What do you grow?

[Albert]

This is our first year here where we are organised enough to grow fruit and veg.

For us, we've planted fruit trees and started some onions are garlic (This is France its the law ) .

Does anyone grow any vegetables to supplement their rabbits or is it not worth the growing space? Or is there a good crop where you can grow the produce for yourself and the stalks / leaves etc are good for rabbits?

Thanks

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

I don't really grow them for the rabbits but Honeoye Strawberries can grow for five years and stay out in the cold and even though they die, they will come back

 

[Mariah's Meadows]

CLOVER! If you can bear not having a "perfect lawn," start growing clover in your yard. It is perfect for when you don't have a lot of space in your yard to grow crops; make the whole yard your crop! We generously seeded our lawn with clover as it is a favourite for our buns. It regrows relatively quickly after being cut and fed, too.

A quick search tells me that clover already grows in France, but it's a little more Northwest of you. Maybe something to try!

 

[Albert]

CLOVER! If you can bear not having a "perfect lawn," start growing clover in your yard. It is perfect for when you don't have a lot of space in your yard to grow crops; make the whole yard your crop! We generously seeded our lawn with clover as it is a favourite for our buns. It regrows relatively quickly after being cut and fed, too.

A quick search tells me that clover already grows in France, but it's a little more Northwest of you. Maybe something to try!

Up until 10 months ago our garden was a hay field / cow pasture so sowing it with clover sounds great. Thank you!

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Speaking of hay fields like @Albert mentioned, a TON of my property has grass that grows really long, so we have people come and cut it down to make hay bales out of it (We call them tractor turds :] ). After they're done cutting, whether the bales are gone or not, we take trash bags out and collect the hay that was left on the ground and didn't get picked up. Pretty sure we do this in the fall, possibly in the spring.

 

[hotzcatz]

We've planted a lot of stuff that the buns can eat. Kinda landscaping, but edible landscaping. The bunnies adore mulberry leaves, ti leaves, apple leaves, assorted weeds in the lawn - which we didn't specifically plant, but they're there so they get fed to the buns. There's also the evil Guinea, Elephant and Reznor grasses which get fed to the bunnies. My neighbor calls those 'demon grasses' since they grow so tall and so fast. There's two sheep helping us get rid of those as well as the cut and carry to the buns, but the grass is still winning. This is Hawaii, there's always something out there growing so nobody tries to have a perfect lawn unless there's some sort of tourist thing involved.

The food gardens are raised beds, other than being a lot easier to weed, they don't get attacked by string trimmers or lawn mowers.

It's partially a garden and partially a terrace to hold back the hillside. This is from several seasons ago, with corn and tomatoes. It just got planted with lettuce and more tomatoes although there's also some black berry and rose cuttings taking root there. Those will be shifted out once they make roots. Next time one of these gardens is built, I'm gonna put a faucet at the corner of it. It'd be easy enough to put a bit of galvanized pipe up through the bricks with a spigot at the top. Well, next one. We're up to four of these now, although one seems to have a mulberry tree growing in it so it's too shady for many vegetables.

Our garden helpers were a little indiscriminate when they were helping us near the house. We did want them to clear the garden, which is why the chicken fence had been taken down but they also cleared out a lot of stuff we'd rather have kept. Who knew sheep liked orchids? Oh well, they'll grow back.

The only fertilizer we use in the gardens is bunny manure. Plus the plants are open pollinated so we can save seeds. That pretty much means gardening without having to spend money on things. Free food is always good!

Why are you required to grow garlic? Are there tasty French varieties of things that you can grow that aren't available in other areas?

 

[HTAcres]

Where I live in west Texas, it is easier for me to grow trees and bushes for rabbit forage. I didn't know that I was preparing for rabbits when I planted my first weeping willow lol.

I think the "garlic is required" was a French Funny.

 

[MuddyFarms]

Where I live in west Texas, it is easier for me to grow trees and bushes for rabbit forage. I didn't know that I was preparing for rabbits when I planted my first weeping willow lol.

I think the "garlic is required" was a French Funny.

Curious- what trees and bushes have you been growing/feeding?

 

[HTAcres]

Curious- what trees and bushes have you been growing/feeding?

This past year I had the willow, rose, plum and white mulberry. I have discovered they like the mulberry dry better than fresh. The willow and rose are their favorites. This year I hope to add moringa, Australian willow and bamboo if the ones I planted last spring right before our big freeze takes off finally.

 

[MuddyFarms]

This past year I had the willow, rose, plum and white mulberry. I have discovered they like the mulberry dry better than fresh. The willow and rose are their favorites. This year I hope to add moringa, Australian willow and bamboo if the ones I planted last spring right before our big freeze takes off finally.

Thanks- Trees and bushes are amazing sources of fodder. I just wish they grew faster!!! Thanks for mentioning the dry vs fresh example, too.

 

[ladysown]

I grow chervil/parsley for the rabbits. I get an excellent crop in the spring, let it seed itself and then get an excellent crop in the fall. between times they get almost all my garden waste. I always grow too much lettuce so they get what I don't keep up with.

Oh other stuff: Volunteer sunflowers, field corn that I collect in the fall.. the plants will come back three times.

 

[MuddyFarms]

I grow chervil/parsley for the rabbits. I get an excellent crop in the spring, let it seed itself and then get an excellent crop in the fall. between times they get almost all my garden waste. I always grow too much lettuce so they get what I don't keep up with.

Oh other stuff: Volunteer sunflowers, field corn that I collect in the fall.. the plants will come back three times.

When do you cut them so that they come back? Good to know about the parsley crop ability.

@Albert Good thread idea- thanks for starting it!

 

[ladysown]

Corn? when it's about 1 foot tall.
Sunflowers will only come back if they are the multi-stalk variety (which most black oil sunflowers are in my experience).
Chervil is much preferred over regular parsley and is more persistent at coming back. Regular parsley is more finicky, but very good for bunnies.

 

[MnCanary]

I seem to mostly grow crabgrass (Digitaria sp.) but they wolf it down. Rabbits haven't read the bad press that crabgrass gets. And by the way, in zone 6, wild strawberries have green foliage all winter long.

 

[MuddyFarms]

I seem to mostly grow crabgrass (Digitaria sp.) but they wolf it down. Rabbits haven't read the bad press that crabgrass gets. And by the way, in zone 6, wild strawberries have green foliage all winter long.

Yes, I have noticed the green strawberry leaves during the winter also. They are amazingly hardy.

 

[MuddyFarms]

Corn? when it's about 1 foot tall.
Sunflowers will only come back if they are the multi-stalk variety (which most black oil sunflowers are in my experience).
Chervil is much preferred over regular parsley and is more persistent at coming back. Regular parsley is more finicky, but very good for bunnies.

Thanks for the tips! And I was wondering about planting BOSS to see how they would grow. Do they seem very prolific? I wonder how many I would need to grow...

 

[HTAcres]

Thanks- Trees and bushes are amazing sources of fodder. I just wish they grew faster!!! Thanks for mentioning the dry vs fresh example, too.

Willows are very fast growers for trees. They also respond well to the cutting. We microirrigate anything we want to grow here as it is so dry and windy. I buy my willows for $40 on spring sale at local nursery to give them a headstart. This is my first willow at 6 months growth - the trunk was about 1" diameter when planted (had to have supports) and I wasn't cutting it as I didn't have rabbits then.

Last year I bought Australian willows off Etsy. They were just sticks but sprouted and grew well. We just didn't get them in the ground - trying to do too much. Same with the moringa trees I sprouted from seeds. Planting here is a big deal and requires our back hoe for the hole needed for a tree which I cannot operate.

 

[MuddyFarms]

Willows are very fast growers for trees. They also respond well to the cutting. We microirrigate anything we want to grow here as it is so dry and windy. I buy my willows for $40 on spring sale at local nursery to give them a headstart. This is my first willow at 6 months growth - the trunk was about 1" diameter when planted (had to have supports) and I wasn't cutting it as I didn't have rabbits then.

Last year I bought Australian willows off Etsy. They were just sticks but sprouted and grew well. We just didn't get them in the ground - trying to do too much. Same with the moringa trees I sprouted from seeds. Planting here is a big deal and requires our back hoe for the hole needed for a tree which I cannot operate.

Very nice to see; thanks! Willow is definitely a very helpful one because of those factors. I have wild ones on the property, but I haven't planted any, so seeing growth via other's pictures is amazing.

 

[Albert]

What parts of the willow do you give to rabbits, is it just new growth and fresh leaves? Also, how much is enough or can you just free feed willow as much as they like?

Thanks

 

[MuddyFarms]

What parts of the willow do you give to rabbits, is it just new growth and fresh leaves? Also, how much is enough or can you just free feed willow as much as they like?

Thanks

They love to eat the entire young, thin branches growing that year with the leaves on them. The thicker, older branches have all the bark eaten off of them, and sometimes more when they are freshly cut and fed. I always faze it in if I haven't fed it in a while, but then my bushes can't keep up with how much the rabbits want to eat of it.