Rabbit gardening

skysthelimit · Mar 1, 2012

I'm trying to find sources for rabbit gardening. So far, I have a source for alfalfa, red clover and spinach mustard. Timothy, barley and oats are a little harder. I gotta find some dandelions, peas, and wheat. Then the parsley and maybe something else I can't think of.

SterlingSatin · Mar 1, 2012

i wanna do this too this year

and fence it in so i can let the bunnies run around in it. take some BOSS and plant them, they sprout! i've done it before with BOSS from walmart as bird feed

and you can always do some of Maggie's herbs. i like to grow mint and sage for if my does get mastitis and there are some others she could probably reccomend. oh and carrots!

lol, i always plant carrots for my buns. also, mangel beets or really just any beets are great for putting weight on a rabbit. plus, my rabbits love them!

MaggieJ · Mar 1, 2012

How much space do you have for a rabbit garden? That is going to influence your choices. Certain weeds, such as plantain, dandelion, prickly lettuce, chicory etc. are all valuable for rabbits and will come back year after year. Mint, sage, lavender (to expel contents of the uterus in an emergency) and yarrow are all valuable herbs. See the Safe Plants list for ideas and botanical names.

A very useful site for properties of herbs and weeds. Scroll down to purchase seeds, essential oils etc.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/placom43.html

A few other possible sources:

http://www.sandmountainherbs.com/plantain_greater.html
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/seeds/seeds.php
http://organicheirloomplants.com/planta ... p-284.html

skysthelimit · Mar 1, 2012

SterlingSatin":wifh7gn5 said:
take some BOSS and plant them, they sprout! mangel beets or really just any beets are great for putting weight on a rabbit. plus, my rabbits love them!

I will do, I'll set some aside now, or put them in the grow lab at school. I saw something about beets, I don't eat them, I didn't realize the rabbit eats the whole part. I did carrots, but they didn't grow very well last year, but with the manure this year, I might get better results.<br /><br />__________ Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:22 pm __________<br /><br />

MaggieJ":wifh7gn5 said:
How much space do you have for a rabbit garden? That is going to influence your choices. Certain weeds, such as plantain, dandelion, prickly lettuce, chicory etc. are all valuable for rabbits and will come back year after year. Mint, sage, lavender (to expel contents of the uterus in an emergency) and yarrow are all valuable herbs. See the Safe Plants list for ideas and botanical names.

A very useful site for properties of herbs and weeds. Scroll down to purchase seeds, essential oils etc.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/placom43.html

A few other possible sources:

http://www.sandmountainherbs.com/plantain_greater.html
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/seeds/seeds.php
http://organicheirloomplants.com/planta ... p-284.html

I have as much space as I would normally plant, instead of planting annuals (I have a permanent iris, lavender, peppermint, daylily, lemon balm garden) I will plant rabbit plants. I have three 5x20 spots that are out of the dogs' reach, a 6x20 space that I usually plant my veggies, fence line space for things like dandelion, the clover can be seeded right into the mud field that is the "lawn". I will try to grow veggies that both the rabbits and I can eat. I think I will grow oat grass in planters.

MamaSheepdog · Mar 2, 2012

Here is a partial list of what I would like to grow in my bunny garden:

Artichoke (leaves- we get the flowers!)
Arugala
Basil
Beets
Borage
Brambles
Calendula
Carrot
Chicory
Cilantro
Dandelion
Fennel
Fenugreek
Filaree
Mint
Mustard (wild and domestic)
Parsley
Plantain
Queen Ann's lace
Radish
Red and green leaf lettuce
Rose
Spinach
Shepherd's purse
Strawberries
Sunflowers
White clover
Yarrow

We already grow most of those plants in our garden anyway, but I'll need to get seeds for chicory, plantain, Queen Ann's lace, and gather more dandelion seeds in town. Filaree, mustard, and Shepherds purse grow wild here, so I will transplant those or harvest from our raised beds as they pop up on their own. Artichoke leaves get huge, so I plan on adding more to the garden this year- the goats love them too, and I fed the dried flowers and stalks to the rabbits last year.

There are a lot of vegetables that we grow anyway that are safe to feed, so I'll harvest some of that for them too.

SterlingSatin · Mar 2, 2012

I will do, I'll set some aside now, or put them in the grow lab at school. I saw something about beets, I don't eat them, I didn't realize the rabbit eats the whole part. I did carrots, but they didn't grow very well last year, but with the manure this year, I might get better results.

if you have soil that is at all gravely or hard, the carrots won't get down very far, so get a short variety, there are even round carrots that i have grown in my soil, and its almost all gravel once you get like 6 inches down. its awful. yeah, i don't eat beets either (yuck) but most of my rabbits will eat the whole thing. i grew giant beets last year and i would fling them into the brick on the side of the bunny barn to break them up into pieces and hten i would distribute it to my bunnies (it was pretty fun :lol

arachyd · Mar 3, 2012

Remember, you can greatly improve your soil by tilling rabbit manure and soiled hay or straw bedding deep into it.

MamaSheepdog · Mar 3, 2012

I bought fenugreek seed at the health food store yesterday, and am hoping it will sprout for me. According to this site http://twohunnyzrabbitry.webs.com/herbinformation.htm it "Stimulates uterine contractions, lactation and appetite, encourages weight gain."

There are so many beneficial herbs that I fear my entire garden may soon be overrun with them... will there be any room left at all to grow food for us, I wonder?!? :?

skysthelimit · Mar 3, 2012

arachyd":2idhb3t0 said:
Remember, you can greatly improve your soil by tilling rabbit manure and soiled hay or straw bedding deep into it.

Already there. The soil has also been enhanced by the aged chicken poop from my coop. I till every year, the main problem was the rainy season last summer.

ladysown · Mar 3, 2012

would this be good for bunnies? http://www.damseeds.ca/productcart/pc/v ... category=0

or should I look at something else?

What i'd like to find is this http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/cicin.htm

but don't know where to find it.

MaggieJ · Mar 3, 2012

It is the wild chicory in the second link that I feed by the bucketful to my rabbits. A wonderful weed!

Ladysown, you can get seed for it from Richters in Goodwood. For a lot of other good weeds too! Or you can find it along just about any country road... Look for the sky blue flowers in July in among the Queen Anne's Lace.

http://www.richters.com/Web_store/web_s ... 1123.29477

Another source for wild chicory seeds:
http://www.egardenseed.com/Wild_Chicory ... 0163.9.htm

skysthelimit · Mar 3, 2012

keep those seed websites coming. I can't wait for something to actually grow so I can see what I have here.

ladysown · Mar 3, 2012

I"ve looked for it along the road sides but have been unsuccessful until late in the year and then the ground is pretty beat up by summer heat and such that I don't feel like digging it up. (yes, at times I have higher priorities).

ordering seed sounds really good to me. Dedicating a garden to the rabbits this summer... already have my dandelion and parsley and lots of prickly lettuce planted.

MaggieJ · Mar 3, 2012

Richters has seed for common mallow, common plantain and so forth as well. You might want to browse their catalogue and check their shipping charges to get your best deal.

ladysown · Mar 3, 2012

is this the same as prickly lettuce?

http://www.richters.com/Web_store/web_s ... 1123.29477

skysthelimit · Mar 3, 2012

ladysown":1etnics9 said:
I"ve looked for it along the road sides but have been unsuccessful until late in the year and then the ground is pretty beat up by summer heat and such that I don't feel like digging it up. (yes, at times I have higher priorities). ordering seed sounds really good to me. Dedicating a garden to the rabbits this summer... already have my dandelion and parsley and lots of prickly lettuce planted.

I don't wind up eating half of the stuff I usually grow, so whatever I can share with them is the way to go.

MaggieJ · Mar 4, 2012

No, it's not the same, but it is a related species. Prickly lettuce is Lactuca serriola (a.k.a. Luctuca scariiola).

http://montana.plant-life.org/species/l ... serrio.htm

The one you found is often called opium lettuce and was used in the 19th century as a sedative. Interesting plant, but I don't know if it is good for the buns or not.

You may be able to get prickly lettuce seed here:
http://www.csrscience.com/index.php?mai ... ucts_id=79

skysthelimit · Mar 4, 2012

MaggieJ":w8fkithz said:
The one you found is often called opium lettuce and was used in the 19th century as a sedative. Interesting plant, but I don't know if it is good for the buns or not.

Wouldn't want to mess that one up

:lol:

I have alfalfa, basil, red clover, dandelion, plenty of grape vine in my yard, lemon balm, parsley, rosemary, spinach and sweet peppers. I have a rose bush and I thought i read somewhere that I could feed iris leaves (grass like leaf blades). And I might add some oat grass. Now I think I might package some and offer them as a Rabbit Garden sampler on my website.

When I get to work tomorrow I'm going to start up the grow lab.

MaggieJ · Mar 4, 2012

I have not done extensive research on iris, but it appears on many toxic lists for rabbits and cats. You need to be 100% certain of the safety of anything you are planning to sell for rabbits.

skysthelimit · Mar 4, 2012

MaggieJ":2yz83xct said:
I have not done extensive research on iris, but it appears on many toxic lists for rabbits and cats. You need to be 100% certain of the safety of anything you are planning to sell for rabbits.

The iris would be for my personal use, since they grow in the yard. I also saw something about day lilies, and I grow those too, but the information was conflicting so I'm thinking I'd best leave those alone.

I'd only be putting seeds for very well known plants in a seed package.

But I am curious to see what I have around me that can be cultivated for food.

Rabbit gardening

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