Drying weeds for later use...

[Terry Allan Hall]

One of our tort-moms told me that she dries weeds for winter use, and after thinkiing about this (and after having recently been given three bales of sow-thistle), I'm giving thought to drying some, as well.

Those who do this, do you feed the weeds dry, or do you re-soak 'em 1st? Mix 'em with other dried plant matter?

What, if any, changes are made to the food-value by drying?

Are some weeds/greens better candidates than others for this form of food-storage/preservation?

As always, thanks in advance for sharing your ideas...

 

[Paige Lewis]

I have actually just started drying some weeds for the winter, so far i have only dried out some dandelion leaves, i got the idea from a book 'naturalistic keeping and breeding of Hermanns tortoises' by Wolfgang Wegehaupt, its an excellent book and he dries out weeds for his tortoises as in the summer months in the wild they would not have the lush weeds that would be around in the spring due to the extreme heat. I myself am not so sure on exactly how the nutrition changes with drying weeds, the one thing i have read though is that the protein content of dried weeds is far higher than that of fresh weeds.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I have actually just started drying some weeds for the winter, so far i have only dried out some dandelion leaves, i got the idea from a book 'naturalistic keeping and breeding of Hermanns tortoises' by Wolfgang Wegehaupt, its an excellent book and he dries out weeds for his tortoises as in the summer months in the wild they would not have the lush weeds that would be around in the spring due to the extreme heat. I myself am not so sure on exactly how the nutrition changes with drying weeds, the one thing i have read though is that the protein content of dried weeds is far higher than that of fresh weeds.

Interesting info! Does he mention whether or not he feeds the weeds "as is" or re-hydrate 'em 1st?

Need to find me a copy of Wolfgang Wegehaupt's book, for that matter.

 

[Paige Lewis]

He feeds them completely dried out. The book is well worth getting and there are so many wonderful images in there, it is such a fascinating book, be careful that you get it in the language that you are after though as it is originally written in german, i got mine from amazon.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

He feeds them completely dried out. The book is well worth getting and there are so many wonderful images in there, it is such a fascinating book, be careful that you get it in the language that you are after though as it is originally written in german, i got mine from amazon.

Thanks!

Does he mention what weeds he feeds? Primarily whatever is native to Germany?

 

[Paige Lewis]

Agrimony, bellflower, bishop weed, burdock, burnet saxifrage, chamomile harrow, chickkweed, chicory, clivers, clover, coltsfooturse, columbine, common bindweed, common evening-primrose, common poppy, common fleabane, cornflower, creeping thistle, dandelion, deaf nettle, field bindweed, field mustard and so many more, that was just the first third of a list of some of the weeds that he feeds them, i wish i knew and could get hold of all those different kinds of weeds. He basicly just says that you should dry out any weeds that you would normally feed, he does mention that the vitamin content of dried weeds is very low but on the otherhand they are very fibreous.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Some people have also said they freeze them. I have not tried either. Unfortunately I don't have access to weeds so my tort gets lettuces and greens from the store.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Agrimony, bellflower, bishop weed, burdock, burnet saxifrage, chamomile harrow, chickkweed, chicory, clivers, clover, coltsfooturse, columbine, common bindweed, common evening-primrose, common poppy, common fleabane, cornflower, creeping thistle, dandelion, deaf nettle, field bindweed, field mustard and so many more, that was just the first third of a list of some of the weeds that he feeds them, i wish i knew and could get hold of all those different kinds of weeds. He basicly just says that you should dry out any weeds that you would normally feed, he does mention that the vitamin content of dried weeds is very low but on the otherhand they are very fibreous.

I've been getting seeds for various tort-tasty stuff to grow, both weeds and veggies, so as to have a fairly balanced diet for my torts year 'round...been trading cackle-fruits (from our hens) and mini goat/mini-pig manure to a friend who's an organic gardening fanatic, too.

Some people have also said they freeze them. I have not tried either. Unfortunately I don't have access to weeds so my tort gets lettuces and greens from the store.

I'm one of those who freeze, as I can only get away w/ using up a certain amount of room in our freezers, due to the fact that we humans have food in there, too...and there's a box of rats, that my wife tolerates, for my smaller snakes.

So the idea of drying weeds/greens mixtures that I can store in gall-sized Zip-locks and, just prior to feeding, mix w/ fresh veggies and fruit-juice-soaked Mazuri, is something I'm inclined to consider.