Dandelion Wine

Dandelion Wine
Timeframe: 1 year or more
1 gallon/4 liters flowers in full bloom
2 pounds/1 kilogram (4 cups/1 liter) sugar
2 lemons (organic, because you will use the peel)
2 oranges (organic, because you will use the peel)
1 pound/500 grams raisins (golden raisins will preserve the dandelion's light hue better than dark raisins)
Water
1/2 cup/125 milliliters berries (for wild yeast) or 1 packet wine yeast

1. As much as possible, separate flower petals form the base of the blossoms, which can impart bitter flavors.
2. Reserving about 1/2 cup/125 milliliters to add later in the process, place the flower petals in a crock with the sugar, the juice and thinly peeled rinds of the lemons and oranges (to add acidity), and the raisins (to introduce astringent tannins). Then pour 1 gallon (4 liters) or boiling water over these ingredients, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Cover the crock to keep flies away, and leave to cool to body temperature.
3. Once mixture cools, add the reserved flower petals and berries to introduce wild yeasts. Cover the crock, and stir as often as you think of it, for 3 to 4 days.
4. Strain out the solids through a clean cheesecloth and squeeze moisture out of the flowers. Then transfer liquid to a carboy or jug with an airlock, and ferment about 3 months, until fermentation slows.
5. Siphon into a clean vessel and ferment at least 6 months more before bottling.
6. Age bottles at least 3 months to mellow wine, even longer is better.

(Recipe from Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz)