1 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: Unless you like to puff the little seeds off of 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: dandelion heads, you probably don't think very highly of dandelions. 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: There are weeds, after all, but what is a weed 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: other than an unloved plant? You know, you might have 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 1: a different opinion of these teeth of the lions after 6 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: hearing this episode, and come to think of it, I 7 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: feel like we're really laying a bridge of understanding between 8 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: humans and our garden pest with this playlist, so gratifying cool. 9 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 2: Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production of iHeartRadio. 10 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's 11 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: Puffball Chuck, and there's Blowball Jerry, and I like to 12 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: call me Month's head. And this is stuff you should do. 13 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: Did you get those references? 14 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 3: Uh? Sure? 15 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: Okay, Well we should probably explain them to everybody else 16 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: because they probably think it's an in joke. But it's 17 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,559 Speaker 1: not at all. Number one, because we're about to share 18 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: it with you. Number two, it's not really a joke. 19 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: And number three, those are alternate names for dandelions. 20 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 4: That's right, And we're going to be exalting the dandelion 21 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,479 Speaker 4: probably say a lot of times how great we think 22 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 4: it is. 23 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, sorry if you hate dandelions. 24 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 4: Yeah, how it's unfairly maligned. And we want to thank 25 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 4: Sarah Andrews from Idaho because Sarah is a listener who's 26 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:39,759 Speaker 4: senting this in. 27 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: Nice, very nice. Thanks a lot, Sarah. Every time I 28 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: hear Idaho, I'm reminded of that silly T shirt that 29 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: said Idaho Daho. Do you remember that one? 30 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 3: I never saw that one. 31 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: What was that one? There was a company called like 32 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: Dangerous T Shirts or something like that, and they had, like, man, 33 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: they were killing it with the crazy T shirts for 34 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: a while in like the early two thousands. 35 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 4: Was that like instead of Saint coch let's say, you know, 36 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 4: poke or cocaine. 37 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, that kind of thing. 38 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, kind of sometimes more original than that, but yeah, 39 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,519 Speaker 1: they were coveted for a little bit among people who 40 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: liked incubus and stuff like that. 41 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 3: I couldn't name an incu of a song, so that's 42 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 3: not me. 43 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: Okay, So let's get back to dandelions. I don't know 44 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: how we ever get off track. It's kind of strange, 45 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: but it happens from time to time, and it just happened, chuck. 46 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: So let's stop it from happening right now. 47 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 4: Right because dandelions, as you will see, have had a long, 48 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 4: rich history that we're going to talk about in depth 49 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 4: as a medicinal plant, as an edible plant, as a 50 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 4: wonderful pollinator, and it was recast as a villains, as 51 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 4: a weed to get rid of. But you need only 52 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,239 Speaker 4: look at the history of the dandelion, the fact that 53 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,079 Speaker 4: it was brought to North America by colonists to kind 54 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 4: of underscore the fact that we wanted the dandelion here. 55 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: Right, And it's important to say that they brought it 56 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: here on purpose. I saw somebody point out like this, 57 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: it wasn't it didn't hit your ride. It was like 58 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: purposely brought here. And the idea that dandelions suck is 59 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: a really recent development, especially compared to how long people 60 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 1: valued and prized dandelions. I just find that fascinating. 61 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 3: For sure. 62 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 4: This thing is about thirty million years old, native and 63 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 4: sort of Atlantic Europe all the way to Siberia and 64 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 4: in the northern Hemisphere. You're gonna know a dandelion because 65 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 4: between March and October you're going to see these beautiful 66 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 4: yellow flowers. You'll see some what's called a rosette, which 67 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 4: are these very short level ground stems that grow in 68 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 4: a circular pattern, and then these little slender, green, hollow stalks, 69 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 4: you know, two to twenty inches, but usually at least 70 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 4: around here the dandelions are i don't know, like eight inches. 71 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, that seems about right. That's my experience as well. 72 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 3: Yeah. 73 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 1: So one of the other really impressive things about the 74 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: dandelion is if you look really closely at the flower, 75 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: each individual pedal has a little what becomes the part 76 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: of the puffball. When the flower seeds, it already is attached, 77 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: and that thing is called the papas and at the 78 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: bottom of the papist is the seed, and the papos 79 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: itself is like this like parachute essentially that keeps the 80 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: seed aloft. And research into I saw pepeye, but I 81 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: like paposes as the plural. 82 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 3: Oh, I love peppy. 83 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: So it's found that they're actually phenomenal at keeping the 84 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 1: seeds aloft. They create a kind of vortex that, until 85 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: it was seen when they started testing pappy was thought 86 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: to be impossible. 87 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:11,600 Speaker 3: Yeah. 88 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 4: And that vortex not only makes it, you know, travel 89 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 4: up and out and away in such a way that 90 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 4: if it was shaped any differently, it wouldn't do that. 91 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 4: But if that little thing lands on water, that same 92 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,480 Speaker 4: vortex is going to form a little air bubble around 93 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 4: it and protect it. 94 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: Yeah. One of my prize possessions is this dandelion puffball 95 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,559 Speaker 1: in caseed in resin, and it's like the real deal. 96 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: And I've never understood how it worked, but it turns 97 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: out that if you actually take a dandelion puffball and 98 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,919 Speaker 1: actually not just put water in it, but submerge it 99 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: in water, the puffball does not It doesn't collapse. Isn't 100 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: that nuts? 101 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:48,039 Speaker 3: It's amazing. 102 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 1: I think so too. So that's just one of the 103 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: many amazing things we're going to reveal today on stuff 104 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: you should know? 105 00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 3: Did I wander into the wrong show? 106 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: Well, we should tell everybody it's ten am, and we 107 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: usually refer one. So I'm a much different person at 108 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: ten am. 109 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 4: You're a news anchor, apparently, So I mentioned yellow. They're 110 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 4: not always yellow. They can be orange, they can be white, 111 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 4: they can be kind of purply peach. They open in 112 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 4: the morning and close in the evening, which has given 113 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 4: them the name the Shepherd's Clock, and they do that 114 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 4: to preserve pollen and keep that pollen safe for the 115 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 4: next day, which also makes it and this is one 116 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 4: of my favorite words at photo nasty. 117 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: Oh that's a great word. 118 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 4: Yeah, plants open and close with the setting and rising 119 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 4: of the sun. Yeah, felt photo nasty. 120 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: I saw like a time lapse. I actually was in 121 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: a video. It's just a series of photos of the 122 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: dandelion flower opening and closing over the course of the day. 123 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: I found I ran across a word from researching this 124 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,919 Speaker 1: that I'd never heard before that I absolutely love dandelion, 125 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: Like you said, are edible. They're used in cooking their 126 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: culinary plant, which makes them a potter herb. One word, 127 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: a potterb. Isn't that awesome? What a great homey little 128 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,119 Speaker 1: like I just imagine, you know, hobbits using that word. 129 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, hobbits. And my wife, Oh does. 130 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: She call it potterbs? You've heard that before? 131 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, she's I mean that's older. We're talking 132 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 4: about dandelions today, and she was just like, oh, are 133 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 4: you going to talk about this? 134 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 3: This, this, this, this, this all right? 135 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: She's like, oh, the famous potter. 136 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 3: It's also another kind of clock, you know. 137 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 4: I already mentioned the shepherd's clock because of opening and 138 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 4: closing it at the sunrise and sunset. But those little 139 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 4: seed heads. They're called dandelion clocks, and that is from 140 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 4: the old uh you know, you make a wish when 141 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 4: you blow the dandelion and you scatter those seeds as 142 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 4: sort of a long rich childhood tradition. But apparently the 143 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 4: number of puffs it takes to empty that thing is 144 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 4: what time it is, so it can I haven't tested 145 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 4: this out. I don't know this is rock solid signs, but. 146 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: That's a sort of a thing that's pretty neat. 147 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 3: Yeah. 148 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: And one other thing about those paposes and the seeds 149 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: that are attached to them, there's a longstanding, I guess, 150 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: kind of urban legend or maybe rural legend that they 151 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: can travel up to one hundred kilometers sixty two miles, 152 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: and that does not seem to be the case, even 153 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: though you'll see that stat absolutely everywhere, including some legitimate places. 154 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: But Kyle helped us with this, our British buddy, and 155 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: he found that a two thousand and three study, which 156 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 1: is the most recent you can find on this, is 157 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: that just one in seven thousand papases travels more than 158 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,679 Speaker 1: one kilometer. So just leave one hundred kilometers out of 159 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: the whole equation. 160 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, And Kyle told us that because he's from England. 161 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 4: But for our North American listeners, we're talking three hundred 162 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 4: and twenty something feet if it's one hundred kilometers in 163 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 4: about three and a half feet for a meter. 164 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, and apparently ninety nine and a half percent of 165 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: all papists land just within thirty feet of the parent plant, 166 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: which is also ten meters. So yes, if you ever 167 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: hear that a papist contain travel one hundred kilometers, you 168 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: can be like, that's wrong. What you just said is wrong. 169 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 4: I think like one did, and they framed that. Maybe 170 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 4: that's the one you have in amber. 171 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like that first dollar bill you make as 172 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: a business, you put it into amber. 173 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 3: Yeah. 174 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 4: There's also a cool adaptation where after they flower, that 175 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 4: little hollow stalk that the flower sits upon goes limp 176 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 4: on the ground and is just sort of hiding there 177 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 4: away from birds and stuff, And when they ripen up, 178 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 4: they jump back up again and they're like, here we are. 179 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: That's pretty cool. I think so too. Do you want 180 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: to take a break and come back and talk about 181 00:09:50,280 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: where they got their name? Let's do it, so, Chuck Dandelion. 182 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: I've never stopped and considered why it was called that, 183 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 1: But it turns out that whole that lion at the 184 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: end is actually a giveaway for where the name came from. 185 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: It's French for lion's tooth, dent de leon pretty neat. 186 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 3: I love that. 187 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: The reason they call it that is it's a reference 188 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: to the deeply serrated jagged leaves. I guess somebody was like, 189 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 1: that looks like a lion's tooth, and they lived in France, 190 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: and that's where they got the name dandelion. 191 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:44,200 Speaker 3: Yeah. 192 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,320 Speaker 4: And it's also if you look at the botanical name, 193 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 4: it really gives a good indication of what it was 194 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 4: being used for back then. The genus name is Taraxicum, 195 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 4: and there are a couple of explanations here. I kind 196 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 4: of like the second one. The first one is a 197 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,559 Speaker 4: Greek word for disorder, which is a taxia, but it's 198 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 4: also could have come from Arabic for bitter herb, which 199 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 4: is terraq chagogue. And then when you combine bitter herb 200 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 4: with the species name, which is how'd you say that, 201 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 4: I don't know? Aficionelle. That is a word for monastery 202 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 4: store room. So a bitter herb in a monastery storeroom 203 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 4: basically is telling you, hey, we use this plant in 204 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 4: a very productive way. 205 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:33,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, The whole disorder thing is totally insensible if you 206 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: ask me. 207 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree. 208 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: So one of the other great things so humans use 209 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: dandelions is we'll see in a lot of different ways 210 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 1: and have for a very long time. But our animal 211 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:50,439 Speaker 1: friends love dandelions too. Those flowers, even though they look 212 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: kind of flimsy if you think about it, they're rich 213 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 1: in nectar packed with it. So bees, butterflies, basically any 214 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: kind of pollinators love dandelions. Like you said, the reason 215 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 1: the stalk falls to the ground after flowering and as 216 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: the seedheads are developing, that's because birds love the little 217 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 1: dandelion seeds. And one of the other things that's important 218 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: about them too is they they basically flower and seed 219 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: almost around the like the whole year, depending on where 220 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:27,199 Speaker 1: you live. So at times where there's not a lot 221 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: of food sources for birds and pollinators, the dandelions there 222 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 1: to kind of keep them going through the same you know, 223 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: late fall. 224 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 3: Yeah. 225 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think it's one of the first guys 226 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 4: to get going in the spring. 227 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:41,839 Speaker 3: Too, right, I believe. 228 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 2: So. 229 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 4: Yeah, So we're going to get more in detail about 230 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 4: you know, how it's been eaten. But well, actually, let's 231 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 4: let's save all that. Let's just let's just tease it 232 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 4: then and say it has long been eaten, is now 233 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 4: being eaten again due to the sort of foraging movement 234 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:01,320 Speaker 4: happening in the culinary world. 235 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: It's a great time. 236 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,320 Speaker 4: I think that kind of kicked off in COVID when 237 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 4: people are like, well, it can't go to the store. 238 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 3: What can I eat that's in my backyard. 239 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: I'll try dandelions. I've always wondered what it tastes like. 240 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 2: Bitter? 241 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: So yeah, nice. So I think we said probably a 242 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: couple of times that people have been using dandelions for 243 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 1: all sorts of reasons, not just as potterbs, for a 244 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: long time. One of the earlier mentions we can find 245 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: was in the Arabic world. A couple of physicians named 246 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: Rozi's and Avicenna both wrote about some of the properties 247 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: of dandelions and dandelion roots back in the tenth and 248 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: eleventh centuries, and most of what they were talking about 249 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,959 Speaker 1: was its use as a diuretic and medicinally speaking, that's 250 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:53,480 Speaker 1: probably the most famous property that dandelions have, as they 251 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: make you pee. And in fact, there's a couple of 252 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: names that refer to that, depending on where you are. 253 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 1: For dandelions, that were to the fact that they make 254 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: you pee, right. 255 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. 256 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 4: In France they're called the apparently more than they're called 257 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 4: the dentte leone, they're called the pisson lit, which means 258 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 4: you know, pepe in the night, and a folk name 259 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 4: in England. 260 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 3: Is a pissipad for the same reason. 261 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know, apparently it's it's all the potassium 262 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 4: in there that's going to stimulate your nation. And you know, 263 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 4: because of that, diuretics are used for a lot of things, 264 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 4: and you know, medicinally now and historically, if you want 265 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 4: to work something through your system and pee it out, 266 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 4: dandelions is a good way to make that happen. 267 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, and very famously in the American Midwest they're called 268 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: peepee weeds. Oh that's that's totally made up. 269 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 3: I should say, Oh, that's not true either. 270 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: No, I just made it up. 271 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 3: Okay. 272 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: I got you. I got you back for the what 273 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: was the lateral gene transfer gospel group that you got 274 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: me with? 275 00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 3: Oh geez, I don't even remember now it was that. 276 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 3: But I've only gotten you once. 277 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 4: The score is Josh three thousand one. Oh man, there 278 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 4: was a sixteenth century book too. What was the name 279 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 4: of that one? 280 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: People call it Garden of Health because the full title 281 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:18,320 Speaker 1: of it is containing the sundry, rare and hidden virtues 282 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: of all kinds of simples and plants, together with the 283 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: manner of how they are used and applied in medicine 284 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: for the health of man's body against diverse diseases and 285 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: infirmities most common against men, gathered by the long experience 286 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: and industry of William Langham, practitioner of physic That's the 287 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: actual title of that book, which is why there's like, yeah, 288 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:41,360 Speaker 1: we're just going to call it Garden of Health. 289 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 4: I mean, Garden of Health really says what that says. 290 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: I know, he didn't need all that extra stuff. That's 291 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: like the introduction. I think he put the introduction in 292 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: the title. 293 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a little did it say? The end? 294 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: At the end pretty much. 295 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 4: This is from, like I said, the sixteenth century, and 296 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 4: it talked a lot about, you know, all the kinds 297 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 4: of things they thought it could help back then, toothache, 298 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 4: fever's depression, even baldness. But they also talked about growing 299 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 4: it alongside other vegetables. And herbs in the garden, and 300 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 4: you duck up this kind of cool fact. It's ethylene 301 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 4: gas that they released. So if you actually grow dandelions 302 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 4: or have dandelions growing near fruiting plants like tomatoes, they're 303 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:21,160 Speaker 4: going to ripen faster. 304 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, and that neat super cool. Yeah, we're going to 305 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,720 Speaker 1: cover a lot of actually pretty cool little benefits I 306 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: guess that they provide. But let's keep going with the 307 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: tradition of using them medicinally, shall we. Sure there's a 308 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: guy named John Girard who wrote a book in the 309 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: sixteen thirties and he's like, hey, I want to contribute 310 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:45,560 Speaker 1: to this too. I've found that dandelion strengthens the weak stomach, 311 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: and which is important because actually, if you use the 312 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: roots of a dandelion, it contains a lot of inulin, 313 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: which is an important prebiotic for gut health. So John 314 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: Girard wasn't just whistling dixie. 315 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 3: No, not at all. 316 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 4: It turns out they have more vitamin A than spinach, 317 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 4: more vitamin C than tomatoes. They've got a ton we 318 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 4: already mentioned potassium, but also a lot of calcium, a 319 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 4: lot of iron, and then a lot of words that 320 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 4: I can barely pronounce that you found that it's packed 321 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 4: with starting with flavonoids, that's the only one I had 322 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:21,879 Speaker 4: heard of. 323 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: Has triterpenes, sesquiterpenes, phenolic acid, sterols, and cumerants, and they 324 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: bestow things like antibacterial, antioxidant, anti inflammatory, hepadoprotective, and anti 325 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: tumor properties. And you dug up a lot of ways 326 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 1: that they actually help health. 327 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 4: Right, Yeah, So, I mean we can talk all day 328 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 4: about like the ways that people thought it would help 329 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 4: you back in the sixteenth century, but people might poo 330 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 4: poo something like that, But there have been modern studies. 331 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:54,879 Speaker 4: I'll just give you a few examples. There was a 332 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,879 Speaker 4: study from twenty fifteen in Canada that reported that dandelion 333 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 4: extract can block ultraviolet UVB radiations crazy when applied to 334 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 4: the skin, it can also irritate the skin. So don't 335 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 4: necessarily just like take dandelions and like start rubbing them 336 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,680 Speaker 4: all over yourself at the pool. There was a twenty 337 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:17,679 Speaker 4: sixteen review of studies from a university in Denmark that 338 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:22,640 Speaker 4: suggests that dandelion extracts actually stimulates pancreatic cells to produce insulin, 339 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 4: so it could potentially help control blood sugar, right, and what. 340 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,159 Speaker 3: About there was one on the liver too, right. 341 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, I said it was Hepato protective, which means it 342 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 1: helps the liver. And actually it goes in and like 343 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 1: just kicks butt in your liver. It slows the progression 344 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: of fibrosis, which is scarring of the liver, and the 345 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: extract actually inactivates the cells that cause fibrosis in the 346 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: liver and essentially your liver, as everybody knows, it can 347 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: regenerate itself. Once the dandelion extract has gone in and 348 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,719 Speaker 1: stopped the fibrosis, the liver can heal. So it's incredibly 349 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:04,920 Speaker 1: helpful with protecting the liver from damage. I mean, that's nuts. 350 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,119 Speaker 1: It's almost like it was designed to do that for 351 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: the liver. It's that effective. 352 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 4: I do want to mention the cancer one because Emily 353 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 4: had a very funny, very Emily line. There was a 354 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,680 Speaker 4: twenty twenty man, why do I do that lately? Twelve? 355 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 3: I did that. I did that a lot. Yeah, what 356 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:23,680 Speaker 3: is happening? 357 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:24,159 Speaker 1: I don't know. 358 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 4: It's a study from the University of Windsor in Canada 359 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:34,360 Speaker 4: about dandelion root extract can induce apoptosis, which is cell death. 360 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:38,200 Speaker 4: And pancreatic and prostate cancer and test tube and their 361 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 4: cells in the test tubes potentially preventing their spread. So 362 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 4: this is something Emily new and this morning she was like, yeah, 363 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 4: it's so like modern American at the very least, to 364 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 4: take something that could actually help fight cancer and sprayue 365 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 4: chemicals on it to kill it it cause cancer. 366 00:19:57,440 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, and she stormed out of the room. 367 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 1: Sometimes we have to learn the hard way, but it 368 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: is reassuring that things seem to be coming full circle, 369 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: you know what I mean. 370 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 4: Yeah, I feel like people are getting a little more 371 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:09,360 Speaker 4: eyes open to stuff like that. 372 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, they're getting on board the dandelion train. So one 373 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: thing about those studies that you said, like, they're essentially 374 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: confirming to our modern tastes what the Chinese knew all 375 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,959 Speaker 1: the way back in six point fifty nine CE, people 376 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,880 Speaker 1: like Nicholas Culpepper knew in the eighteenth century. All these 377 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:34,199 Speaker 1: people wrote about this stuff and just how effective it was. 378 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: And then now science is going in and saying these 379 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 1: people were right, and here's how it is effective. I 380 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,160 Speaker 1: think that's pretty cool. And in part because of that, 381 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: the dandelion is being rehabilitated. But first I think we 382 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: need to mention you said that it came by North America. 383 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,640 Speaker 1: I piped up on purpose, I think more than once, 384 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: even I was so excited about that. And it's possible 385 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 1: it was actually on the Mayflower. It arrived that early. 386 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,439 Speaker 1: And they think that because of plant migration, as we 387 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: talked about before, the dandelion may have spread ahead of 388 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: Europeans as they entered further and further into the North 389 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:15,400 Speaker 1: American continent, and so Native Americans that they encountered may 390 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: have already been using dandelions in some of their medicines. 391 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 4: Oh yeah, absolutely. They were drinking it in tonics. They 392 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,920 Speaker 4: were boiling it with fatty meats, which it sounds disgusting. 393 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:31,679 Speaker 1: It does it really, unless you're talking about something like 394 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 1: collards with like hamhocks or something that sounds okay. But 395 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,840 Speaker 1: in this case, I imagine a pot of boiling water with 396 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,439 Speaker 1: a skin of fat just bubbling at the top and 397 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 1: some dandelion leaves floating around in it. 398 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 4: And we'll talk about you know, more ways you can 399 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:50,640 Speaker 4: eat it, but it's long been used in like cordials 400 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,199 Speaker 4: and beers, like the dandelion root. You can you know, 401 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 4: grind it up and use it as like a coffee substitute, 402 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 4: kind of like chicory. So you know, people were using 403 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 4: it for metal, they were using it for old kinds 404 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,520 Speaker 4: of folk remedies and foods and things, largely because again 405 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 4: it was everywhere. It grows in not very good soil. 406 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 4: They can it's considered a perennial because they can live 407 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 4: well because like you said, they're kind of growing year round, 408 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 4: but they can live for more. 409 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 3: Than ten years, and they don't mess with them and 410 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 3: kill them. 411 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think that's pretty cool too. One of 412 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: the other things I saw, there's a book called The 413 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,879 Speaker 1: Economical Housewife from the eighteen fifties that it might be 414 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: the first recipe for dandelion wine, and people still make 415 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: that today, and it's actually super easy. You just take 416 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:38,560 Speaker 1: some dandelion flours, some water. Eventually you had some sugar 417 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 1: and some lemon, let it sit for a couple of weeks, 418 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: strain it out, and then let it sit for another 419 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 1: week in age, and you've got yourself some dandelion wine. 420 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: And it sounds deliciously easy or maybe easily delicious, one 421 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: of the two, but I'd love to try. Have you 422 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: ever had dandelion wine or dandelion beer or anything like that. 423 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,640 Speaker 3: No, not at all. I mean, it's definitely a thing. 424 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 4: Ray Bradbury had a novel called Dandelion Wine from nineteen 425 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 4: fifty seven, so it's something that's been enjoyed all over 426 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 4: the world. 427 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:09,919 Speaker 3: In France they use it. 428 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 4: Sometimes they'll take the leaves and blanch them and spread 429 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 4: them with bread and butter. Like it sounds like if 430 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 4: there's not a Brooklyn restaurant serving dandelion toast at this point. 431 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, and what is happening in our life? 432 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 1: I don't know. It sounds like fairy toast like the 433 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 1: Australians love, but with dandelion leaves instead. 434 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 3: Yeah. 435 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 4: It's also, you know, just a salad, a salad green component, 436 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 4: and like we said, it is very bitter, but it's 437 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 4: using all kinds of salad. Sometimes it's the only kind 438 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:43,720 Speaker 4: of leaf using a salad. Sometimes it can be mixed 439 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 4: in with other things. But in France they have one 440 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:51,400 Speaker 4: called the salad de pisson lits from that original name, 441 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,440 Speaker 4: that's got bacon in it and dandelion leaves. 442 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:56,359 Speaker 3: It just you know, sounds pretty good to me. 443 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,400 Speaker 1: Yeah. Apparently that was a common dish during the depression 444 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: in America. Too, because it was just cheap, you know. Yeah, 445 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,919 Speaker 1: and it sounds delicious too. I say, we take a 446 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: break and we come back and talk about another surprising 447 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,919 Speaker 1: use of dandelion that I hadn't heard of until this, 448 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:15,959 Speaker 1: but you probably did because of Emily. 449 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 2: No. 450 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,360 Speaker 4: I delighted her with that fact as well, So we'll 451 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:46,919 Speaker 4: be right back, all right. So Josh said that he 452 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:50,199 Speaker 4: hadn't heard of this cool fact. I hadn't heard of it. 453 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 4: Emily hadn't heard of it, and I think it may 454 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:57,440 Speaker 4: be the fact of the podcast. But dandelions are a 455 00:24:57,520 --> 00:24:59,959 Speaker 4: source of natural rubber. 456 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,400 Speaker 1: Pretty cool, I would I would take issue with that. 457 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 1: I think it has to do with the vortices over 458 00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: the pappy or the fact that they're potterbs. All right, 459 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: this one's good. It's up there. Maybe they're all tied 460 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 1: for first. I don't know, but hey. 461 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:18,000 Speaker 4: That means we've got a good topic if there are several, 462 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 4: right competitors. 463 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:24,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, and so not just any dandelion produces rubber or 464 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:28,440 Speaker 1: latex that can be turned into rubber. A specific type 465 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,359 Speaker 1: of dandelion they figured out the Kazakh dandelion, which is 466 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 1: native to the Eurasian steps. How'd you like that it's 467 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,400 Speaker 1: also called the Russian dandelion here in the United States. 468 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:47,120 Speaker 1: That specific one puts out enough latex that it gave 469 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,719 Speaker 1: rubber trees a run for their money. During World War Two, 470 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 1: which we've talked about many times, America and Britain were like, 471 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,639 Speaker 1: we need more rubber for the war effort in the 472 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:01,159 Speaker 1: Japanese control. Essentially all of the rubbers apply at war 473 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: with the Japanese, so we better come up with something 474 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:03,879 Speaker 1: else quick. 475 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:05,200 Speaker 3: Yeah. 476 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 4: So they literally started screening like thousands and thousands of plants, 477 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 4: and then I guess they're like, hey, if the rubber 478 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 4: tree can grow rubber, there's got to be something else 479 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 4: out there. The Soviets are the ones who said, try 480 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:23,720 Speaker 4: this Kazakh dandelion, and because of shortages during the wars, 481 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 4: they said, here, here's a bunch of seeds, and they 482 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:31,959 Speaker 4: send a bunch of those Kazakh seeds the Soviet allies 483 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,879 Speaker 4: at the time in the nineteen forties, and ultimately we 484 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 4: use some of it. Russians, Americans, and Germans did produce 485 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 4: rubber from dandelions. It's very hearty. It can be susceptible 486 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,760 Speaker 4: to disease, though, depending what kind of disease but also 487 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,560 Speaker 4: grows everywhere and serves as a pollinator and it doesn't 488 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 4: deforce things. So the big problem though, and I nowhere 489 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 4: m's like, oh my god, is this the miracle we've 490 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,879 Speaker 4: all been hoping for with rubber. It just doesn't yield 491 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,400 Speaker 4: much as the Russian said it did, and so it's 492 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 4: not economically viable as long as the real rubber tree 493 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:06,879 Speaker 4: is around. 494 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: They released some paper that overstated how much rubber it 495 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 1: can be gotten from the dandelion because they wanted to 496 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,199 Speaker 1: sound like big shots. 497 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 3: Yeah. 498 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,680 Speaker 1: So the reason why we didn't just keep going with 499 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: dandelion rubber research in trying to figure out how to 500 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: increase yields is because in the meantime, people figured out 501 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 1: we could make synthetic rubber from petroleum. It was almost 502 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:32,879 Speaker 1: as good as natural rubber, and it certainly was a 503 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: good enough substitute, and we could just make batch after 504 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: batch after batch rather than have to try to yield 505 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 1: it from dandelion. So that fell to the wayside, and 506 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: then by the time World War two ended, we had 507 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 1: access to natural rubber supplies from the southeast Southeast Asia, 508 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: i should say, and so all that kind of put 509 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: dandelion rubber on the back shelf. But in the what 510 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: eighty almost a hundred years, jeez, since World War Two. 511 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: I remember when that was like just like that was 512 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:10,159 Speaker 1: firmly like forty to fifty years in the past, and 513 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: it just keeps getting further and further away. It's really awful. 514 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:17,439 Speaker 1: But we've kind of figured out in the introim that 515 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: synthetic rubber it's useful, but there's nothing that can match 516 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: natural rubber for like grip, heat, dissipation, all sorts of 517 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,400 Speaker 1: other properties. So we're starting to go back to look 518 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 1: at sources for natural rubber, including ones that are more 519 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:35,120 Speaker 1: sustainable than the rubber trees, which require you basically DeForest 520 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 1: and then plant the rubber trees to create a plantation 521 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,959 Speaker 1: with dandelions. You don't have to do that stuff. 522 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,480 Speaker 4: Now you got a big field, you can have dandelions, 523 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 4: and like I said, it grows and it doesn't have. 524 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 3: To be great soil. 525 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 4: You can grow it hydroponically, without soil at all. You 526 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 4: can grow it in the air, which is aeroponically. It's 527 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 4: pretty amazing, and I think it's one of those things 528 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 4: where like anytime you have a monoculture plant like that, 529 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 4: like the rubber tree. 530 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 3: It makes people a little bit nervous. 531 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 4: Besides the deporestation, like have anything ever happened like some 532 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 4: kind of weird blight, and the rubber trees were just, 533 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 4: you know, not a candidate anymore. You got dandelions kind 534 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:15,480 Speaker 4: of waiting on deck with their bat right. 535 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: So it's kind of surprising that it went from this 536 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: really prized plant in so many ways to a hated weed, 537 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 1: especially in Europe and the United States. And you hit 538 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:30,120 Speaker 1: upon why it became a hitted weed. You use the 539 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: word monoculture, and the largest monoculture here in the United 540 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:38,480 Speaker 1: States are people's lawns. And for part of the esthetic 541 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 1: of the lawn, you cannot have dandelions breaking up that perfect, 542 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 1: unbroken sea of green grass. You got a dandelion popping up, 543 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 1: the whole thing's ruined. Basically, that's the way people think 544 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,520 Speaker 1: of dandelions and lawns these days, or have since about 545 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 1: the fifties. 546 00:29:55,240 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 4: Essentially, that beautiful yellow flower, stop it right, dig it up. 547 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 3: But yeah, that's what happened. 548 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 4: And we've gone over this before, but just sort of 549 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 4: as a quick overview, this is the kind of thing 550 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 4: that came over from England starting in the seventeenth century 551 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 4: is when British aristocracy really started to get into these 552 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 4: perfect sort of croquet croquet playing lawns, I guess is 553 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,080 Speaker 4: what you would call them. And then in America it 554 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 4: was post World War Two when suburbanization really took hold. 555 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,840 Speaker 4: Lawnmowers really came into their own. Everyone was like, Hey, 556 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,960 Speaker 4: we've got these great new chemicals that'll kill everything except 557 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 4: and make the grass grow really really well, and it's 558 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 4: just modern and tidy and good looking, and that really 559 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:49,920 Speaker 4: kind of transformed the United States, you know, like, keep 560 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 4: up that lawn, make a perfect green lawn if you 561 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 4: want to keep your property value over everybody. 562 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 1: Big one and Kyle also dug up another reason too 563 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: that once the Cold War rolled around, conformity was equated 564 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: with safety. So if you weren't keeping your lawn trim 565 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,440 Speaker 1: like everybody else, what's going on with you? You're making 566 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: me feel a little bit nervous because you're not conforming. 567 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: You must be a red spy hiding out in suburbia, basically, right, 568 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: And I think that's a really important kind of overlooked 569 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:22,840 Speaker 1: driver for things like perfectly manicured lawns and everybody having 570 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 1: the same kind of thing. 571 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:27,960 Speaker 4: Yeah, And speaking of driver, the other I don't think 572 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,719 Speaker 4: we've ever mentioned contributor to this nice was in the 573 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 4: nineteen fifties. 574 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:35,160 Speaker 3: Golf started being televised. 575 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 4: In nineteen fifty seven, you got golf on television for 576 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 4: the first time, and people look at Augusta National and 577 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 4: these golf courses that were beautifully manicured and aesthetically pleasing 578 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,960 Speaker 4: to the eye, and they're like, hey, I need to 579 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 4: get some of that in my front yard. Maybe I 580 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 4: can practice chipping some balls around in my front yard. 581 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: Yeah. Also, if you're sitting there thinking like, Wow, I 582 00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 1: really love hearing these guys talk about grass, but I'd 583 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:01,640 Speaker 1: love to hear them have a dispute over it, you 584 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:05,000 Speaker 1: should go listen to How Our Grass Works episode. It's 585 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:07,280 Speaker 1: actually a pretty good way. It's a classic stuff you 586 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: should know episode. 587 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:09,800 Speaker 3: It totally is. 588 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 4: But anyway, all that preamble about you know, us poopa 589 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,800 Speaker 4: and lawns and why America did that brought us to this, 590 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:22,240 Speaker 4: which is weeds became enemy number one and dandelions were 591 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 4: maybe even near the top of that list. 592 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:26,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a lot of reasons why. For all the 593 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: reasons that they're valuable, the pollinators and other kinds of plants, 594 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: and that they can grow in marginal lands and basically 595 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 1: everywhere is it makes them an enemy as a weed 596 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: if you're trying to create a monoculture lawn, right. So, 597 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: they can regenerate from like a one inch section of root, 598 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: which means that if you cut a dandelion off at 599 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 1: the even below ground level, it's like good, you know, good, 600 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 1: try pal, but it just sprouts right back up. You 601 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: have to dig them up, and even after you dig 602 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,800 Speaker 1: them up, you might not get them because one of 603 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: the things that I didn't know about dandelions is I 604 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 1: knew they grew from a tap root. You have to 605 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:08,680 Speaker 1: get that tap root up or else it's just feudile. Yeah, 606 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,160 Speaker 1: but that tap root can grow, depending on the age 607 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: of the dandelion, over a dozen feet meters four meters 608 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:17,880 Speaker 1: into the ground meters. 609 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, and that makes. 610 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 1: It really hard to get rid of. And so if 611 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: you're like a grounds keeper for a golf course or 612 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 1: something like that, you have to really keep up with 613 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: the dandelions because they'll spread really fast and they're really 614 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 1: hard to get rid of once you do start trying 615 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: to get rid of them. 616 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, I got to say this last fact 617 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,320 Speaker 4: from Kyle because it goes back to the lawns, but 618 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 4: this really kind of drives at home of about how 619 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 4: not great a perfect green lawn is for our society. 620 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 4: There's a study in two thousand and five residential lawns 621 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 4: in the United States make up two percent of the 622 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:58,320 Speaker 4: land but require more irrigation than any domestic agricultural crop. 623 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 1: I've got one to piggyback on that. Let's see the 624 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,840 Speaker 1: US Fish and Wildlife Service says that homeowners use up 625 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:09,279 Speaker 1: to ten times more pesticides per acre then farmers use 626 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: on their crops. So we're using this stuff over using it, 627 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:16,880 Speaker 1: and we're using it on stuff that's not productive land 628 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:18,919 Speaker 1: just to keep up with the Joneses. So they don't 629 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:20,560 Speaker 1: think we're communist spies. 630 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:25,799 Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I walk Gibson in the mornings and 631 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:30,080 Speaker 4: there are the only lawns that he ever like rubs 632 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:33,279 Speaker 4: his face in are the most perfect green ones. And 633 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 4: I know that it's because they have recently been sprayed, 634 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:39,440 Speaker 4: and he smells it and is trying to rub all 635 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 4: in that stuff, and it drives me bonkers. 636 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:46,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's a like I would love to just 637 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: let my lawn and use me too. Just go to 638 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 1: like wildflowers, go to weeds, you know, just mow it. 639 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:55,279 Speaker 1: You keep it mowed, but at a higher height. But yeah, 640 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:58,080 Speaker 1: you just let this stuff grow and we would be 641 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,520 Speaker 1: completely we would stick out like a sore thrum from 642 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:03,640 Speaker 1: the rest of the neighborhood, so much of their neighbors 643 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:06,840 Speaker 1: would be mad at us. That's how that's how entrenched. 644 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:09,799 Speaker 1: The idea of having a perfect lawn is still in 645 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: the United States, depending on where you live. 646 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,120 Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, And like no one around there even 647 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:19,880 Speaker 4: does like permaculture and you know, other options besides just 648 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:21,280 Speaker 4: letting it grow wild and crazy. 649 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 1: No, it's it's nuts. So we definitely draw a line. 650 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:25,960 Speaker 1: So we're like, Okay, we'll keep up with the lawn, 651 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:29,719 Speaker 1: but don't touch the you know, the shrubbery, the perennials, 652 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:33,200 Speaker 1: the garden essentially, right, But people will hire the same 653 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,600 Speaker 1: company to like treat their lawn with chemicals, to spray 654 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:40,759 Speaker 1: their bushes and spray their gardens with chemicals to kill 655 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,239 Speaker 1: off the bugs. And then they have to go in 656 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:46,839 Speaker 1: and try to recreate the stuff that the bugs are 657 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,920 Speaker 1: doing for free, the services they're providing because you've killed 658 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,160 Speaker 1: off the bugs it's it's insane to me, So we 659 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:57,279 Speaker 1: definitely don't don't. We don't cot into that. 660 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 4: Yeah, there was speaking of bugs. It was a scientific 661 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:05,040 Speaker 4: review in twenty nineteen that found that the global massive 662 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 4: insects is falling at a rate of about two and a. 663 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 3: Half percent per year. 664 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:14,719 Speaker 4: And dandelions is a high high on the list of pollinators. 665 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:19,040 Speaker 4: Caterpillars love munching on them, Moths loves munching on them, 666 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 4: and all those bees and butterflies love doing their thing 667 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:25,120 Speaker 4: on them. So even you know, I'm not trying to 668 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 4: shame people, but let's say you do like your lawn 669 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:31,400 Speaker 4: and everything, even waiting in the spring, like longer to 670 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,719 Speaker 4: cut it, even cutting it higher, letting the dandelions grow 671 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,319 Speaker 4: up a little bit before you start whacking them down. 672 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:41,040 Speaker 4: Even that minimal amount will help out a little bit. 673 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:43,799 Speaker 1: What's interesting is a non chemical way I saw to 674 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:47,040 Speaker 1: treat your turf grass for dandelions is to let your 675 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:50,239 Speaker 1: grass grow longer than you have been like cutting it 676 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,000 Speaker 1: at a higher mower height. 677 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:53,479 Speaker 3: Yeah, because as. 678 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 1: We talked about, dandelion leaves are so low growing that 679 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: the grass will shade out and out compete the dandelions. 680 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:02,400 Speaker 1: So if you really do want to get rid of dandelions, 681 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: but you don't want to use chemicals. That's a pretty 682 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: good way to do it from what I've seen. 683 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:07,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, totally. 684 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,759 Speaker 4: Some states have actual programs or just one in Minnesota 685 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:15,520 Speaker 4: called Lawns to Legumes, which is a great title. They 686 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,240 Speaker 4: launched that in twenty nineteen where they just basically incini 687 00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 4: incentivized people to say, get rid of that lawn, put 688 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:25,000 Speaker 4: in flowering plants, put in beds. You can have a 689 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:30,000 Speaker 4: rebate if you have a pollinator friendly native wildflower scene 690 00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:31,320 Speaker 4: at your house. 691 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,040 Speaker 1: Yeah. I didn't look up the amount, but I would 692 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:40,120 Speaker 1: guess at a minimum the rebate is worth a million dollars, right, 693 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:43,720 Speaker 1: that'd be my guess, you think. So, there's a couple 694 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:47,600 Speaker 1: other things that I found that dandelions, I don't know 695 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,080 Speaker 1: if you looked at it or not, that they kind 696 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:55,480 Speaker 1: of provide services to the plants growing around them, including grass, 697 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:59,760 Speaker 1: because as we mentioned, those tap roots, they grow really deep, 698 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 1: and as they're growing deep, they're actually accessing nutrients that 699 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:07,520 Speaker 1: other plants around them, again, including grass, the roots of 700 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,520 Speaker 1: those plants can't reach because it's too deep, and it 701 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,799 Speaker 1: brings those nutrients up toward the surface, and as the 702 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:19,279 Speaker 1: dandelion dies off, the other plants to get to eat 703 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,560 Speaker 1: those nutrients that they otherwise wouldn't have had access to. 704 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:25,279 Speaker 1: And those same roots also air rate and loose and 705 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,320 Speaker 1: compacted dirt too, which makes it easier for the plants 706 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:30,000 Speaker 1: around the dandelions to grow. 707 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:31,880 Speaker 3: Amazing. 708 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:33,840 Speaker 1: Is there anything dandelions can't do? 709 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:37,520 Speaker 3: I don't know. 710 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:39,960 Speaker 4: I mean, they're not super fragrant. 711 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:44,920 Speaker 1: No, that's true. They're pretty much useless in that sun. 712 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:46,840 Speaker 3: But they can grant a child of wish. 713 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:50,080 Speaker 1: They sure can, man, they sure can. I remember doing 714 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:52,000 Speaker 1: that so many times. I keep trying to do that 715 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 1: with my dandelion puffhead in resin and it's not working. 716 00:38:57,320 --> 00:38:58,959 Speaker 4: I don't have anything else, so I'm kind of looking 717 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:01,040 Speaker 4: over the list here, I kind of all over the place. 718 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:03,200 Speaker 4: But it's just sort of one of those episodes where 719 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,680 Speaker 4: it's like, well, here's a list of one hundred amazing things. 720 00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:09,360 Speaker 4: And so sometimes those are a little tougher to organize. 721 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, but they can be pretty fun too. I had 722 00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:12,120 Speaker 1: fun at least. 723 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:14,960 Speaker 3: How about you and that rubber thing? Are you kidding? 724 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,520 Speaker 1: Since neither one of us has anything else about dandelions, 725 00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:21,480 Speaker 1: and we're going to call it quits on this episode, 726 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 1: which means we've just activated listener mail. 727 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:28,479 Speaker 3: You know, no listener mail today. 728 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:29,919 Speaker 4: Because what we're going to do with something we haven't 729 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:32,960 Speaker 4: done in a while is help support and bring some 730 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,719 Speaker 4: attention to a great cause, our friends from the Cooperative 731 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,799 Speaker 4: for Education aka co ED, whose mission it is to 732 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:42,960 Speaker 4: break the cycle of poverty and Guatemala through education. And 733 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:45,840 Speaker 4: we've been working with them for fifteen years, and we 734 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:47,320 Speaker 4: got a new thing coming up with them, right. 735 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:50,560 Speaker 1: Yes, we do. So first, let me just explain over 736 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:54,439 Speaker 1: one point three million dollars and contributions have been made 737 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,400 Speaker 1: to co ED thanks to our partnership with them at 738 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 1: stuff you should know for fifteen years. That's really good, 739 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:03,319 Speaker 1: if you ask me, that's incredible, which means that one 740 00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:06,080 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty kids have been given like a huge 741 00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:11,080 Speaker 1: leg up to escape poverty and create like break intergenerational 742 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:13,799 Speaker 1: poverty and create literally like a new life for their 743 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:15,880 Speaker 1: entire family from that point on. 744 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:17,279 Speaker 3: That's right. 745 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,000 Speaker 4: You know, we went down there, I guess fifteen years 746 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:22,360 Speaker 4: ago when they invited us very early on and stuff 747 00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:28,080 Speaker 4: you should know canon, yeah, in our history, and we 748 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,000 Speaker 4: went down to Guatemala and those shows we did some 749 00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:33,040 Speaker 4: shows on that trip and that visit we get to 750 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,680 Speaker 4: actually hear Jerry speak, which is pretty exciting. Yeah, and 751 00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:37,440 Speaker 4: they're just great that we've been working with them ever 752 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:39,480 Speaker 4: since and the fact that the stuff you should know 753 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:41,279 Speaker 4: Army has raised one point three million bucks for them 754 00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:43,560 Speaker 4: over the past fifteen years is going to be a 755 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,600 Speaker 4: real proud part of our legacy. But we have a 756 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:47,560 Speaker 4: call to action, right. 757 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:51,680 Speaker 1: Yes, so you can joined we're starting a drive essentially, 758 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,719 Speaker 1: right now, that's right. You can join the cooperative, which 759 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:57,799 Speaker 1: is a program of theirs, for twenty dollars a month 760 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:01,120 Speaker 1: and you'll collectively sponsor. There are a bunch of students 761 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:04,319 Speaker 1: in the Rise Youth Development program, right, that's right, and 762 00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:06,080 Speaker 1: so it's going to get spread out. You're going to 763 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:08,000 Speaker 1: be helping a bunch of kids at once, so you 764 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,040 Speaker 1: can feel good like five times over with each each 765 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:14,719 Speaker 1: monthly donation. And then in twenty twenty five, more than 766 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:18,080 Speaker 1: eleven hundred students will be able to start school in 767 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,919 Speaker 1: World Guatemala, which will be their biggest class ever. They 768 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:24,399 Speaker 1: need help to make that happen, which is why we're 769 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:26,560 Speaker 1: saying join the cooperative. 770 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,399 Speaker 4: That's right, and as an incentive if this is for you. 771 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:33,360 Speaker 4: If you set up your gift by Tuesday, December third, 772 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:35,759 Speaker 4: then you are signed up for a chance to do 773 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:37,799 Speaker 4: a virtual hangout with Josh and I. We do this 774 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,239 Speaker 4: every year around the same time. It's always a lot 775 00:41:40,239 --> 00:41:42,160 Speaker 4: of fun. We hang out with I don't know, if 776 00:41:42,239 --> 00:41:44,520 Speaker 4: six or eight people all over the country and they 777 00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:46,560 Speaker 4: get to just you know, ask us questions and tell 778 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:48,480 Speaker 4: us that we're cool or dumb or whatever. 779 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:50,520 Speaker 3: It's your chance to really hand it to us if 780 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 3: that's what you're after. 781 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:55,000 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, hopefully don't do that, but sure, I mean, 782 00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:57,040 Speaker 1: I guess if you've given to co ED and you 783 00:41:57,160 --> 00:41:59,359 Speaker 1: deserve to do whatever you want to with, that's right. 784 00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:04,040 Speaker 4: So just go to Cooperative for Education dot org. That's 785 00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:07,719 Speaker 4: the word cooperative f o R education dot org slash 786 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:11,279 Speaker 4: s y s k and start giving. 787 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:13,120 Speaker 3: Now. A little bit goes a long way down there. 788 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:17,120 Speaker 1: Yes, And in the meantime, while you're looking up Cooperative 789 00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:20,440 Speaker 1: for Education dot org slash s y s k, you 790 00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:22,799 Speaker 1: can also send us an email. Send it off to 791 00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:28,879 Speaker 1: stuff Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. 792 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:31,880 Speaker 2: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 793 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:36,160 Speaker 2: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple podcasts, 794 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:38,120 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.