Weeding Out Dandelions

Weeds or dinner salad?  Which do you consider dandelions?  Many cute stories have been written about children's attraction to them.  So, I won't bore you with how adorable my girls are when they spot them, seemingly everywhere these days, and exclaim something like, "look, pretty flowers!"

Being a moderate on gardening practices makes tedious work of dealing with dandelions at our house.  I think I've missed the window of opportunity to possibly impede the dandelions' growth with something innocuous like corn gluten meal on the lawn.  This past weekend, we noticed the buds opening, bright yellow flowers blooming, and even one seedy little puffball threatening to spread things around. 

Despite what I've read about dandelions making a great salad, I can't bring myself to eat them.  The poor maligned plants have gained such a reputation as a weed, that I can't muster up the appetite.  Yet, I've begged my husband to not use synthetic herbicides on them or anything else in the backyard.  I've heard of some people pouring hot water or a vineger mixture on them.  But I'd rather get rid of at once. 

So, I'm stuck with my little hand tool and a bucket.  We made a game of my oldest helping me spot the plants so I could dig them out of the ground.  She learned to spot dandelions, not just by flower, but by the jagged leaves, before they've bloomed.  We found half a bucket full on the hill in our backyard.  We haven't even started on the front yard yet!