Is this plaintain?/guinea pig safe

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Tara95

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The apps are coming up with different things and there's lots of this around but don't want to Poison the pigs! Many thanks and happy foraging 💕received_513022699725770.jpeg16175374075617267256444111927905.webp
 
Its definitely not plantain- looks a bit like willow herb to me, I don't know if guineas can eat it though, so don't give it to them just in case. @teddymouse is the forage guru I expect she'll know?
 
There's not much plantain about at the moment, here's some I took photos of back along

Broad leaved plaintain
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Narrow leaved plaintain
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With flowers
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A closer pic of the flower on long stalks, they're usually more summery I think xx
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Mine enjoy the stickies too :D
With the cleavers/sticky buds you can dry them & give them later in the year, but try not to give them too many after they've come into flower (tiny white/green flower) as apparently the chemistry of the plant changes & makes them more acidic I think?
 
GPTV said:
There's not much plantain about at the moment, here's some I took photos of back along

Broad leaved plaintain
View attachment 172370

Narrow leaved plaintain
View attachment 172371

With flowers
View attachment 172372

A closer pic of the flower on long stalks, they're usually more summery I think xx
View attachment 172373

Mine enjoy the stickies too :D
With the cleavers/sticky buds you can dry them & give them later in the year, but try not to give them too many after they've come into flower (tiny white/green flower) as apparently the chemistry of the plant changes & makes them more acidic I think?
Click to expand...
Thank you very much 🥰 received_904150007106919.webp I initially I thought this was plantain and there was some very similar plants next to it but they all didn't look exactly the same. I thought I spotted a brown flower amongst it but then I realised it was an entirely different plant! Because it has no flowers I'm presuming it wasn't plantain.
We also found this plant and the app couldn't identify it! received_960989837771796.webp
 
The Google lens app works best when plants are isolated, or with no plants around it. Is the bottom plant prickly? it is quite hard to identify some without touching them. It looks a bit like ragwort or some kind the thistle?
Ragwort is very poisonous and is actually a “notifiable weed” which the council will treat if on roadside verges its very poisonous to horses, keep away or ware gloves if you touch it
Ragwort below
1617546865487.jpeg
No idea what the other is but not Plaintain, they have ribbed leaves
 
Bill & Ted said:
The Google lens app works best when plants are isolated, or with no plants around it. Is the bottom plant prickly? it is quite hard to identify some without touching them. It looks a bit like ragwort or some kind the thistle?
Ragwort is very poisonous and is actually a “notifiable weed” which the council will treat if on roadside verges its very poisonous to horses, keep away or ware gloves if you touch it
Ragwort below
View attachment 172377
No idea what the other is but not Plaintain, they have ribbed leaves
Click to expand...
Thank you it was actually very soft and
Curly reminded me of curly kale and there was only a small patch of it.will be careful x
 
Tara95 said:
Thank you it was actually very soft and
Curly reminded me of curly kale and there was only a small patch of it.will be careful x
Click to expand...
Then that may well be ragwort, it tends to have quite thick downy leaves, usually quite a dark green colour too, it flowers (yellow) later in summer
 
The plant in your first post looks like bugle and I don't think is suitable for eating. If it is bugle it will have spikes of blue flowers later on.
 
Tara95 said:
Thank you very much 🥰 View attachment 172375 I initially I thought this was plantain and there was some very similar plants next to it but they all didn't look exactly the same. I thought I spotted a brown flower amongst it but then I realised it was an entirely different plant! Because it has no flowers I'm presuming it wasn't plantain.
We also found this plant and the app couldn't identify it! View attachment 172376
Click to expand...
Ragwort. Bin it.
 
LollyJJ said:
This is a very useful thread, thank you @Tara95 - walking a lot at the mo, and foraging for the piggies is an added bonus! Google lens is really good, but I'm not sure I trust it on it's own- can't beat real nature knowledge from a real live ooman bean!
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Aww I'm glad you're enjoying foraging. I've really got into it recently even took a picnic yesterday when the sun was out mid forage! It's lovely when the sun's out and it takes you on some lovely walks you may not have gone on otherwise! Every area has a different species of plants! There's something really special and natural about getting free food for the pigs! Keep it up! Although it's snowing now,! I'll probably use yesterday's bag! Happy foraging 💕
 
Yes, it's been really enjoyable discovering what's on our doorstep. We are walkers and to think we always used to drive out to somewhere, it's great now we know our home area so much better. We discovered a great patch of wild garlic- of course not guinea pig friendly- but I have a bag of it and made pesto with it, roasted a chicken yesterday with a garlic butter made with it. Next will be soup, I think we need it today. We'll smell lovely too😆.
Must get the sticky grass for the piggies- we call that goose grass.
 
GPTV said:
There's not much plantain about at the moment, here's some I took photos of back along

Broad leaved plaintain
View attachment 172370

Narrow leaved plaintain
View attachment 172371

With flowers
View attachment 172372

A closer pic of the flower on long stalks, they're usually more summery I think xx
View attachment 172373

Mine enjoy the stickies too :D
With the cleavers/sticky buds you can dry them & give them later in the year, but try not to give them too many after they've come into flower (tiny white/green flower) as apparently the chemistry of the plant changes & makes them more acidic I think?
Click to expand...
I’ve got stacks of the ribwort plantain around here atm! Picked loads earlier (would’ve had more if it wasn’t for the snow getting me!), on the right there with some vetch and dandelions, teeny bit of sticky weed and avens which they haven’t tried yet, everything else is apparently blooming lovely! :drool:
6A7AB446-CF76-4DBE-BE13-6AE153112E8D.webp
Hope you enjoyed your picnic yesterday and the piggies enjoy their forage @Tara95 :D
 
alpacasqueak said:
I’ve got stacks of the ribwort plantain around here atm! Picked loads earlier (would’ve had more if it wasn’t for the snow getting me!), on the right there with some vetch and dandelions, teeny bit of sticky weed and avens which they haven’t tried yet, everything else is apparently blooming lovely! :drool:
View attachment 172411
Hope you enjoyed your picnic yesterday and the piggies enjoy their forage @Tara95 :D
Click to expand...
Thank you it was lovely to get a bit of sun and get outside! Shame about the snow but that looks delicious what lucky piggies you have! I collected so much grass and forage that there's barely enough room in the fridge! Glad you're enjoying foraging! Hopefully we get some nicer weather soon to keep up our foraging! How long have you been foraging for? :)
 
Tara95 said:
Thank you it was lovely to get a bit of sun and get outside! Shame about the snow but that looks delicious what lucky piggies you have! I collected so much grass and forage that there's barely enough room in the fridge! Glad you're enjoying foraging! Hopefully we get some nicer weather soon to keep up our foraging! How long have you been foraging for? :)
Click to expand...
I bet, it never lasts long! :)) Haha you’ll have to have a very green sandwich for lunch and join the pigs! :D Hope they’re all loving it! :drool:
Ive picked the usual grass and dandelions since I started keeping pigs again about 11 years ago but I chopped apple and pear branches and pick leaves for my chinchillas for years (first got about 12 years ago now!). Very new to this kind of foraging as always terrified I’ll poison them! 🙈 People on here have inspired me as my garden no longer has dog mess everywhere, I’ve got a huge shared garden but haven’t been able to use it for years, looks so nice and green atm might as well take advantage of it! Piggies very much enjoying so far! :D
 
alpacasqueak said:
I bet, it never lasts long! :)) Haha you’ll have to have a very green sandwich for lunch and join the pigs! :D Hope they’re all loving it! :drool:
Ive picked the usual grass and dandelions since I started keeping pigs again about 11 years ago but I chopped apple and pear branches and pick leaves for my chinchillas for years (first got about 12 years ago now!). Very new to this kind of foraging as always terrified I’ll poison them! 🙈 People on here have inspired me as my garden no longer has dog mess everywhere, I’ve got a huge shared garden but haven’t been able to use it for years, looks so nice and green atm might as well take advantage of it! Piggies very much enjoying so far! :D
Click to expand...
Glad your pigs are enjoying it! Mine love it especially the dandelion leaves! I'm very new to this type of foraging too. I've always got grass for them and the occasional dandelion if I could find it! But wasn't aware of everything else they could eat! I'm also terrified about poisoning them! But hopefully I'll get better at identifying the plants with experience! I'm terrible atm! 🤣🤣 Go for it I'll bet you'll find loads in the shared garden! :)
 
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