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my foraging diary

Went out for 2 hours, got drenched to the skin but did get:brambles, hogweed, herb robert, grass, geranium, dandelions & a little plantain. Feeling super virtuous as wasn't going to bother but joey says the warren needs its nutrition this week as his body dealing with aftermath of vaccine, booblys GA & finally Rudey will get full benefit as he is eating his packed lunch. Joey couldn't believe his luck getting hogweed. I'm assuming whilst it doesn't grow during winter it won't die (unless loads of snow?) pretty much like dandelions, plantain & grass.
 
Went out for 2 hours, got drenched to the skin but did get:brambles, hogweed, herb robert, grass, geranium, dandelions & a little plantain. Feeling super virtuous as wasn't going to bother but joey says the warren needs its nutrition this week as his body dealing with aftermath of vaccine, booblys GA & finally Rudey will get full benefit as he is eating his packed lunch. Joey couldn't believe his luck getting hogweed. I'm assuming whilst it doesn't grow during winter it won't die (unless loads of snow?) pretty much like dandelions, plantain & grass.

I share Joey's surprise at the Hogweed. Is it small new leaves or old leaves which have survived the Winter so far? Hogweed is a perennial, so the plant won't die over Winter, but the leaves might. We've still got probably the bestest crop ever of Red Dead-nettle. That's the star plant here currently. We've also got new growth Cow Parsley, Chickweed and Dandelions. We've got old leaves of Geranium, Brambles and Plantain. We've also got manky grass. No Hogweed and no Herb Robert although we have several plants of each in the garden.
 
its all really small & looks super fresh. Maybe new growth then. Maybe I should leave it alone. Geranium leaves tiny so I assume that means new. Its always quite easy to get herb robert here as it often grows between cracks of the many dry stone walls. I still don't know chickweed. I shall learn if its out at the moment though. I know dead nettle but I've not seen it here - it was at the old house. Can't wait for spring
 
There's quite a lot of mallow coming up here as well as white dead nettles but annoyingly my bunnies don't like either of them. Goose grass is starting to come up, which is good as they do like that. Also what I'm pretty sure is cow parsley. Still very low lying though, I need it to get taller so I can be more confident with IDing it.

Very impatient for the hog weed and hawthorn to start coming through as they're firm favourites with my two.

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There's quite a lot of mallow coming up here as well as white dead nettles but annoyingly my bunnies don't like either of them. Goose grass is starting to come up, which is good as they do like that. Also what I'm pretty sure is cow parsley. Still very low lying though, I need it to get taller so I can be more confident with IDing it.

Very impatient for the hog weed and hawthorn to start coming through as they're firm favourites with my two.

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Oh yes, we've got Common Mallow still producing leaves as well. Also Red Campion has small new leaves. My two will refuse White Dead-nettle too. It must taste very different to the Red. We've also got Goose Grass, but they don't go mad for that. The trick with Cow Parsley if you're not sure is to remember where the plant was last year ;)
 
Oh yes, we've got Common Mallow still producing leaves as well. Also Red Campion has small new leaves. My two will refuse White Dead-nettle too. It must taste very different to the Red. We've also got Goose Grass, but they don't go mad for that. The trick with Cow Parsley if you're not sure is to remember where the plant was last year ;)
Ha! I did think that but there is a lot of hemlock around here and I always worry that a rogue one has slipped in among the cow parsley!

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The trick with Cow Parsley if you're not sure is to remember where the plant was last year ;)
Hemlock moves around though, or at least does around here.

It's so warm this winter, most things are still growing. I got a huge pile yesterday:

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(https://photos.app.goo.gl/fUMooFvVZxA6XL6U7)

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(https://photos.app.goo.gl/JAdipeUK1rLsQj91A)

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(https://photos.app.goo.gl/FRZzWJEH1qyx8ms9A)

Grass is constantly growing here too.
 
Chibbs must be wondering if she's gone to sleep and woken up in a type of bunny heaven :love: Good to see that's she's tucking in.
She had a good go at everything, then went outside to see what was happening :D It's very weird having a bunny so... unfussed about food! XD

I REALLY want to let them outside on to the lawn: we had a couple of in-situ binkies (like a bodypop!) from Chibbs when she first decided the run was good :love: and I'm sure she'd binky like a princess on the lawn, plus all that grass (if they can find it among the moss). But she's such a cautious soul, I don't want to do anything too quickly :) Not scared or worried, just cautious :) We've decided to give them min. 1 week settling in time per area, so that's another two weeks before lawn time! How will I (and Lopsy) cope?! :lol:
 
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So many trees have little tiny green shoots as well as ground plants coming up earlier. Whilst I should be worried its all occurring too early I'm just excited about how much easier it will be to feed my sickly boy in a month or two
 
So many trees have little tiny green shoots as well as ground plants coming up earlier. Whilst I should be worried its all occurring too early I'm just excited about how much easier it will be to feed my sickly boy in a month or two

Agreed it will be easier to forage earlier. It is worrying though and there will be examples right across the natural world where there will be a mismatch with availability of food eg Bluetits and caterpillars.
 
I went on a really long forage yesterday & got decent helpings for all four of my bunnies. There are a couple of hawthorn trees that always come in to leaf quicker than others - these have already got tiny green shoots on a few branches - I can't believe this was in January.
 
I went on a really long forage yesterday & got decent helpings for all four of my bunnies. There are a couple of hawthorn trees that always come in to leaf quicker than others - these have already got tiny green shoots on a few branches - I can't believe this was in January.

The Hawthorn is super early. Ours in the garden isn't quite that far advanced yet. Did Rudey like it?

I noticed today that the grass looks a bit longer and a bit less tatty. Star plants here though are still the Red Deadnettle. They're covered in a mass of flowers.
 
The Hawthorn is super early. Ours in the garden isn't quite that far advanced yet. Did Rudey like it?

I noticed today that the grass looks a bit longer and a bit less tatty. Star plants here though are still the Red Deadnettle. They're covered in a mass of flowers.

No ..but he really does like most fresh forage. Todays findings:

2Cyjhicl.jpg


bonus blurry pics of the lesser spotted J&B

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bwXDiZsl.jpg
 
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I'm so excited for full on spring foraging. I am going to forage like I have never foraged before:lol: I intend to adopt a more methodical approach (bulk harvesting, drying & storing) & ensure there will be no slim rations next winter
 
I'm so excited for full on spring foraging. I am going to forage like I have never foraged before[emoji38] I intend to adopt a more methodical approach (bulk harvesting, drying & storing) & ensure there will be no slim rations next winter
Can I ask, so you pick the stuff, then do you wash it, let it air, then store? Or do you let it air then just store it and wash before giving it? I always feel like if I was to pick, wash, store it would go all weird.. And how do you get it to dry out without going all weird/mouldy? [emoji38] Sorry if that's a lot of questions [emoji38]

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Can I ask, so you pick the stuff, then do you wash it, let it air, then store? Or do you let it air then just store it and wash before giving it? I always feel like if I was to pick, wash, store it would go all weird.. And how do you get it to dry out without going all weird/mouldy? [emoji38] Sorry if that's a lot of questions [emoji38]

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I really like these kind of questions - i'm no expert but award self 9.9 / 10 for trying :lol:
Things I pick at ground level I sometimes swill in a cold water bath but I never wash tree forage or ground forage that wouldn't be accessible by dogs or picked high up from the plant. I visually check as I pick for things I consider that need to be discarded. Bird Poo is at the top of the list but any unhealthy leaves, bugs, berries etc. I don't fuss much about that stage. As long as you have good air rotation most stuff dries well given enough time. I often go through a series of different techniques & locations. Make sure final storage allows some air flow too.

On hot sunny days laying easy to dry leaves outside are pretty much done in a day if you rotate them a few times
 
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