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Dried Dandelions

Swissgreys

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Today DD2 came home from school very excited.
Apparently she walked home a different way, and went past a field that was 'absolutely bursting with huge dandelions'.
Of course she wanted to pick a few for the piggies, so set off with the collecting bag and some scissors.
And she came home with this!
IMG_8050.jpg
And yes they are dandelions in a cat litter tray.
We use the tray as our 'foraging box' and whenever bring home anything we have foraged we rinse it and put it in this box for a few hours to allow any creepy crawlies a chance to 'disembark'.

Clearly this is way too many dandelions to feed, so normally I would lay them out in the sun to dry and be fed another day.
But is it September.
In Switzerland.
And there isn't a lot of sun going on here right now.
Plus Winter is coming and it seems such a waster to throw away beautiful, fresh dandelions, when in a month or two everything green will be covered in snow.
So I dried them in the oven.
I wasn't sure it would work, but I laid them out on several paper lined baking trays, cooked them at 60 degrees in a fan assisted oven for 1.5 hours (with a short break in the middle while I cooked human food) and they came out green and crisp and totally delicious (according to the piggies).
Tonight they had one crisp dandelion each, and I haven't seen them wheek for more food like this in ages.
IMG_8056.jpg

Tomorrow we will all be making a trip to 'Dandelion Meadow' to stock up for Winter.
I would love to hear if anyone else collects forage for their piggies, and what their favorites are.
In addition to the dandelion leaves we are also drying lots of hazel branches (complete with leaves), and I also dried some blackberry leaves back in the Summer (although these are almost all gone now).
 
WOW! I want to give it a try! but my oven is not ventilated... who knows if it works as well? I would like to dry even some grass (I am not sure if a good grass is available in winter, too).
Actually we still have sun but it takes long days for a crispy result, I guess... and I am not sure grass and dandelion would keep their colour as yours.
 
WOW! I want to give it a try! but my oven is not ventilated... who knows if it works as well? I would like to dry even some grass (I am not sure if a good grass is available in winter, too).
Actually we still have sun but it takes long days for a crispy result, I guess... and I am not sure grass and dandelion would keep their colour as yours.
I was also thinking I would like to try drying grass.
But at the rate that my 4 eat fresh grass I would need to keep my oven running day and night for a month to dry enough to last them one week!
For now I think they will have to eat hay in the winter (and already I drive to Austria to buy their favourite hay), but if I can add some special bits that I have dried myself this might help the Winter to pass more quickly?
 
Ours absolutely love hawthorne and willow, I also collect hazel and birch leaves for them! Theres a nature walk at the end of our road which is a great spot to collect from trees, unfortunately the dogs dont get cleared up after as much as they should be so I dont bother with the lovely long grass.. Most of my forage is bought ready dried now though because I dont go out that much.
 
Well the next time I go through the woods, I will be collecting a load of hazel leaves and drying them in the oven! I didn't know that piggies could have hawthorne. There is a hawthorne tree down the path near my house. I'll have to try some of those leaves too. Also I have been waiting for what I'm pretty sure is a beech tree to grow it's cobs (should be anytime soon) and then I'll have some of those leaves too.
 
I have a dehydrator (I have a small dehydrated dog treat business - not just for me :D) and LOVE drying forage for the pigs!

We like to grow runner beans in the garden for us and the pigs. As they go over we pick all the leaves from the plants and dehydrate them, forage that goes on and on over the winter months :)). Nothing goes to waste :nod:.
 
What a brilliant idea. I never thought of drying forage! I know what I'm doing this weekend if the weather permits! Also didn't know they could eat hawthorn. There's a hawthorn at the end of my street. I'm not sure about identifying other trees, but I live right next to a nature park, so there are loads of trees there. I don't use grass or dandelions from there as there are loads of foxes and everyone walks their dogs in the park, but trees.......
 
What does milk thistle look like? Sorry, should have looked it up. I have now (this is an edit)...just regular Scottish thistle! Excellent. My garden is full of them (I don't do nearly enough weeding. lol
 
Today DD2 came home from school very excited.
Apparently she walked home a different way, and went past a field that was 'absolutely bursting with huge dandelions'.
Of course she wanted to pick a few for the piggies, so set off with the collecting bag and some scissors.
And she came home with this!
View attachment 70715
And yes they are dandelions in a cat litter tray.
We use the tray as our 'foraging box' and whenever bring home anything we have foraged we rinse it and put it in this box for a few hours to allow any creepy crawlies a chance to 'disembark'.

Clearly this is way too many dandelions to feed, so normally I would lay them out in the sun to dry and be fed another day.
But is it September.
In Switzerland.
And there isn't a lot of sun going on here right now.
Plus Winter is coming and it seems such a waster to throw away beautiful, fresh dandelions, when in a month or two everything green will be covered in snow.
So I dried them in the oven.
I wasn't sure it would work, but I laid them out on several paper lined baking trays, cooked them at 60 degrees in a fan assisted oven for 1.5 hours (with a short break in the middle while I cooked human food) and they came out green and crisp and totally delicious (according to the piggies).
Tonight they had one crisp dandelion each, and I haven't seen them wheek for more food like this in ages.
View attachment 70716

Tomorrow we will all be making a trip to 'Dandelion Meadow' to stock up for Winter.
I would love to hear if anyone else collects forage for their piggies, and what their favorites are.
In addition to the dandelion leaves we are also drying lots of hazel branches (complete with leaves), and I also dried some blackberry leaves back in the Summer (although these are almost all gone now).
 
Hubby and I collect fresh grass, dandelions, clover, shepherds purse, chickweed every morning until it gets too cold. Occasionally they'll eat cleavers or raspberry or strawberry leaves. Seemingly they'll eat these for their medicinal properties!
 
Hubby and I collect fresh grass, dandelions, clover, shepherds purse, chickweed every morning until it gets too cold. Occasionally they'll eat cleavers or raspberry or strawberry leaves. Seemingly they'll eat these for their medicinal properties!
Mine love strawberry leaves - which is handy, as the birds took all the strawberries, so at least I'm getting some use out of them :lol!:
 
I deliberately don't do enough weeding. We have cultivated weed patches. :))
Hard to described milk thistle, the best leaves are the young ones when the ends are rounded. The vet told me they are very good for the piggys as they cleanse the liver. Best to look up a picture really to be sure not to pick the wrong thing.
 
I deliberately don't do enough weeding. We have cultivated weed patches. :))
Hard to described milk thistle, the best leaves are the young ones when the ends are rounded. The vet told me they are very good for the piggys as they cleanse the liver. Best to look up a picture really to be sure not to pick the wrong thing.
Yes thanks, I had a look. It just looks like a normal thistle to me. Whatever it is, I've loads of the stuff, just didn't think the piggies could eat it because it can be a bit jaggy, but drying it would obviously sort that out.
 
I'm going to get lots of nettle leaves and dry them for the winter. Also there are LOADS of bramble leaves near me so I could do the same with them.
 
I'm going to get lots of nettle leaves and dry them for the winter. Also there are LOADS of bramble leaves near me so I could do the same with them.
I intended to do that this afternoon, then it poured. The piggies were out on the grass, so I had to run out with the tarpaulin, as the cover for their run is only just showerproof.
 
I put my lot back on the hutch at lunchtime and put the hutch hugger down so I didn't need to worry.
 
Mine love strawberry leaves - which is handy, as the birds took all the strawberries, so at least I'm getting some use out of them :lol!:

I didn't know they could eat strawberry leaves.
Our plants gave up their last berries this week and were heading for the compost bin, but I think I will remove some leaves first.
Thanks for the tip :yahoo:
 
I just forage in my garden, which is extremely (as a gardener I'd say too) efficient at producing weeds that my two like. Especially dandelions, clover, wild strawberries, brambles and nettles. I had some really massive dandelion leaves this year, but by the time they get really big they look pretty manky - not that that matters, there's plenty of nice small tender ones for the piggies still. Mostly I feed the plants to them fresh, but I have made my own 'readigrass' by picking grass and drying it in the sun, I also dried a small bag of dandelions a couple of weeks ago.
Last weekend I left a few dandelion leaves on the windowsill in the piggies room, where they dried and I gave them to the pigs a couple of days later.

Does it matter if grass etc is only air-dried for a couple of days like I've been doing it? Any thoughts? Does it keep longer if it has been completely dried out in the oven, could there be risks to not drying it so much?
 
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