7 day diet plan / Weeds

[janeL]

It can be tough when you first start with the weed id, but if you try and learn one new one a week you will be amazed!! That's what I did and now you have the tortoise table website to help!!! If you are not sure you can always post pics of your collection on here too!!

[Pennymeister]

I bought the flower seed packet off Shelled Warriors and put it in a pot in the conservatory. Now I know that whatever I pick from it will be good for her and it's going mad at the moment! I have pansies, petunias and fuschia in the garden anyway, so she gets some leaves off that too.

Dandelions and plantain I find the easiest in the wild. Plantain is everywhere and has ribbed leaves, so it's easy to spot. I also just let her loose on the lawn to get clover and grass.

Tortoisetable is a great site for ideas!

I seem to remember reading buttercups were poisonous?

I like giving her strawberry because it gets all over her face It's fun to watch her attack cherry tomatoes too!

[Steph37]

I was just writing a list of what mine eat and lost it. Also I was saying that you will get to know which weeds grow where and when. I tend to find my best weeds at the side of dual carriageways as they are unmown and left to grow wild. This year I have accidentally on purpose managed to pull up a few plants by the roots and replant them into pots then take cuttings to put straight into each tortoise pen outside so they can be self sufficient! Mallow strikes really easily (and takes forever to grow from seed) even if you pull off a stem and plant it (with no roots) it'll die, but leave it and in a matter of days you will see new growth. All mine love mallow leaves and flowers but specifically at this time of year-I am wondering if the leaves taste as sweet as the flowers maybe at the moment. Amongst their other favourites are dandelion, vetch (I have a Hermanns males who will kill for vetch!), all the different clovers, pansies, thistles (the last three are favoured by some but a last resort for others!) I have grown borage and evening primrose but they dont really like this. All like landcress, including the flowers, hibiscus, rose petals, cornflower, nipplewort, campanula etc. They all have Borage in their gardens but none of the individuals or species like them (they are just coming into flower-maybe they will like them) also none like Jack by the hedge (he sounds dodgy anyway!!!). I have quite enjoyed learning about weeds-I knew nothing this time last year and just fed the basic dandelion, plantain etc but having decided they are all going as close to 100% weeds as possible I've learned more, thanks in great part to the section of tortoise table you've been directed to. You'll be surprised how qickly you'll learn-in fact I was texting photos to my mum even this spring and now I'm pretty certain. I have something here at the moment that looks like a type of vetch but which I think I need to idetify a bit closer before I feed it. Mine dont like the long thin leaved plantain, but do like the round garden ones which are just starting to grow. I wash mine and keep it sealed in the fridge and it will last up to a fortnight. Used to keep it unwashed and in bags until I found a slug in the fridge! Steph

[shelmarie]

i downloaded some of the pictures from the shelled warriors site and put them on my memory card for my phone. Now all i do is take my mobile out with me and try to identify them that way.

[Dag^Jase]

Thanks Shells