haven’t counted how many cookies I baked … maybe 30 or 40? If you like, you can make cookies in 10cm diameter for smaller in numbers of pieces … It seemed trivial to count the treats I made from the plight I brought to common dandelions. When I picked them I found my hands became sticky, and smelled honey. That’s the natural scent of common dandelions … They try to survive in whatever form, by self-pollination or sprouting in sideways of concreted car road, away from their ancestral home, don’t they? It’s unfair to label them as “the worst invasive species of Japan,” now I think. They say Japanese annual average temperature would be more than 30°C by 2100. Can dwarfing common dandelions immigrated from cooler Europe survive in such condition? Who knows their 2100, 200 years after they came to this archipelago? Will they be treated as “aliens” still?

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North
北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau
横浜市環境創造局

Phone: 045-311-2016
FAX: 045-316-8420

Soft and Fair Goes Far: Common dandelions and Japanese native dandelions in Yokohama

It’s strange this spring in Yokohama. Like some other places in the north, flowers are blooming almost at once. In March, fully bloomed magnolias and cherry blossoms jostled for human attention. Then, it seems to me all the other flowers have come almost 2 weeks earlier than previous years, displaying their colors in competition. Global warming … there also are strange things, I guess. One of the cases in point: dandelions.

A scenery in Niiharu Citizen Forest this April …
 though if there is no comment many people think it is in May.

It’s almost a cliché among Japanese nature lovers, lamenting “ferocious invasion of common dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) to our landscape.” National Institute of Environmental Studies designate them as “one of the 100 worst invasive species of Japan.” Since their first identification in 1904 for Hokkaido region, they’ve spread almost all over Japan taking over the territories of their Japanese cousins, so they say. Common dandelions can take root even along asphalted road around Tokyo Station, as long as they can find a fissure for their roots to reach soil beneath. Moreover, they have ability to procreate even by self-pollination for almost all year round in globally-warmed cities. Japanese version does not have such flexibility for survival. Normally, those dandelions found by us city folks in our concreted environment are Taraxacum officinale. Also, their strong ability to multiply creates hybrid with native dandelions. Some estimate currently 80% of dandelions we find in Japan is such “half-bloods.” Thus, here is the mourning among Japanese naturalists. But I recently heard and found the story not so simple for the clan of lion flowers.

This is Japanese version.
 To distinguish them from officinale, please keep on reading …

Many Japanese native dandelions found in Yokohama are Taraxacum platycarpum. The way to differentiate officinale and platycarpum is in involucral scale beneath the petals. Non-native officinale has the thing like

Could you see their curly scale below yellow petals? In contrast, Japanese-native platycarpum is not so curly, like

When the flowers came to burst in Yokohama’s forests this spring, first I found dandelions did not come early as for the previous years. Even along the asphalted car road in downtown, I had an impression they were slow to appear this year. Finally in April, they became common. I turned over the dandelion flowers I encounter to see if they were officinale. To my surprise it was difficult to find them in organic environment. The majority of dandelion flowers I found in forests and natural fields in Yokohama are platycarpum. The pure-blood officinale is minority. In contrast, when I did the same in downtown surrounded by buildings, the dandelions were officinale or hybrids at best, and they are small.

Taraxacum officinale,
small and often groveling over not-so-good ground

In Niiharu Citizen Forest,
we also have Taraxacum albidum
 commonly found in Kyushu Island.
 The reason Niiharu has it is,
 in the early 20^th century, a bride came to Niiharu from Kyushu
 bringing its seed to remember her ancestral village.
 Their petals are white.

I’ve learned self-pollination tend to create smaller offspring among plants family. I guess this happens for Taraxacum officinale. Such small size does not work well when rapidly germinate officinale to survive in high competition with the other species, such as for spring and summer in forests or natural fields. In contrast, platycarpum are larger than officinale these days in Yokohama. Yeah, they procreate only once in a year during spring, but the seeds are larger, and the plants sprouting from them are bigger too. Their size containing lots of nutrients allows the seeds to sleep until autumn without germination. It is the time in forest when the competition for sunshine is relatively weak. Baby platycarpum can grow steadily during winter with globally warmer climate in Yokohama’s Citizen Forests. Meanwhile, adults platycarpum intentionally wither their leaves during summer to sleep only as roots. When chilly climate comes, they spread their leaves in rosette to receive max sunshine in less competitive world. After storing enough energy to procreate through easy photosynthesis, they bear larger flower for seeds when the air is warm enough for pollinator insects to be active. i.e. Although foreign officinale can multiply in limited concrete jungle by self-pollination, native platycarpum has a strong strategy to continue in wider and natural Japanese environment. This is their flexibility. Wow.

Large fluff of Taraxacum platycarpum.
So beautiful when they receive rain shower in Yokohama’s forest …

Er … actually, the reason why I found such things about dandelions are not at all for scientific study but to rationalize my sweet teeth. So many people say “Those foreign invasion eats over native dandelions, blah-blah-blah.” So I made a project to pick up flowers of officinale and cook them for sweets. “Let’s protect our endogenous environment and biodiversity” kind of things, you know. (Oh, it was Earth Day yesterday …) When I entered the nature of Yokohama, I carefully turned over the flower before picking them. My policy was like “If it’s officinale, pick it. Otherwise, leave them in the field. We must protect our native plants!” To my surprise, with this principle, not much foraging was possible in Yokohama’s forest. I was a kind of panicked and turned eyes to the asphalted roadside leading to natural parks. Here they are, small officinale ... Next week, I post my recipe for dandelion “honey” and dandelion cookies made of Taraxacum officinale. Though, now I’m not sure if my cookies are contributing to the biodiversity of our city … At least, I’ve heard officinale is common spring vegetable in France. Really?

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North
北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau
横浜市環境創造局
Phone: 045-311-2016

FAX: 045-316-8420

Sisyphus 2: Harvesting 2021 bamboo shoots in Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森

Here comes again the season of harvesting bamboo shoots in Niiharu Forest. Every early spring, Japanese tele airs scenery of farmers harvesting bamboo shoots. They are like “Here in such-a-such community in Kyoto, people have hundreds years’ tradition to harvest the best bamboo shoots.” “Mr. A is nurturing his proud bamboo forest all year round.” Blah-blah-blah. The video then shows how they dig the shoots in their impeccable bamboo forest. It looks so easy. Their bamboo forest has soft soil. The bamboos stand in spacious ground large enough for somebody walking through with a large umbrella opened … Beautiful. I then reflected my skill of digging bamboo shoots. There are so many points which requires more practice in order to reach to the smooth moves of farmers in tele … Now we’re in the season of bamboo shoots. It’s the only time of a year to practice shoot digging!

COVID or not, we are taking care of bamboo forests in Niiharu all year round, but frankly they are too many. Basically, Niiharu Lovers dig out bamboo shoots as a part of forest management, not for agricultural production (; my post on May 13, 2016). Bamboos are ferocious multipliers that can easily congest their forest and spread rapidly to neighboring places for coniferous trees and oaks. Unless we control their growth, they can eventually dominate forests of non-bamboos to kill the original dwellers. In addition, their roots develop only in a shallow surface of the ground. Once a packed colony of bamboos occupies a forest, its surface is covered by tiny amount of soil that can trigger massive landslides, especially in hilly Yokohama. So, every spring, Niiharu Lovers enter bamboo forests with hoes to weed, yes, WEED, young bamboos while they are in buds … ah … yeah, they are shoots, not buds.

Lovers are taking action for this site for sure,
 but … the long road is ahead.

“You know, we are always short of helping hands, and the City keeps receiving request of public management from landlords for their bamboo forest. We cannot be level with increasing bamboos.” “Oh, yes. So, we take care of each bamboo forest one-by-one.” “If a place has been neglected for so long, it takes several years for us to clear the mess thanks to too-vigorous growth of bamboos.” From such colony, the bamboos often invade the neighboring non-bamboo forests. One of them is now attacking a plum tree orchard, another to afforested conifers. Digging bamboo shoots for the invaded forests is a task with some urgency. For example, please look the below photo, a scenery of Niiharu Forest.

FYI, the mess of the bamboo forest on our right-hand side is not due to the lack of effort by the Lovers. The landlord of this bamboo forest rejects our intervention to clear the mess. The problem is, the family says this, AND leaves their property in a mess. It allows their bamboos to spread their root to the broadleaved forest on the left-hand side that is a property of the City and contains some precious endangered species ... A compromising solution we took is

Here, we intentionally cut these invading bamboos in the middle for the City’s forest. The theory is, as bamboo trunks are like a pipe, when we leave them in this way, rainwater will be stored in the cut trunks. Water eventually reaches to their root which can rot the underground rhizome system spreading towards this forest of conifers, i.e. may stop invasion. Of course, there is a concern from Lovers about the spread of mosquitos multiplying in such bamboo trunks filled with water. The bugs can carry infectious diseases of viruses, can’t they? So much so about the responsibility of landlords for their forestry … Yokohama’s forest certainly has problems. Let us see the effect …

And there is more. Such bamboo forest in Niiharu is not the bamboos in tele. Say, an invader bamboo stood in the middle of cypresses, and its shoots are poking its head right next to the root of a conifer. We have to navigate our hoe-work to avoid injuring the cypress. Or, one shoot is coming out on the trekking road. Unless we remove it, it will be in few days an obstacle for the visitors to stroll. Oh, by the way, the pedestrian route in popular Niiharu is damned compacted by the treading pressure from human stomping. Digging the ground around a bamboo shoots on road is not at all a piece of cake. Those bamboo shoots which break the hard ground often has an odd direction to sprout. Identifying the proper side to strike the root of a shoot (; my post on May 13, 2016) can be a good guess-game. “Naomi, you’re digging the side of a shoot.” Really? “Yeah, look, this is the direction it comes out. The soil on sides of shoot is very very hard to dig. You’re wasting your energy. You remember that.” Gee … I realized I was not in a “bamboo shoot farm” in Kyoto, but in Yokohama’s bamboo forest left alone for too long in a rapid urbanization.

Could you see this guy? It should not be here.

So, I tackled it …

Done. Phew.

Last year, spring 2020, in panic we had the first State of Emergency against COVID-19. Every activity of Lovers’ Association of Niiharu Citizen Forest was cancelled until the end of May. It meant we could not dig bamboo shoots systematically last year. When in May the number of patients and panic subsided, Lovers’ members returned the forest individually and kicked out the young, but already tall = not edible bamboo shoots to control the bamboos as much as we could. It turned out last year was a bumper year for bamboo shoots. “You know, I kicked, dug, and cut bamboo shoots when I found them. But what one individual could do was not much …” “Yeah. You see? Bamboo shoots come in plenty every other year. I don’t think we can expect that many shoots for 2021 …”

Still, every weekend so far this month, we go home with freshly harvested bamboo shoots as Niiharu Lovers have to every April. Since last year, several people with remote-work requirement have joined Niiharu Lovers’ Association. Some even commute from the center of Tokyo. People need fresh air and large enough space in forest to escape from strange tension with COVID-19 … The new members are all in big smile, carrying bamboo shoots home from Niiharu. Whatever the conditions are set, bamboo shoots are emerging and we find time spending in forest. Tasting bamboo shoots soup, Naomi is in a pensive mode this spring …

Oh, by the way, the artists for Laboratory of Forest Art return to their forest between April 25 and May 5 with their installation for 2020 Show (; my post on September 25, 2020). It would be thrilling to experience their creation in a fresh green of spring. 😀

Gentiana zollingeri are flowering now in Niiharu,
 as every spring they’ve done …

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North
北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau
横浜市環境創造局
Phone: 045-311-2016
FAX: 045-316-8420

Niiharu Administrative Office / Satoyama Exchange Center
新治管理事務所・里山交流センター
Phone: 045-931-4947
Fax: 045-937-0898
Email: info@niiharu.jp
http://www.niiharu.jp/

Sisyphus: Eagle fern and Golden-rayed Lily in Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森

Niiharu Forest 新治市民の森 was once agricultural farmlands for local farmers. Urbanization has made much of the area for forest and park. Still, it has several patches of chestnut orchard that was cultivated by previous owners of the land. The largest one is spreading on a slope facing north to a small community of landlords of Niiharu, and Tokaichiba Housing Complex 十日市場団地 (my post on September 9, 2016). In 2018 Mr. Hideshige Uchino, the Director of Nagaike Park 長池公園 for the City of Hachioji 八王子, Tokyo, praised the site. “Keeping natural environment of the north facing slope is scarce these days in Tama Hills 多摩丘陵 where urbanization has concreted the nature en masse. This spot in Niiharu is one of such precious places. Looking the vegetation here, I guess the level of underground water is high. North-facing slope with stable moisture makes flourishing the plants for wet and cold climate. It is also rare in Megalopolis Tokyo. Please take care the chestnuts, Niiharu Lovers Association, will you?”

Chestnuts orchard in Niiharu in May 2018

The same orchard in July 2019. So lush vegetation …

Then in 2019, mega typhoons hit Kanagawa Prefecture. Normally, Typhoons move from the west to the east for Yokohama, which spares the north facing side of a hill from damages. In 2019, it was not. Especially Typhoon Faxai in early September, a freak storm trespassed Tokyo Bay from the south to the north, caused devastations to north slopes in Megalopolis. Niiharu’s largest chestnut orchard suffered hard. The chestnuts supposed to be collected by Niiharu Lovers in few days were completely destroyed. Moreover, many trees, including old chestnuts trees were snapped in half, or rooted out by strong winds. The scenery of once productive orchard became so sad. That year, the other Citizen Forests in Yokohama, such as Segami Citizen Forest had massive landslides due to Faxai. Niiharu Forest scored better than such worst incidences. Still, we Lovers of Niiharu were aghast and disappointed. “We cannot have chestnuts this year!” “Or, can we have chestnuts next year or future? So many trees were completely damaged …” A sort of hopelessness made Lovers Association to leave the place “as is” for a while. In normal years, we collect chestnuts in September, then mow the place 1-2 times before the next harvest time comes. We skipped it for 2020. In any case, COVID-19 restricted the activity of Lovers Association … a sort of excuse. Then, something miraculous happened.

The orchard immediately after Faxai

The same orchard after Typhoon Hagibis in October 2019.
 Hagibis took relatively standard course for Yokohama
 so that additional damage to the orchard was contained …

About 7 months later. May 2020.
The slope had lots of invasive Eastern Daisy Fleabane
 (Erigen annuus) coming from the North America.
 Could you figure out lots of snapped trees?

In July 2020, suddenly, the chestnuts orchard had lots of large buds of Golden-rayed lilies (Lilium auratum). They soon made the slope flower garden of gorgeous lilies, filled with noble fragrance. One of the veteran Lovers said. “Er … yeah, the landlord lady who donated the ancestral orchard to the City of Yokohama left word like ‘Please take care of flowers here that thrived for hundreds of years …’ That was true, now I know.” The word of mouths spread. Many people, not only locals but also from Tokyo and the other prefectures, came to admire the place. The City invited many professional botanists to check the place. Their conclusion was, the typhoon was a typical disturbance of nature removing the dominating old trees. The skies once covered by leaves of trees are now open, which let in the sunshine and air freely to the north facing slope. The dormant floor vegetation became awake. Phew. We Lovers Association are allocated the task “To take care of the place and keep the lilies thrive even more, will you?”

Lily field in July 2020.
 Those whitish spots in the photo are all lilies.

So, last summer in 2020 Niiharu Lovers have returned to the chestnut orchard. We cleared the damaged trees and mowed the slope “very carefully.” Before, we mowed the ground by brush cutter roughly. No more. We keep clearing the slope by brush cutter but with at most care not to damage the lilies. We then use our sickles to weed sasa bamboos (Pleioblastus chino) and grasses covering young lilies that cannot flower yet. Since last August we have done this at least 4 times as of February 2021. I’ve joined the task 3 times, and found not only sasa bamboos and grasses, but also ferocious Eagle ferns (Pteridum aquilinum) covering the field thick. “Well, Mr. Uchino said the site is north-facing and humid. Come to think of it, the environment is ideal for ferns, isn’t it.” “Yeah. Look. We mowed this much of ferns …” In front of us is a mount of mowed grasses, or ferns, that must be neatly collected and cleared for the flower bed of next year. They will return next year for sure …

The first result of 2020 machine mowing
for the chestnuts orchard … still lots of ferns remained.

It then clicked with me. “The buds of Eagle ferns are edible! Why not collecting them in spring? It’s really a Nip-in-the-bud situation!” Senior Lovers told me. “Well, Naomi, if you want, do it by yourself. We think it’s a useless endeavor.” “Eagle ferns are ferocious. Picking their bud don’t solve the problem. When we want to reduce their population, we must dig out the root. It’s a too much task.” Well, OK. I’ll come back here alone in spring to collect the buds of ferns. Just do it, doesn’t it? COVID or not, spring 2021 comes. In early April, I entered the chestnut orchard. Collecting vegetation in Niiharu Citizen Forest is a NO-NO thing, but the ferns must be mowed sooner or later and discarded as garbage. At least, I’ll collect them for our family dinner, which is more sustainable! Sure enough, there were lots of buds of eagle ferns … Soon, I found myself in a miserable feeling. The slope is filled with REALLY LOTS OF ferns sprouting vertically like skyscrapers of Manhattan or Hong Kong. In few minutes, my plastic bag was full of fern buds, and I was still surrounded by eagle ferns. What kind of difference will I be possible to make? I was sure it would end up NOTHING for the orchard, even as a negative effect. I was powerless …

March 2021 of the north slope of chestnuts orchard.
 Oh-so-cleared field, thanks to our effort, …

… bristles with buds of Eagle ferns.

At least, I brought home fresh edible buds of eagle ferns. It can be a good preserved-food that can last till spring next year. Here is the recipe I used with eagle ferns.

(1) Making dried buds of Eagle ferns, or Warabi わらび (in Japanese).

Buds of Eagle ferns are edible, but they taste harsh without removing the tartness. Here is the way:

1. Wash freshly collected buds of eagle ferns in running water, and cut the hard part near the root. The way is exactly the same as preparing asparagus.

2. Put them in a boiling pan filled with water and baking soda, like 3L of H2O and 2 Tbsp of soda. If you have cooking ash, you can use it instead of baking soda. When the pan returns to boiling, stop cooking and drain the contents and wash them in a running water. Now we can use Warabi undergone this treatment for salads, stir fries, etc. (recipe is here). But I proceed to the next stage such as … 

3. Dry them on a basket under sunshine. Massage Warabi gently several times while they are soft.

Drying Warabi. They are at the beginning of the process.

4. Within a week, Warabi shrinks and dried completely. When they reach to this stage, we can store them with a packet of desiccant, for almost “forever.”

5 days later. They’ve shrunk completely.
 They are now ready to be stored.

 (2) How to eat dried Warabi.

I think it’s a matter of opinion, but I believe dishes made of dried Warabi is tastier than that of “boiled-only” one. Here is one of my recipes to cook dried Warabi:

1. Put 20g of dried Warabi with plenty of water in a pan. Cover it with a drop-lid and bring the pan to boil.

Dried Warabi in water, ready to be boiled.

2. When it starts to boil, turn off the fire and cool the pan. In the process change the water several times. When you do it slowly, say for 24 hours, the dried Warabi returns to its former size, and very soft.

The pan after boiling.
Could you figure out the liquid is tinted with green?
If you prefer slight tartness of dried Warabi in you dish,
 you can start cooking immediately now.

Otherwise, this is the result of few more ours of soaking.
Some say their fiddleheads are not good to eat.
But I didn’t care, and still alive now!

3. Drain the Warabi well. Cut Warabi to 3-4cm long. Put them in a pan with 4 julienned fried-tofu (Abura-age), 3 cups of vegetable broth, 1/2 Tbsp sugar, 3/2 Tbsp Mirin, and 2 Tbsp soy source.

Abura-age.
You can have it from any Japanese supermarket.

Warabi, Abura-age, and vegetable broth, et al in a pan

4. Cover the pan with a drop-lid and simmer by low heat until the seasoned broth is reduced enough.

Drop-lid is like this.

5.Bon Appetit!

😋

… Yeah. It’s like the task of Sisyphus. Never-ending. Though, according to Camus, Sisyphus have found some meaning to it. At least, mine is yummy. I’ve returned to the same conclusion as I munched steamed bread of Red deadnettle. Human limitation … Naomi’s philosophical spring. Mutated COVID-19 could dominate here Yokohama, soon …

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North
北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau
横浜市環境創造局
Phone: 045-311-2016
FAX: 045-316-8420

Niiharu Administrative Office / Satoyama Exchange Center
新治管理事務所・里山交流センター
Phone: 045-931-4947
Fax: 045-937-0898
Email: info@niiharu.jp
http://www.niiharu.jp/