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Forum DIET & CARE growing food?

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    • pitbullsNbuns
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         Anyone here grow veggies for their rabbits ?  Im going to plant parsley but was wondering about veggies ? It would save a little on buying from the store,plus we can eat it too .

         

         

        Also,sorry if this dosent belong here but I couldnt find any where else for it to go .


      • tobyluv
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          I grow parsley, cilantro, kale, a variety of lettuces, dandelion greens, carrot tops, mint, lemon balm and basil for my bunnies. All of those can be grown in containers if you don’t have garden space in the ground.


        • bunnyfriend
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            Mixed lettuce! Also, spinach, carrots, herbs, wheat grass. And I’m sure there’s lots more I can’t think of at the moment.


          • mocha200
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              I grow lots of veggies every year! This year I am going to be planting some veggies in pots.


            • pitbullsNbuns
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                Okay,thanks everyone ! I also bought carrots and radish seeds . The plants that can go in containers would be easier,so I think i will do a few of those.


              • pitbullsNbuns
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                  the only problem is keeping the cats out of the pots/garden ! ):


                • Elrohwen
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                    I finally have my own garden space this year so I’ve graduated from growing in pots to growing in raised beds. For bunny friendly foods I have lots of lettuce, parsley, and basil which I’m very excited about. I’ve tried starting lettuce from seed in the past and it worked ok. This time I’m trying a mix of seed and transplants from the garden center which is working well. My store sells four packs of plants for $1.39, so it’s pretty cheap to pick up a bunch of lettuce or parsley and just throw it in the ground.


                  • Stickerbunny
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                      I want to grow some stuff for them, but I am so horrible with plants, I couldn’t even get wheat grass to grow :s


                    • LoveChaCha
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                        I currently have 3 pots of ‘salad bowl greens’ growing for Chacha. It is wonderful green leaf like lettuce that she enjoys. It takes me a month to grow, and 2 seconds for her to eat, lol.

                        I’m also doing the usual wheat grass, parsley, and some arugula.


                      • Eepster
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                          We grow lots of dandelions, and some clover in the yard. Porky gets the petals from the roses when they start finishing up too. I have several pots of basil growing. (I was making pasta, and fresh basil was $4.99 a bunch, but the potted plants were $1.99.)


                        • Kokaneeandkahlua
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                            I’m trying a garden again this year -I’m not much of a gardener and most attempts have ended sadly lol

                            I’m going to plant lettuces, carrots, nasturtium, kale, parsley, mint and basil. For prettiness, sunflowers and for us(but not bunnies), corn and potatoes.
                            I’m trying from seed so this likely will be futile. I’ve had success buying the plants and growing them-nasturtium and herbs were a cinch. Roses are also edible and pretty but I would grow from seed for those, as most roses are treated with pesticides.
                            The lawn itself is helping out with lots of dandelions and the buns have been enjoying them so far


                          • Elrohwen
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                              K&K, you’re far enough north that your growing season is probably too short for a lot of direct seeded stuff, but stuff like lettuce and kale will keep growing well into the cool months. Good luck!


                            • Rexxar
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                                I’ve got lots of herbs growing in pots. Rosemary, cilantro, chives, basil, sage, parsley, thyme. The buns do let me have some for cooking occasionally 


                              • wendyzski
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                                  I’m in Chicago and do some pretty extensive container gardening on a 3rd floor south-facing deck. 

                                  I do a variety of lettuces and mixed mesclun greens as well as some carrots and herbs (mints, basil, lemon balm, sage, thyme).  This year I’ve got some calendula and lemon verbena and am trying sugar snap peas (for the second time, because I think I figured out what I did wrong the last time.

                                   Rabbit poop makes awesome fertilizer 


                                   

                                   


                                • Pandorachik
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                                    A really neat treat to grow are roses! Dried rose leaves are basically candy to Pablo! He loves them!


                                  • Pandorachik
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                                      my local green centre sells packs of seed for 10 cents!!!


                                    • Pandorachik
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                                        Grrr… I meant my local GARDEN CENTER. My stupid macbook.
                                        NUFF SAID xD


                                      • kmes
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                                          We have a pretty decent herb/vegetable garden and just an assortment of plants on out property.

                                          My herbs are coming along nicely. I have Parsely, Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Mint, and oregano.
                                          As for veggies, this year we planted several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, carrots, lettuces, mesclun, zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, Garden Peas, Sugar Snap Peas, String Beans, and probably a few things I’m forgetting.

                                          We also have grape vines, blackberry bushes, blueberry bushes, and roses!

                                          Of course we really plant for ourselves but we certainly share withour furry companions!


                                        • RexEnabler
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                                            I have a garden my bunny thoroughly approves of in my front postage-stamp sized yard–rose bushes, apple trees (my bunny nearly fainted from happiness when I pruned the main apple tree this winter and brought the branches inside to cut into bunny-sized chew sticks for him), borage (which tends to be demolished by the wild rabbits in the area), and basil. On my back patio are pots of oregano, thyme, edible nasturtium (for me), and lemon balm. All of the items on the patio reseeded themselves in the mild winter this year and are growing like mad. Luckily, I have my little furry house-guest to help eat them and to contribute to everything’s growth with his droppings.


                                          • Sam and Lady's Human
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                                              I am really really bad at gardening, but we just bought a house on an acre so I plan on growing vegis and fruit! Does anyone have any tips/ websites/ book recs on simple gardening?


                                            • Elrohwen
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                                                S&L, where do you live? Finding your zone will be helpful. I’m in zone 6 and I just transplanted summer veggies a couple weeks ago, so it’s not too late to get tomatoes and peppers in the ground if you get some plants at a garden center. You can also directly sow seeds of cooler weather veggies in July or August – things like broccoli will mature in the cooler fall weather. Lettuce, spinach, and kale also like the fall. Herbs are usually easy to grow in pots which is also an easy way to start. Last year I did some tomatoes in large pots (5 gallon buckets work) and they were super easy.

                                                I have a book called “Burpee: The Complete Vegetable and Herb Gardener” and I like it. It has basic tips, plus sections on each type of plant and what it needs. I’ve heard good thing about the Square Foot Gardening books too and might get the newest one.

                                                The two basic types of veg gardening are in rows or in raised beds. I like the raised bed method because there’s less weeding and general work I think. The square foot gardening idea is to plant as much as possible in a raised bed. You can buy raised bed kits, or just buy some boards and put it together yourself – we did two 4’x8′ beds with 1″x8″ cedar boards. Just don’t make your beds wider than 3-4ft so you can reach the middle.

                                                Gardenweb.com has a great gardening forum and lots of info.


                                              • Sam and Lady's Human
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                                                  Were moving in July / August, but it’s a zone 7-8 according to the USDA map?

                                                  I lurk on gardenweb hah! It’s intimidating. How do I know if I need fertilizers or mulch? Or how to prune stuff? Do I have to ” feed” plants? Water them? Is all that in that book?


                                                • Sarita
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                                                    Does the book have the new zones?  They have recently changed…here’s a link:

                                                    http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2012/120125.htm

                                                     The article is very interesting on the reasons for the zone change and if you click the 2012 in the purple it takes you to an interactive zone map…very neat stuff!


                                                  • Elrohwen
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                                                      S&L, I’m new to gardening in the ground, so I’m taking a less is more approach for my first year. I’m using only bunny fertilizer – I dump their litter box out in a compost pile all year. For making my raised beds, I mixed the native soil with about the same amount of composted bunny litter (I took the stuff at the bottom of the pile that was mostly broken down) and added some topsoil from the store since I didn’t quite have enough soil in there. Next year, I plan to just add more compost and mix it up. Bunny fertilizer is relatively complete and because it breaks down slowly, you don’t need to worry about feeding schedules if you add more each year.

                                                      I use the stuff on the top of the pile, which isn’t broken down much (so lots of hay, poos, and wood stove pellets), and mulch around the plants. The hay helps keep in moisture and keep out weeds, while the poos act like little time release fertilizer pellets. Unlike most manures, rabbit poo doesn’t need to be broken down before you can add it to a garden, so I use it with all of my houseplants and container plants too. I find having a couple buns makes the gardening thing a lot easier! I’ve had almost dead house plants come back to life after adding in a little bunny fertilizer. Haha

                                                      For watering, if you’re using containers it needs to be watered every day or so unless it rains – they dry out fast (I mulch tomatoes and things in containers and I think it helps keep in moisture). For outdoors, you don’t need to water much at all unless you live in a really dry climate. The soil should be moist 4-6″ under the surface and as long as it is, you don’t need to water. Overwatering can lead to plans with shallow roots that are dependent on always being watered – as long as the soil is moist they’ll grow roots deep enough. When you do water, give it a nice good soak to get the soil moist under the surface.

                                                      Generally veggies don’t need to be pruned like perennials do. There are some techniques for trellising or pruning certain veggie plants, but it’s not necessary to get started. For example, lots of people remove unnecessary branches from tomato plants so the plant doesn’t put effort into growing foliage instead of fruit. If you just want to grow some tomatoes, it won’t matter if you prune those suckers off or not – you’ll still get tomatoes, just maybe not as many or as large as a more experienced gardener. I put two tomato plants in big pots with cages last year and literally did nothing but water them and they turned out awesome.

                                                      The book I recommended talks about all of this stuff, including pests and how to lay out your garden. The hardest thing for me, being new to this, is figuring out how to plant in succession so I always have stuff growing. For this year I decided to just get some stuff in the ground and worry about succession planting and starting indoors from seed another year. Starting seeds indoors takes more equipment and planning to get the dates right, but it’s not something you need to do right away if you have a good garden center with seedlings.


                                                    • Sam and Lady's Human
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                                                        Ooh cool! I’ll get the book
                                                        For the bunny poop, do you just dump the whole litter in the compost or scoop out the poops?


                                                      • Elrohwen
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                                                          Posted By Sarita on 05/24/2012 08:36 AM

                                                          Does the book have the new zones?  They have recently changed…here’s a link:

                                                          http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2012/120125.htm

                                                           The article is very interesting on the reasons for the zone change and if you click the 2012 in the purple it takes you to an interactive zone map…very neat stuff!

                                                          I don’t completely remember, but I don’t think the book actually has a zone map – I think it tell you to look online or something. It’s definitely not super specific about your zone, though it’s generally geared towards more temperate climates over super warm or dry.


                                                        • Elrohwen
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                                                            I dump in everything – the paper towel lining the box, the wood stove pellets, and the hay all go in. The mix of different elements makes good compost – I’ve only read a little on composting, but you basically need things that break down slowly, like the WSP, and those that are quicker, like the poo, to make the perfect mix. I also add some veggie scraps from the house, but they break down much more slowly so while I was putting in compost I ended up with some random pieces of pepper and corn husks. lol I figure they’ll break down eventually.

                                                            It’s super easy! After living in the house for a year we have a huge pile, about half of which is mostly broken down into dark black compost, and half which is still pretty whole and makes good mulch. You can mix it into your soil at any stage really, it’s just a little easier when it’s more broken down. When we lived in an apartment I’d just take whatever was in their litter boxes that week and throw it in with potting soil to plant stuff.

                                                            I’ve heard really good things about the Square Foot Gardening book – it teaches you a specific way to grow large quantities of food in small raised beds. The method sounds a bit specific to me, but I’d like to get the book to improve how I plant things and what things I plant together. I have at least learned to put low plants in with tall, so I have some herbs and lettuce growing in with the tomatoes which will eventually get nice and tall, but that’s as specific as I got. Everything else I kind of threw in the ground at random, trying to stick with the recommended spacing (spacing for row planting vs bed planting is very different and I find it confusing, so I’m using trial and error)


                                                          • pitbullsNbuns
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                                                              Posted By Pandorachik on 05/18/2012 08:25 AM

                                                              A really neat treat to grow are roses! Dried rose leaves are basically candy to Pablo! He loves them!

                                                               I didnt know that,I have a few rose bushes in the yard,perfect !

                                                               

                                                              Also,sorry that I havent got to reply to everyone. I have been very busy !


                                                            • pitbullsNbuns
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                                                                Thanks to everyone for all the info ! I have almost everything planted and im going back for more seeds this weekend. Our neighbor has 2 huge gardens every year and he sends us a lot of lettuce so I don’t have to plant that(thankfully!)


                                                              • Elrohwen
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                                                                  My lettuce isn’t doing well at all 🙁 Too bad for bunnies!

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                                                              Forum DIET & CARE growing food?