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edible weeds

Hi Stufi :wave:

Okay, from Green foods for rabbits and cavies this is the following:
Hawk bit and hawk weed are an order of wild plants containing a great many different varieties. It is little use describing each variety as to the casual observer (us! :roll::lol:) they differ very little. This family of plants can be used alongside other greens as safe food for rabbits. There is more bumph about how they appear to look - flowers and leaves etc. but I think you have already identified it haven't you?

Something the author says at the begining of the book I have always found very poignant and this is that provided great variety of wild plants are given and not one fed solely in abundance - then the risks of nasty effects are lessened. What he says is that even if something not bunny safe is fed by mistake as long as it is watered down so to speak alongside other green forages at the same time, the nasty effects are thus diluted.
When Nino tucked into cuckoo pint once at my dad's house - I remembered these words of wisdom and immediately washed off some parsley and coriander and made him eat a huge pile of it to dilute any nasty effects. To be honest the cuckoo pint tasted SO awful he was retching and making the most awful faces - he had barely taken a nibble - it must have tasted awful poor silly bun! :roll::( My dad got in trouble for not removing that one from his lawn... but it was our mistake for not checking closely enough - I saw Nino go for it but just didn't get there in time to stop him! :roll::oops: I'm very careful these days.
 
I can't believe I have seen loads of the sow thistle next to dandilion and not known it was this...is that right the prickly type? do you feed that buns?
 
I can't believe I have seen loads of the sow thistle next to dandilion and not known it was this...is that right the prickly type? do you feed that buns?
 
apparently so... but i just been on google and there seems more than one type of sow thistle: Prickly sow-thistle, Smooth sow-thistle...( i think i have the smooth sow thistle as the leaves are soft and has a milky colour on it) are they both ok to eat?
the prickly one and brambles i thought it would be painful to eat (if i was a rabbit :lol:)
 
With the sow thistle the smooth one is best. They can x pollinate so my bun won't eat the really prickly ones, but the moderately prickly ones' spines go soft when the plant wilts a bit.;)
With the brambles, it depends again on which type you have, but there're not many prickles on the leaves of those round here. The main issue Thumps has with brambles is from chin scenting his food, & getting them stuck in his fur. Yes, I'm a softee, & rub the prickles off the leaf part. :roll:
Dare I post a favourite of wildie babies trying to eat brambles again?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6zRr_EpyNE

With dandelions, older leaves can be deeply indented but aren't prickly. I've never seen such huge dandelions as this year. 18" long leaf :shock:
I've noticed that the growing conditions this year have caused some older dandelion & plantain leaves to be puckered.

(Sorry, my own little one is keeping me occupied tonight. I'm enjoying this thread a lot)
 
Arugh School boy error! I ordered the green book from WHS as i needed to get some other books too... and just realised it said (after Ive paid for it) its gonna take 4+ weeks to deliver :( I was looking forward to reading it!
 
:wave: Hi fi. Ah so you both post under the same name?
OK if you get a nice smooth leafed sow thistle you can encourage it to make more flowers & seeds for more plants by just cutting off the top 1/2. It'll make more flowering heads where the leaves join the stem.;)
 
Thanks Thumper :) do you think they will germinate this year? Theres tons of weeds in the new house ( theres a plot of land which looks like a building site) but my landlord said he put some chemicals down which have now been banned - so i am not chancing giving womble those as no doubt there are still chemicals in all the plants there...

Oh the sow thistle, can you give the whole plant to them? seeds flowers and stalk?
 
Two books i'd reccommend for plant id'ing are:

The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) - How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland - Francis Rose

and for a more "portable" edition ;)

Wild Flowers (RSPB Pocket Nature) - DK
 
Thanks Thumper :) do you think they will germinate this year? Theres tons of weeds in the new house ( theres a plot of land which looks like a building site) but my landlord said he put some chemicals down which have now been banned - so i am not chancing giving womble those as no doubt there are still chemicals in all the plants there...

Oh the sow thistle, can you give the whole plant to them? seeds flowers and stalk?

Yep whole thing! Down the hatch! :lol::D
 
Two books i'd reccommend for plant id'ing are:

The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) - How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland - Francis Rose

and for a more "portable" edition ;)

Wild Flowers (RSPB Pocket Nature) - DK[/QUOTE]

Now that's what i'm looking for - thank you for this! :wave:
 
My dada has some HUUUUUUUUGE dandelions on his allotment. He has one area he doesn't do much with and lets go a bit wild then cuts it down a couple of times a year. It's fab for the bunnies. :thumb:
 
They usually germinate quickly, given a good shower of rain.
They only last for one year though, so saving some seeds for next year is a good idea. (You also have to get a bit devious about it, cos they're weeds & neighbours get cross if they think you're cultivating weeds.)

Yes you can feed the whole plant of a bunny safe plant to your buns. The convention is to state clearly which, if any parts of a plant can't be fed freely.

You raise a very good point about the use of weedkiller on the building site.

Weedkiller use is probably commoner in towns. In the countryside an idea of when crops are sprayed, & remembering that chemicals can drift from neighbouring fields is important. Landfill sites, sites where wild buns feed (transmission of disease eg coccidiosis) are also to be avoided, as are dog walking areas, unless you are collecting shrub leaves above dog poop level. Obviously plants by busy roads are contaminated by traffic fumes.
I always ask myself, "would I eat a lettuce that's grown there?"
(An overgrown cemetary is usually quite a good place to look)

Please forgive me for stating the obvious, but other folk interested in this area maybe unaware of the precautions needed.

There's more to it than meets the eye, & there's more enjoyment than meets the eye too, as we start to notice the real world of birds/butterflies/etc. too. :D Oh & we get wet quite alot :lol:
 
Oh and Thumps, I gave mine a huge blackberry leaf each the other day. Normally Nutmeg and Smudge are wary of new things but they tucked in straight away and were soon back for more. Not that I had more but they loved them.
 
not wanting to hijack stuffi's thread but :D I have in my weed bag....dandilion leaves, nettles, sow thistle???
Can PL or thumps clarify the sow thistle, however, a bit concerned re the prickly version for buns to eat, what bit can they eat....the stalks look 'ouch', shall I trim the leaves edges :roll: also what do I do with the nettles, I have big stems on the grass land with big leaves and small leaves...do I just give leaves??
I also have took a few picks of weeds whilst out will post in my next post ...looked a bit of a div armed with carrier, scissors and camera :lol::lol:
100_9771.jpg
 
thanks :wave: seemed a bit pointless opening a new thread about weeds :D
so not sure of these
100_9759.jpg


is this wild clover? (I can get it with white flowers)
100_9757.jpg


there is loads of this stuff..??
100_9754.jpg


Any good to buns??
I went for a smaller sow thistle but there are big ones, would they be better?
 
ETA re #56
It looks as if you've got a thistle thistle there. Are the flowers purple or yellow?
That would be way too spikey for my bun but he's a bit nesh. :oops:

Mind there can be some right vicious spikey sow thistles, as I found to my:(.
I saw lots of seeds wafting in on a Westerly breeze, & set off to find where they'd come from. I found the patch alright but they were as vicious as an ordinary thistle, no good for MY bun.
 
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there is loads of this stuff..??
100_9754.jpg

is there any fruit of some sort on the branches? from afar, the plant in the middle looks a bit like a damson plum tree, but the plant on the left I have no clue. Any chance of a close up? I think we need thumps or PrettyLupin on the case :thumb:
 
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