Hawthorn question

I've been foraging for winter. The hawthorn is plentiful around here and it goes down well so that's all good.

However, some bushes have extra large leaves. Are these still ok?


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I feed mine whatever kind of hawthorn I can get hold of. Thought it was all safe, aside from the berries.

Thanks.

I've obviously avoided berries (although there's lots of them this year). I assume the large leaves are just very mature ones.


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The whole of one side of my bunny enclosure is hawthorn hedge and the berries drop through the wire into their grass all the time. I don't go out of my way to remove them because they disappear into the long grass and to be honest, the buns never touch them so I think they know they're not good eating.

What lucky bunnies!!!

It's a fave here!!


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QUOTE : "I've been foraging for winter. The hawthorn is plentiful around here and it goes down well so that's all good.

However, some bushes have extra large leaves. Are these still ok? " QUOTE


Hawthorns do have different sized leaves, depending on climate and soil type...all the same leaves tho...just starting my new 10 month old buns on them. Am foraging for them too, trying to get them before they turn...
My mum , in her 70's now, used to collect young hawthorn leaves for her and her sister to eat, they used to call them 'bread and butter'.
Should be fine for the buns, like I said...trying to get them in for the buns before they turn

Thanks!! I thought it would be fine. I suppose I've just never noticed the different sized leaves before I started foraging!!


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I'm not sure they are mature leaves necessarily, as I've noticed some very large leaves on new growth this year.

We have a few hundred metres of hawthorn in and around our garden and I reckon there are at least 8 different varieties in it. Some have large leaves, some have very small. Some are really thorny, some have no thorns on the new growth (hooray!) Some bits are completely covered in berries, some bits have no berries at all. Some have thorns at every leaf junction, some only have thorns more sporadically. My bunnies happily munch all of them - with a slight preference for the new growth, but they'll eat the whole lot.

If yours really love it, I would start collecting and drying it now, because the leaves will soon be dropping off - it looks like it should be evergreen but it isn't!

Thanks! That's reassuring.

It's funny what you don't notice until you start really looking.

Massive box-full collected today.


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Dries really well We also have varieties where the leaf lobes are really well-formed, or go all the way to the leafstem, or grooved... So plenty out there!