Gardening for Rabbit Greens

[Adin]

I was wondering which of the following plants below would make excellent additions to my garden to grow greens for my rabbits in abundance. I would prefer things that grow more rapidly and abundantly.
Also suggestions on greenery to grow for them if not in the list would be awesome! I'm thinking of currently growing White clover, Asparagus, camomile, etc but input from others who have grown more than myself would be awesome!





RABBIT SAFE FRUIT-
(Feed very, very sparingly… Super sugary! Up to 2 tbsp daily) :
Apple (NO core or anything containing seeds, unless all seeds removed)
Apricots (NO PITS)
Banana (fruit and peel)
Blackberry (stem, leaf and fruit)
Blueberries
Carambola
Cherry (NO PITS)
Cranberry
Currant (black and red)
Cucumber
Grapes (fruit, leaf and vine are edible)
Huckleberry
Kiwi Fruit
Mango
Nectarine
Orange (NO PEEL- segments only)
Melon (all melons)
Papaya (NO SEEDS)
Peach (NO PITS)
Pear
Pineapple
Plum (NO PITS)
Raspberries (twigs, and leaves – astringent)
Rose hip
Starfruit
Strawberries (and leaves)
Tomato (red fruit ONLY; no stems or leaves)
Tangerine (NO PEEL – segments only)
Watermelon


RABBIT SAFE VEGETABLES-
Alfalfa Sprouts
Artichoke Leaves
Arugula
Asparagus
Baby Sweet Corns (like in stirfry)***
Beet Greens
Beetroot
Bell Peppers (green, yellow, red, orange…)
Bok Choy/Pak Choy
Carrot Greens (tops)
Carrot (limited amount, due to high sugar content)
Celeriac
Celery (cut into small pieces to limit choking on strings)
Cucumber
Chard
Chicory Greens (aka Italian Dandelion… see discussion here )
Clover (WHITE only)
Collard Greens (be cautious, may cause bladder sludge (high calcium)
Dandelion Greens (no pesticides)
Eggplant (purple fruit only; leaves toxic)
Endive
Escarole
Grass (if cut from your own chemical/fertilizer/poison free back yard-I spread it out and dry it)
Kale
Lettuce (Dark Green/Red Leaf, Butter, Boston, Bibb, or Romaine – NO ICEBERG [no
nutritional value, may cause diarrhea])
Mustard Spinach
Nappa/Chinese Cabbage
Okra Leaves
Pak Choy/Bok Choy
Pumpkin
Radicchio
Radish tops (Limited amounts: can cause gas)
Raspberry Leaves
Rhubarb (RED STALKS ONLY – POISONOUS LEAF)
Squash: Yellow, Butternut, Pumpkin, Zucchini
Swiss Chard
Turnip Greens
Watercress
Wheat Grass
Zucchini


SAFE IN MODERATION:
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Kale
Mustard Greens
Spinach

SAFE FOODS:
Agrimony
Alfalfa
Apple
Avens
Balm
Banana
Barley
Basil
Beetroot
Blackberry
Borage
Broccoli
Buckwheat
Burnet
Camomile
Caraway
Carrot
Celery
Celeriac
Chervil
Chicory
Chickweed
Chinese leaf
Cleavers
Clover, WHITE
Coltsfoot
Comfrey-I feed fresh young leaves and also dry for winter tonic, but most breeders say they feed it slighty wilted
Coriander
Corn marigold
Corn spurrey
Cow parsnip
Crosswort
Cucumber
Dandelion
Dead-Nettles
Dill
Dock BEFORE FLOWERING
Endive
Fat hen
Fennel
Goosefoot
Goosegrass
Goutweed BEFORE FLOWERING
Ground elder BEFORE FLOWERING
Hawkbit
Hawkweed
Heather
Hedge parsley
Horseradish
Jerusalem artichoke
Knapweed
Knotgrass
Kohlrabi
Lavender
Lovage
Mallow
Marjoram
Mayweed
Maywort
Meadowsweet
Melon
Milk thistle
Mugwort
Nipplewort
Oats
Orache
Oxeye daisy
Parsley
Parsnip
Peas
Pear
Peppermint
Pigweed
Plantain
Pumpkin
Purslane
Radish GREENS
Raspberry
Sage
Savory
Sanfoin
Shepherd’s purse
Silverweed
Sow thistle
Soya
Strawberry
Swiss Chard
Tare
Tomatoes(fruit only leaves and stocks toxic!)
Trefoil
Vetch
Vine leaves
Watercress
Watermelon
Wheat
Yarrow


SAFE TREE AND SHRUB LEAVES-Should always feed only fresh young leaves:
Acacia
Apple
Beech
Birch
Blackberry
Cherry
Hazel
Horse Chestnut
Lime
Mountain Ash
Mulberry
Pear
Poplar (not black)
Raspberry
Strawberry
SAFE TWIGS-
Apple
Birch
Blackberry
Fir
Hazel
Hawthorn
Maple
Pear
Raspberry
Spruce
Willow


SAFE FLOWERS-
Aster
Carnation
Daisy
Geranium
Geum
Helenium
Hollyhock
Honesty
Marguerite
Marigold
Michaelmas daisy
Nasturtium
Rose
Stock
Sunflower


SAFE HERBS-
Basil: Lemon, Globe, Thai, Mammoth, Sweet, Genevieve
Borage
Camomile
Caraway
Clover
Chervil
Comfrey
Coriander/Cilantro
Dill: Fernleaf, Mammoth
Fennel
Garden Cress
Groundsel
Lavender (Not for pregnant does; can cause fetal expulsion)
Lemon Balm
Lovage
Marjoram
Mint: Pineapple sage, pineapple mint, apple mint, orange mint, peppermint, lemon thyme, cinnamon basil, lime basil, lemon basil, sweet basil, licorice basil, “licorice mint” (anise hyssop), spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint, and basil mint.
Oregano
Peppermint
Parsley: Curly and Flat-Leaf
Rosemary
Sage: Pineapple is quite good
Salad Burnet / Small Burnet
Summer Savory
Tarragon
Thyme


Thanks in advance!

[Rhasputin]

I am growing dandelions and chickory for my guinea pigs this year. Because they literally grow like weeds. Parsley is also a good, cheap, easy to grow option, and wheat grass is also SUPER easy.

[bcr229]

My thumb tends to be more brown than green so take this for what it's worth...

Berries like raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, etc: are easily grown perennials, but obviously are not available over the winter. I have raspberries and they're easy to grow - in fact, containing them is a bigger problem.

Perennial herbs can be grown outside in the garden or in pots so you can maintain them year-round. I have lavender and sage in my garden and they're pretty bullet proof; the sage in particular is a spectactular grower and I prune it almost down to the ground every fall to keep it from taking over.

Given you're in CO any tropical fruit like banana or citrus is probably a no-go, unless you get a dwarf tree in a pot and keep it inside during the colder weather.

I do have an asparagus bed, it took two years to really start producing enough to pick.

I've never tried to do lettuce, kale, spinach, etc. in a pot but it shouldn't be too difficult to maintain a plant or three for year-round greens.

[Daigga]

I love bell peppers for all my small mammals. My rats and mice enjoy them now that I'm raising them as feeders, the rabbit I had loved the heck out of some bell peppers and apples when he got them, and a friend of mine is known to sometimes give her guinea pigs a whole bell pepper each instead of the pellet diet on some days. My grandfather grows these and other peppers, though down here in Texas the heat is very able to kill them off if you aren't careful about management. I think he used to raise them when he lived in michigan, but I'm not totally sure.

I don't quite have the green thumb, so I give my advice with a grain of salt