The Poultry Keeper

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7165 Location: isle of lewis

ok another funny question
what would you lot suggest for leaves ,not that bothered if it doesn't produce lots crops but some would be nice but leaves have to edible for goats
last year sweet corn was a success the goats love them Very Happy

,the plants Wink

stephen · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 4:48 pm Post subject:

What about spinach or swiss chard? Would they be suitable? They are incredibly easy to grow and create masses of leaves.

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7165 Location: isle of lewis

thinking about those ,mind you the children might eat it first they love chard with chips and fresh eggs ,take a chip put some chard around it and then dip it in an egg yolk
kales on the list

mcleod-girls · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:00 pm Post subject:

my friend's husband is so mad about chard we created a new religion called chardarian

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7165 Location: isle of lewis

the children love it the one thing they miss
in portsmouth we had 3 allotments 10 rods each all the veg we ate was ours ,and the fruit trees plums apples,loads of plums and pears ,here we have about the same left over for veg ,but trying to turn a neglectedsite of 30 years that has reverted back to peat moor with big clumps of grass into a garden is hard work ,we will not talk about the wind and ducks,which the oh pointed out could be helped by pigs Whistle

any other ideas Very Happy

debcat · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:58 pm Post subject:

at least pigs would plough up the clumps for you Rolling Eyes

it could be worse, you could be up here Wink

Clucky · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 2183 Location: Shropshire

I know very little about plants, but I do know that comfrey grows like mad and has good leaves and you can also use it as a liquid fertilizer and green manure too Very Happy

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7165 Location: isle of lewis

,thanks

CP · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:08 am Post subject:

Comfrey will grow, if you keep it away from the chickens! My plants are no more.... Rolling Eyes

Lisa · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 6:37 am Post subject:

What about leaf amaranth, aka callaloo? Leaves and seeds can be eaten. IIRC www.realseeds.co.uk had some last year that they said did well in the north, but I can't see it on their website this year (they don't have everything they grow every year).

Knobby · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 9:36 am Post subject:

How about sprouts......I grew them for the first time last year......terrible sprouts :-& but produced BIG leaves & lots of them !!

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7165 Location: isle of lewis

good idea

Itsybitsy · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 1359 Location: Leicestershire

I had a goat once (tethered) and she stretched and s t r e t c h e d until she finally reached my cold frame with a melon plant in it with one solitary melon, she then wolfed the lot Confused

How about marrowy or squashy types??? you may even get a bit of a crop for yourselves.

Itsybitsy

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7165 Location: isle of lewis

,we always grow a lot of those
didn't know that they would eat the plants though

Itsybitsy · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 1359 Location: Leicestershire

Well they're goats aren't they??????? eat anything Laughing

Didn't you read the James Herriot books, he got called out to a goat which was coughing & on investigation he found something white under it's tongue, as he started to pull it, it stretched and began to come out of the goats mouth, eventually he pulled out the wife's bloomers which had gone missing from the washing line.

Itsybitsy