-
Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
2011 Foraging
- Thread starter Georgeypudding
- Start date
:wave: Hi Grin. Fennel is very similar to dill in it's properties. We can give the leaves & stems - also we can dry the stems for a winter chew.
I always avoid giving bunnies the small hard parts = fruits & seeds to buns unless in finely powdered form in case they damage a tooth or get a blockage.
Rabbit health in the 21st. century - Kathy Smith - iUniverse press p163 states that "fennel can cause a photosensitive reaction in some animals". I've not seen this mentioned anywhere else, nor have I heard of problems on RU with it.
prettylupin
Wise Old Thumper
I have a fennel plant in the garden and Poppy enjoys the frilly leaves and stem from it occasionally! :wave:
:wave: Absolutely fantastic Chelle. well done
Just to say Autumn has come far too early this year folks. Mildew has started on the greater plantains & dandelions.
I feel so happy when I hear how much your buns enjoy these things, & I'm fascinated by what they like.
:wave:Hi!!!!!
thankyou! I feel abit behind as I was away for 6 weeks....so have missed alot I think as the plants have started to turn in some places....:?
Im still unsure about greater plantain...keep thinking Ive seen it but then something similar comes along and Im not sure...so frustrating! Ive got pics etc...but obviously not of the other similar plants...
Do the leaves grow from the bottom of the plant OR do they have some stem?:?
You mentioned "blackthorn"....is this Sloe?
:wave:
:wave: Hi Chelle. The main identifying feature of greater plantain is the veins in the leaves. There are several completely separate main veins, which fan out in the leaf & form a cable in the stem. (called parallel venation). There is only 1 leaf per stem. They are flowering at the moment - country folk call the flowering spikes rats tails!
I'm learning to use a digital camera at the mo. so the photos are poor quality. Does this help? http://s866.photobucket.com/albums/ab229/judith_af_holland/wild plant photos/
The greater plantain is a HUGE specimen because of growing conditions.
ETA I'm also taking photos of poisonous plants. http://s866.photobucket.com/albums/ab229/judith_af_holland/poisonous wild plants/
Yes blackthorn/prunus spinosa is the correct name, "Sloe" should only refer to the fruit (but it's infinitely easier to type!
)I used to love making sloe gin / sloe vodka, then make my own version of fruit without nut chocolate with the left over alcohol soaked sloes.
Last edited:
Grin
Wise Old Thumper
Thanks for this! :wave:
I'm going out tonight to try and find things for them to enjoy. I'm hoping i can judge the right things. Can i post pics on here to make sure?
hurricanhoney
Wise Old Thumper
Ive been foraging every weekend and it's amazing how little it drys down to. I found a lovely bramble hedge at the weekend. I've started drying calundula as I have loads in my garden now.
Of course you can.
We'll do our best, but none of us are professional botanists. It's best when several of us come to the same identification independantly. Good photos of the leaves & how they are attached to the stem as well as flowers/seeds is really helpful. Also where you found them eg.part shade/full sun, woodland/marsh/hedgerow/garden & soil type where poss eg bog, limey, sandy, clay is a massive help.
Elena
Wise Old Thumper
I 'trimmed' the blackberries today, mainly so I could get to one end of my carrot bath. I have about five paper bags worth of leaves!! :shock: I reckon I could double or triple that when I prune them properly after they've fruited! We've washed and roughly dried them (aka shoving them in a pillow case and spinning it as fast as possible). Hopefully they will dry fully in the paper bags and last the winter. Nutmeg will eat bramble leaves but she prefers them dried. They all go crazy for dried bramble leaves!
I'll do some piccies tomorrow.
I'll do some piccies tomorrow.
Alibunmum
Wise Old Thumper
I 'trimmed' the blackberries today, mainly so I could get to one end of my carrot bath. I have about five paper bags worth of leaves!! :shock: I reckon I could double or triple that when I prune them properly after they've fruited! We've washed and roughly dried them (aka shoving them in a pillow case and spinning it as fast as possible). Hopefully they will dry fully in the paper bags and last the winter. Nutmeg will eat bramble leaves but she prefers them dried. They all go crazy for dried bramble leaves!
I'll do some piccies tomorrow.
Fab! I had a similar day but with raspberry leaves!! Feels great, doesn't it?
I weeded my "flower bed" on Monday (I use the term very loosely, really it was a weed bed!!) Ended up with loads of dandelion leaves (and some other stuff) which I dried in the sun and now the 2 buns are refusing to eat them!!!:? They're turning their pretty little furry noses up at them and refusing to eat anything that's not freshly cut!! Anyone else have buns that are food snobs?!:roll:
Jaysmonkey
Wise Old Thumper
I now have access to apple sticks and pear sticks and hawthorn in my own garden .
I went to visit my brother in Ullskelf and he's surrounded by fields and countryside so we went for a six mile forage and to get pyo strawberries! I got some platain, dandelions and lots of dried grass cut by the farmers and drying for hay bales, its so green and lush, the bunnies love it.
.I went to visit my brother in Ullskelf and he's surrounded by fields and countryside so we went for a six mile forage and to get pyo strawberries! I got some platain, dandelions and lots of dried grass cut by the farmers and drying for hay bales, its so green and lush, the bunnies love it
.
Elena
Wise Old Thumper
Nutmeg is the opposite, she'll eat anything dried but very little that's fresh. :roll:
Elena
Wise Old Thumper
Excellent!
Now if I can find some hawthorn to dry I might be able to get away with less herb plants through the winter
poppymoon
Wise Old Thumper
eric's a bit like that - he much prefers things freshly cut.
:lol::lol: I'm getting the idea that some buns will eat whatever they can get their teeth round - good or bad, whereas others know what's good for them.
Fascinating that they can't see what they eat. They have to work out if it's OK food, or poisonous, by touch & scent then their 23 different types of taste buds. :shock: Apparently even skilled buns are less good at distinguishing their food when it's dried.
May be they're just good survivors. "Do you think our hoomin knows what's what?" :lol:
:wave: Jaysmonkey. I hope you had a relaxing time outside as well as bunny foraging.
Alibunmum
Wise Old Thumper
Hopefully if you store them till winter and there is no fresh they will happily eat them!:?
Hi, just a query about willow trees... I know willow branches are sold int he shops for buns to chew,.. but my dad has a weeping willow tree in his garden which my buns love to hide under when we go there. Are the branches and leaves (and thin new growth) all safe for the bunnies to eat? fresh from the tree, or do they have to be dried? Also are apple tree leaves safe to eat as well as the branches?
I love foraging!!!
Just gonna be sad as need to de-weed the end of my garden soon At the moment it is bunny dinner heaven and I don't need to buy any extra greens, but soon it will have a shed and a veg patch on so no more weeds Thanks
