The veg/herb nightmare - Alternative...?

Sorry if this is a monster whinge, I will get to the point, I promise

After mentioning last week that I threw out a cauliflower because I found 3 little flies in it, I bought another one yesterday only to find 2 massive flies under the first leaf I pulled off.

I'm getting really hacked off now.

The only veg Molly is eating at the moment is broccoli because the cauliflowers are rank, as are the carrot tops, there's no kale, she won't eat rocket, spinach coriander, blah, blah, blah, and the veg shelves are bare! I even went to an Aldi yesterday but they had the same ****!!!!!!

She did shock me and OH last night though, by eating a bit of parsley She was a bit horrified though because after she ate it, she wouldn't even touch her broccoli! Silly moo!!!

They really like it when I make them a bowl of the following, but I don't know if it would be suitable for tea every night??
Readigrass (It's this that worries me!)
Green oat hay
Sprinkles of blackcurrant leaves
Sprinkles of plantain
Sprinkles of dandelion

No good?

Thanks

I don't see why that would be a problem - when I have readigrass in they get a handful every day, and some fresh noms. My pair do seem to have cast iron constitutions though, and will eat almost anything!

I dont see why not, their poo might go quite dark, but as long as its still a good size and theyre eating their hay.

Im having the same problem, although i would just wash the leaves thoroughly and feed them anyway. Marley and Dolly are getting a small amount of herbs/veg one night, and some readigrass and various sprinkles the next night because there just isnt much on the shelves and prices seem to have really gone up. Theyve been doing very well on this though

marleyNfriends wrote:I dont see why not, their poo might go quite dark, but as long as its still a good size and theyre eating their hay.

Im having the same problem, although i would just wash the leaves thoroughly and feed them anyway. Marley and Dolly are getting a small amount of herbs/veg one night, and some readigrass and various sprinkles the next night because there just isnt much on the shelves and prices seem to have really gone up. Theyve been doing very well on this though

Oh, food prices are a nightmare! A few years back we could get a week's shop for the 2 of us for £30, even £20 on a tight week. Now we struggle with £50, and we're not wasteful, we don't buy brands in general, and we look for offers. We don't buy booze, chocolate or biscuits or anything as a rule, and we don't smoke either.

[/rant]

Thank you, Ladies

marleyNfriends wrote:I dont see why not, their poo might go quite dark, but as long as its still a good size and theyre eating their hay.

Im having the same problem, although i would just wash the leaves thoroughly and feed them anyway. Marley and Dolly are getting a small amount of herbs/veg one night, and some readigrass and various sprinkles the next night because there just isnt much on the shelves and prices seem to have really gone up. Theyve been doing very well on this though

So it's not just here then! I don't understand it! The veg quality/variety wasn't this bad even in the dead of winter!

I'm leaving supermarkets in such a rage these days

The thing to remember is how wet, and then cold the whether has been. Farmers in the UK have been hit hard by the weather over the last year - just look at the problems with hay that people have had.

Nightmare.

Sue_pawz wrote:The thing to remember is how wet, and then cold the whether has been. Farmers in the UK have been hit hard by the weather over the last year - just look at the problems with hay that people have had.

Nightmare.

This. At the farm were running low on hay, and the quality of most of it is really poor, most of the horses are having to go onto haylage too. If we have any more wet weather, were going to run out of straw too, and the grazing in the fields is terrible. The poor horses have been stuck in their stables for months, and they arent even bothered about being out in the field as theres just nothing for them to eat. They stand at the gate after half an hour wanting to come back in. If that wasnt bad enough, their all in poor condition because of the selenium poisoning and everyone is having a real hard time feeding them all up.

Just goes to show how much we rely on the weather - Poor farmers have a real hard time!

I think that there are vitamins they will be getting from the veg Hun, that they need. I remember talking to JC about calcium in Daisy's wee so was thinking of cutting down in the greens - he quite clearly told me that they needed them!

Sue_pawz wrote:The thing to remember is how wet, and then cold the whether has been. Farmers in the UK have been hit hard by the weather over the last year - just look at the problems with hay that people have had.

Nightmare.

I understand your point totally but the dodgy stuff I've had has been from France. The cauliflowers were fine when they were coming from Spain

Katieb wrote:I think that there are vitamins they will be getting from the veg Hun, that they need. I remember talking to JC about calcium in Daisy's wee so was thinking of cutting down in the greens - he quite clearly told me that they needed them!

This is a fair point, Marley and Dolly will eat pretty much anything, so still get a good balance of everything. On the days they get veg, they will have some spinach, parsley, spring greens or cabbage with a bit of broccoli. If your buns are fussy beggars, you might have to find a fresh alternative that they will eat.

Katieb wrote:I think that there are vitamins they will be getting from the veg Hun, that they need. I remember talking to JC about calcium in Daisy's wee so was thinking of cutting down in the greens - he quite clearly told me that they needed them!

That did cross my mind too, Katie.

I'm going to have to hope, for now, that the broc is enough for her. Junior will eat just about anything so he's ok.

marleyNfriends wrote:

Katieb wrote:I think that there are vitamins they will be getting from the veg Hun, that they need. I remember talking to JC about calcium in Daisy's wee so was thinking of cutting down in the greens - he quite clearly told me that they needed them!

This is a fair point, Marley and Dolly will eat pretty much anything, so still get a good balance of everything. On the days they get veg, they will have some spinach, parsley, spring greens or cabbage with a bit of broccoli. If your buns are fussy beggars, you might have to find a fresh alternative that they will eat.

Finding something (other than broccoli) that Molly will eat is my problem

I advise you to persevere with the herbs. They will probably get a taste for them in the end. Don't forget you have lots of salad crops to choose from as well - rocket and chard are both ok. The readigrass would be no worse to feed daily than Kale which is also full of calcium.

You could try them on fresh potted herbs rather than cut ones - when Taffy was very poorly he would often eat them straight off the plant but turn his nose up at what was in the bowl.

Especially if you pretend she's not allowed them!

Have you tried romaine lettuce? Green peppers? BJ and Gabe like radish too.

I was going to suggest Romaine Lettuce - my pair love it! Green beans are Mojo's very favourite too!

I don't think feeding the Readigrass daily is a problem if it's not in huge amounts either. My two have a sprinkling of Readigrass on top of their night time hay every other day on the days they don't have veggies (I feed fresh veg and herbs every other day as Mojo is prone to a sticky bum), and that works fine.

I hope you find something to please the fussy Molly soon!

cheryl'n'bruce'flo wrote:I advise you to persevere with the herbs. They will probably get a taste for them in the end. Don't forget you have lots of salad crops to choose from as well - rocket and chard are both ok. The readigrass would be no worse to feed daily than Kale which is also full of calcium.

I'll keep trying. They don't get Kale every day, even when the supermarkets do have it

Sparky wrote:You could try them on fresh potted herbs rather than cut ones - when Taffy was very poorly he would often eat them straight off the plant but turn his nose up at what was in the bowl.

I'll give this a go too

Katieb wrote:Especially if you pretend she's not allowed them!

Haha! When she ate the bit of parsley yesterday I said to OH "DON'T LOOK PLEASED!"

Sixer wrote:Have you tried romaine lettuce? Green peppers? BJ and Gabe like radish too.

I haven't tried any of that. I really don't think she'll eat peppers (they're a bit pungent ) but I can try. Every time I look, they only have romaine hearts, are these ok?

My two eat the Romaine Hearts, Thumper

FluffSlave wrote:I was going to suggest Romaine Lettuce - my pair love it! Green beans are Mojo's very favourite too!

I don't think feeding the Readigrass daily is a problem if it's not in huge amounts either. My two have a sprinkling of Readigrass on top of their night time hay every other day on the days they don't have veggies (I feed fresh veg and herbs every other day as Mojo is prone to a sticky bum), and that works fine.

I hope you find something to please the fussy Molly soon!

Green beans! I forgot about them! They were suggested last time I asked for suggestions

FluffSlave wrote:My two eat the Romaine Hearts, Thumper

Thank you

Our farmers here are having a bad time of it as well. At least where I live has moved down from exceptional drought status to extreme. Our yard is growing dandelions anyway.

cheryl'n'bruce'flo wrote:I advise you to persevere with the herbs. They will probably get a taste for them in the end. Don't forget you have lots of salad crops to choose from as well - rocket and chard are both ok. The readigrass would be no worse to feed daily than Kale which is also full of calcium.

Nibbler used to be quite picky with his herbs, would pretty much only have parsley and corriander. Then a friend came round to visit him, she brought a load of herbs she had grew herself, ended up pretty much hand feeding him as she was in love him, he ate the lot and since then will eat any herb I give him maybe treating them like royalty and having someone come round to hand feed them will get them to try a few new things?

you could always grow some herbs in a window planter, then 'accidentally' leave it on the floor .... they may like them more if they think they are being naughty plus they can pick what they like


mine love mint and rosemary. they also go a bit loopy for lavender.