Keeping branches fresh?

Yes, another thread by me. My dad brought over a big bundle of pear branches from his tree for Casper and Sophie, but it'll take a while for them to get through them. Is there a way I can keep them fresh(-ish), or will they go bad after a while?

a reader of books said:

Yes, another thread by me. My dad brought over a big bundle of pear branches from his tree for Casper and Sophie, but it'll take a while for them to get through them. Is there a way I can keep them fresh(-ish), or will they go bad after a while?

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The thickish branches we stand in a bucket of water and keep them outside, so on your balcony would be fine. The smaller pieces we wrap in a large plastic bag. The idea being to stop them from drying too quickly. I imagine the branches have leaves on at this time of the year, so, after feeding some branches with leaves, I would remove the rest and feed them separately, keeping them again in a plastic bag. If you don't remove them, they will die and drop off after a few days.

What a treat for them

Ohhh lucky Casper & Sophie. Its nice to read Omi's keeping fresh tips. when we get a haul of my inlaws i've always just left them in a box & they do get less tasty over time because of it. Next batch I'll try & keep them fresh as above

I dry leaves as crunchy treats, i would think that they will spoil if you keep them wet in stale air, it's perfect conditions for mold.

Omi said:

The thickish branches we stand in a bucket of water and keep them outside, so on your balcony would be fine. The smaller pieces we wrap in a large plastic bag. The idea being to stop them from drying too quickly. I imagine the branches have leaves on at this time of the year, so, after feeding some branches with leaves, I would remove the rest and feed them separately, keeping them again in a plastic bag. If you don't remove them, they will die and drop off after a few days.

What a treat for them

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That's interesting! I always do a cardboard box/paper bag rather than plastic because I was worried about them sweating or going gross.. Maybe I was over thinking it [emoji38][emoji38][emoji38]

I would air dry any branches / leaves that are not going to be eaten immediately. They keep well in paper bags or cardboard boxes (anything from cereal boxes to Amazon delivery boxes). I wouldn't store them in plastic - it's difficult to get them to a commercial level of dryness that would stop them sweating and going mouldy.

Thank you for your replies, everyone! Everybody seems to do it differently! I think keeping them in a bucket of water outside, like Omi said, will probably work best in this case, because I don't have a cardboard box or paper bag large enough. The branches are all about 80 - 100 cm long, so they're quite big! My dad had already removed all the leaves before bringing them over, probably not realising that bunnies can eat leaves, but that's okay; I got dried pear leaves in my last dried forage order and Sophie doesn't like them, and Casper used to like them but doesn't anymore now!

Whether they go mouldy or not in plastic would depend I think on two things, how many there are and how long they are to be kept. It works for me because sticks with leaves and also leaves alone go quite quickly here and so I guess there just isn't the quantity nor the prolonged storage time. Also my bunnies have always prefered fresh to dry. When I collect a quantity of Bramble leaves I also store them in a plastic bag in the fridge and they keep well.

Omi said:

Whether they go mouldy or not in plastic would depend I think on two things, how many there are and how long they are to be kept. It works for me because sticks with leaves and also leaves alone go quite quickly here and so I guess there just isn't the quantity nor the prolonged storage time. Also my bunnies have always prefered fresh to dry. When I collect a quantity of Bramble leaves I also store them in a plastic bag in the fridge and they keep well.

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That makes sense - I store mine for a few months to last over winter, so I need something suitable for bulk, long term storage, hence the boxes.