Gathering and Storing Greens for Winter - Now is the time!

[MaggieJ]

This year I'm taking gathering and drying more seriously to ensure more variety for the buns for next winter. My original plan was to pick extra each day and dry the surplus in large mesh bags, but it just doesn't work for me. It's all I can do some days to gather enough just to feed the nineteen rabbits here. The fourteen youngsters are in full "piranha mode" and devour everything we throw at them. The three does can really chow down too. It seems to work better to find plants at their best and most plentiful and make a separate job of harvesting them one species at a time.

So far, the wind has harvested big limbs of poplar and willow for us and I have them dried and stored. We added two large bags of Queen Anne's lace yesterday... David found a great patch of it when he was out with his camera and it is just in its best pre-bloom stage. I have a box of shepherd's purse (with seed pods) for medicinal use.

What's ahead? More Queen Anne's lace for sure, some grape vines with leaves before they get too old, some mint (we have a huge patch), lots and lots of cattails. Wild raspberry canes with leaves. Across the road they are buiding two new houses and the freshly disturbed soil has put up a blanket of what may be prickly lettuce. I must get over there one evening and see what I can find. I can't see anyone minding if I make off with some of their weeds.

So, what do you have stored already and what plants are you planning to harvest and dry for winter use?

 

[eco2pia]

I planted a row of comfrey along the back fence, i have dried 2 bags worth so far, the first pre-bloom and the second after. I am considering whether I could dry nasturtium....would it dry before it molded is the big question in this climate. I have the roof of my chicken run made from that clear fiberglass, and I keep meaning to make a drying rack that would hang just below it for the summer--shade for the chicks and heat for my "hay".

Thanks for the reminder about the willow--I need to cut it back.

 

[MaggieJ]

I have a number of comfrey plants out back, but they are in a difficult spot for harvesting. But thanks for the reminder... It would be good to have some on hand in winter.

 

[Brody]

tomorrow's project is collecting the loose hay the balers missed ...if it stays dry - if it rains it will become Fridays task ...

Like you Maggie I have great plans but its hard to even stay caught up with the demands of the gang!

 

[Miss M]

Alas, I don't have room to dry and store greens for the winter.

I'll have to pay attention to which of our weeds are winter-hardy here, now that I know what some of them are. I should have a few things I can still pick and give them fresh.

 

[BoxerMom]

I am interested in storing greens for the winter. How do you go about the drying process?

 

[MaggieJ]

I air-dry the plants in a well-ventilated place away from direct sun. Some things like willow whips and raspberry canes I tie in bundles, not too thick so that the leaves get a chance to dry. Shorter things like mallow, mint, chicory, poplar leaves etc. etc. I put into mesh onion bags - large ones - and hang up to dry. Don't stuff them too full or the plants may mould before drying. You can also dry things on racks or trays.

 

[Anntann]

golly. I need to get started. The plantain is all over the place, and I've got enough mints for years, lemon balm, too. My basil sucks this year for some reason, but the raspberry is going gangbusters everywhere.

Queen Anne's Lace, eh? didn't know that was edible for bunny. GREAT! I'll try to harvest as many of the apple branches as I can (at least 30 wild apple trees on the farm)...I'm thinking I can do just leaves on a screen for a day and then pop them into bags. Although if they'll stay on the twigs, I can hang them from the rafters like the nettles and raspberry and mulberry.

oooooooo. Willow. I must go to the river and harvest willow.

Thanks for the reminder!

 

[MaggieJ]

Queen Anne's Lace shows up on toxic lists because of the seeds. The rest of the plant is just fine for rabbits. It is the same species as our domestic carrot, just in its wild form.

Just a reminder that mint is fine for dry does and bucks, but should not be fed to pregnant or lactating does. Mine do enjoy it, however, when they are taking a break from breeding, like now.

 

[Iggysbabysitter]

Would that include cat nip (a mint relative?)?

 

[MaggieJ]

I don't give the buns catnip. The occasional time a sprig has got in with their other greens they act like I am trying to poison them. :roll: I would certainly think that the same cautions would apply. Many members of the mint family are considered to be inhibit lactation and may cause complications in pregnancy. (Pennyroyal, for example, was used for centuries by humans to end unwanted pregnancies.) I only feed mint to does at such times as I know nobunny is pregnant or nursing. More research is needed on this topic!

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Pennyroyal is used as a pesticide in dog/cat shampoos, and as an insect repellent planted around porches, windows. It has been known to make honey very undesirable---

 

[MaggieJ]

The mints are a fascinating family of plants... and pennyroyal is one of the most interesting. Mint relatives have so many different culinary and medicinal uses that it is impossible to generalize and almost impossible to learn all the possible hazards. I try to err on the side of caution.

I treat sage the same as the other mint relatives.

As far as I know there are no cautions with lemon balm, however, which is also a member of the mint family. I used to have a lovely patch of it but it got winter killed. I planted some this spring and by next year I should have enough to feed some to the buns.

 

[eco2pia]

good, I just gave mine some lemon balm, though they are not as wild about it as some other things.

My rabbits are greens-spoiled I am afraid--we have such a lot of really wonderful green things here. So far I think Nasturtiums and rose/raspberry prunings come first, followed by that prickly lettuce stuff. They are also surprisingly fond of 5-leaved akeiba vine, a shocker, since it is supposedly rabbit/deer resistant. Of course, it grows so fast that it may just shrug off any browsing and that is it's "resistance"...I think I will try drying wreaths of that for winter. I like the wreath idea, I could hang them on the inside of my shed doors.

 

[Anntann]

I've got enough lemon balm for the entire herd..daily..for the rest of their lives. Combined with chocolate mint they'd be VERY spoiled. (my ONE lemon balm plant has tuned into dozens this year...and they're EVERYWHERE)..even choked out the mint that was trying to spread into the area.

 

[Brody]

My rabbits enjoy a sprig of sage on occasion ..
they are loving the carrot tops I planted all over the place - the carrots just don't grow here but the tops take off

 

[eco2pia]

My rabbits enjoy a sprig of sage on occasion ..
they are loving the carrot tops I planted all over the place - the carrots just don't grow here but the tops take off

You could try those little round thumbelina carrots if your soil is heavy--they still make tops and you might get a little nibble now and then!

 

[Anntann]

My rabbits enjoy a sprig of sage on occasion ..
they are loving the carrot tops I planted all over the place - the carrots just don't grow here but the tops take off

Carrots grow really well in the garden here..but I rarely get any of them any of the root crops that are enjoyed by bunny are also enjoyed by cottontails. and BOY do we have a lot of cottontails. :x

I go out to the garden and find the entire row of carrots, beets, turnips with their greens eaten off and the tops nibble down about 1/2 inch into the soil.

 

[KatzNetherlands]

Can rabbits eat Crabapple branches?? We have one we cut down but it is trying to come up and I have to go snip it.... just wondering if the buns can have it?

 

[Anntann]

crabapple is just another form of the apple tree. genus Malus.