my foraging diary

[willow and squiggles]

Willow & Squiggles, that's fab, I will go & pick some of that today - it's funny but on an older picture of mine Thumps picked out the particular tree in the distance & said it's possible willow!! I will get a pic of the catkin (if that's what it is called) just to make sure. I can send you some sticky weed if you like?

I wish I wish I wish I had space to dry stuff, I might try with the bramble leaves in the airing cupboard?!

I'm positive they prefer foraged items to shop bought veggies!

I freely gave them bits when I got hone & then they had to work for it :lol:

thats amazing kara lol.. you can tell they loves that. i have plenty sticky weed but thanks for the kind thought. ive brought that much home today ive struggled for places to put it, It is EVERYWHERE :lol: think ive got enough now after it is all dry.

 

[willow and squiggles]

It does sound like quite a wonderful and varied box I bet the Nibble Buns were delighted!

I am such a forage numpty. I'm really glad of this thread, but it's taking me a while to absorb all the info.

I see this thread has had lost 5,000 views. Such a great idea :thumb:

omg i didnt realize it had had that many views. I love that everyone is joining in and posting their own pics too. I pick hazel all the time and the leaves are thin and smooth so i think you might be right about the beech. hazel is a favorite here. I think ive found a white poplar tree today and a silver birch? 1 WHITE POPLAR

[/URL][/IMG] 2 SILVER BIRCH

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[joey&boo]

it is a great thread, I refer back to it even more than i post .

So what am I feeding my buns?

[/URL][/IMG]

& a close up

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[willow and squiggles]

one minute while i find a pic of another tree i found, i think it might be same or similar to yours lol..

 

[willow and squiggles]

i think they might be beech. more so number 1. im not at all sure about 2. They are not what i took pics of though.

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[joey&boo]

it so confusing :lol: ahh well, they have scoffed copious amounts of number 1 over 3 years. I, like you, would love to be accompanied by a foraging expert.

How do you identify willow?

 

[willow and squiggles]

i spotted it when it had catkins and just kept my eye on it changing, but there are that many different types i sometimes have to bring some home and google. Most have the odd catkin on the trees or all in the floor under the tree. Im even worse with trees than i am with plants lol..

 

[Omi]

I find tree identification difficult, although I am trying to learn "new ones". For the rabbits I tend to stick to the ones which are growing in the garden and so I am therefore confident about the ID. Willows I find are a particularly diverse group and I struggle to identify common ID features. It's helpful to catch them at the catkin stage.

I have tried to find reliable websites that (a) help with tree ID and (b) indicate whether a tree is rabbit safe in all its parts. (a) is not so difficult. I tend to use Wiki and this one http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/tree-identification/. For (b) I check the tree against the list in this site http://kanin.org/node/190 and if it's not within their list I tend not to look much further and don't feed.

Sometimes the information given in websites for what is rabbit-safe is very unreliable I find (especially opinions from people on other forums). Take the Hazel/Beech situation for example. I think the leaves you have been feeding j&b and also the ones Kara posted a pic of yesterday are Beech. Beech does not feature on my Kanin.org list. Also when I checked a couple of other sites one said it was unsafe, another said that the leaves were OK but the bark not and then another said that both leaves and bark were OK. After MM posted to say that both Hazel and Beech were safe, I re-checked using more sites and found that the majority of sites I visited said that the leaves were OK. That is not good enough though because we know that many sites will simply copy information from one site to another. I think what this calls for is a second RWAF funded publication by Parsnipbun on rabbit-safe tree leaves/bark

So where does this leave us? I think Beech is almost certainly safe (MM could you let us know what source you used to determine this please). I agree with your ID of White Poplar and Silver Birch w and s from looking at websites, but I don't know these two very well IRL. As to whether they are safe or not, well they are both on my Kanin.org list, but I don't know whether all Poplars are safe. I have this niggle that Black Poplar is not :?

Yes, it's great that so many people are looking at this thread

 

[joey&boo]

Those are great links - thanks Omi. We have a whole fence of beech (or whatever it is) so if the rabbits are outside they eat it anyway !

I am most grumpy beech isn't on FHB site but she only has photos of her favourites.

There are lots of catkins on various trees at the moment. I tried googling catkins - they are on willow, acorn, hazel but anything else?

I blame my parents :lol: They should have taught me all this stuff when I had a functional brain! I need more coffee

 

[MightyMax]

I find tree identification difficult, although I am trying to learn "new ones". For the rabbits I tend to stick to the ones which are growing in the garden and so I am therefore confident about the ID. Willows I find are a particularly diverse group and I struggle to identify common ID features. It's helpful to catch them at the catkin stage.

I have tried to find reliable websites that (a) help with tree ID and (b) indicate whether a tree is rabbit safe in all its parts. (a) is not so difficult. I tend to use Wiki and this one http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/tree-identification/. For (b) I check the tree against the list in this site http://kanin.org/node/190 and if it's not within their list I tend not to look much further and don't feed.

Sometimes the information given in websites for what is rabbit-safe is very unreliable I find (especially opinions from people on other forums). Take the Hazel/Beech situation for example. I think the leaves you have been feeding j&b and also the ones Kara posted a pic of yesterday are Beech. Beech does not feature on my Kanin.org list. Also when I checked a couple of other sites one said it was unsafe, another said that the leaves were OK but the bark not and then another said that both leaves and bark were OK. After MM posted to say that both Hazel and Beech were safe, I re-checked using more sites and found that the majority of sites I visited said that the leaves were OK. That is not good enough though because we know that many sites will simply copy information from one site to another. I think what this calls for is a second RWAF funded publication by Parsnipbun on rabbit-safe tree leaves/bark

So where does this leave us? I think Beech is almost certainly safe (MM could you let us know what source you used to determine this please). I agree with your ID of White Poplar and Silver Birch w and s from looking at websites, but I don't know these two very well IRL. As to whether they are safe or not, well they are both on my Kanin.org list, but I don't know whether all Poplars are safe. I have this niggle that Black Poplar is not :?

Yes, it's great that so many people are looking at this thread

Hi Omi :wave:

I double confirmed this with Parsnipbun at the weekend. Beech leaves are safe, although I don't think her rabbits were particularly fond of them. She had a beech hedge so I got a good look at them, though I didn't bring any home.

I agree, a second, or expanded book would be a great idea

 

[joey&boo]

Hi Omi :wave:

I double confirmed this with Parsnipbun at the weekend. Beech leaves are safe, although I don't think her rabbits were particularly fond of them. She had a beech hedge so I got a good look at them, though I didn't bring any home.

I agree, a second, or expanded book would be a great idea

Phew!! My bunnies love it

 

[willow and squiggles]

i think they might be beech. more so number 1. im not at all sure about 2. They are not what i took pics of though.

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

any ideas what this tree is, id like to id this one because there are plenty of them and i will be good for when autumn comes for drying them xx

 

[Scrappy's Little Helper]

I had a very good morning foraging today. I went down to Lee Valley park which is just down the road from me and which also leads on to Walthamstow and Hackney marshes. Very fertile hunting ground and I only just scratched the surface today! Anyhoo, I picked up some bramble leaves, greater plantain, ribwort plantain, hawthorn, sticky weed, dandelion, and mayflower. Also I've posted pics of three others I found below. If anyone can confirm ID that would be great.

1) Willow?

[/URL][/IMG]

2) Herb Robert?

 

[Scrappy's Little Helper]

And finally I think this might be mallow? There weren't any flowers but I'm not sure if it's too early in the year for them? The dots are actually holes so the yellowish bits are where you can see through to the table underneath.

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[MightyMax]

And finally I think this might be mallow? There weren't any flowers but I'm not sure if it's too early in the year for them? The dots are actually holes so the yellowish bits are where you can see through to the table underneath.

[/URL][/IMG]

This looks like mallow to me - has it got a furry stem?

I recognise the herb robert, but not the first one. I'm no expert, but would doubt it was willow?

Well done for that haul - bet the buns will be delighted :wave:

 

[MightyMax]

By the way, I have not heard of mayflower. Can you post a piccie please? (if there's any left!) x

 

[Scrappy's Little Helper]

This looks like mallow to me - has it got a furry stem?

I recognise the herb robert, but not the first one. I'm no expert, but would doubt it was willow?

Well done for that haul - bet the buns will be delighted :wave:

Great thank you! I'll hold off feeding the first one until I get a positive ID. The buns certainly are pleased with today's haul - couldn't shove it down their cake holes quick enough :lol:

And D'OH! Not mayflower, I meant to put mayweed. I must have been thinking of the ship :lol:

 

[Omi]

any ideas what this tree is, id like to id this one because there are plenty of them and i will be good for when autumn comes for drying them xx

Sorry, but I can't find this anywhere. It's almost like an ornamental tree with the blossoms. I could be persuaded that the first pic is Beech, but not the second.

 

[joey&boo]

Ahoy there Scrappy, that's a mighty good catch for the rabbits table :lol:

 

[Omi]

And finally I think this might be mallow? There weren't any flowers but I'm not sure if it's too early in the year for them? The dots are actually holes so the yellowish bits are where you can see through to the table underneath.

[/URL][/IMG]

I agree this is Mallow. I went outside and got a leaf from a plant that I know is Mallow to compare :lol: I think the flowers come in about a month's time.

Also agree that pic No 2 is Herb Robert.

I can't be sure about pic No 1. I bet it turns out to be a Willow, possibly White Willow, but I'm really not sure :lol: What makes me doubtful is that it looks altogether more stiff than how Willow generally seems to me.