Dandelion Coffee Part One

So in my last post I mentioned a link on how to make dandelion root coffee.
I decided to make it my next project!
Little did I know how much work and mud would be involved.

Lots.

Anyways, I found big groups of small dandelion leaves and thought if I just pulled them up strongly, the small root would pop up, and yay! easy roots!
I was wrong.

Dandelion roots get pretty fat at the end of summer, and were a whole lot harder to get out of the ground (let alone whole) than I thought they would be.
I found the easiest way is to hold all of the leaves in your hand straight above the root, and slowly and gently make a clockwise motion while twisting to loosen the root.

You're going to need a trowel or some sort of small gardening shovel to sink into the dirt around the root, and try to pull it up. Don't try to just pull the leaves hard, the root won't come up, the leaves will just break off at the stem and you'll have a harder time getting the root out without  anything to hold onto.
One you've dug down a bit, hold onto the root, and slowly and gently try to twist it and pull it up. if the soil's not too compacted and wet, the root should come up unbroken.

Now that you have your roots of all strange sizes and shapes, fill a bucket/ big bowl (there will be lots of dirt so don't use anything you don't want to get dirty) water and throw your roots inside.

Pull off leaves before soaking, I just had to put them somewhere.

 Agitate them with your hands a few times, and wait until the water is full of dirt. repeat process. it's all right if they don't look fully clean yet.

I am realizing how many steps there are while writing this, let's hope the final product is tasty!

Now, cut them into chunks, and wash again until the water is clear of dirt.

End of first two steps (pulling them up and washing)! Phew.
Only grinding them in a food processor and roasting is left.
I warn you, if you only have a few roots I'm not sure this whole process is worth it for such a small amount of coffee. I'm actually going to pick a few more and let them soak (the first picture is the larger amount).

Part deux coming soon!