The Sustainable Dandelion Experiment
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- Опубліковано 6 кві 2023
- Dandelions are often viewed as nothing more than an invasive weed, but they are actually a nutritious and versatile plant with a long history of culinary and medicinal use. In fact, dandelions are a healthy addition to human diets and can also serve as a nutritious food source for livestock, like rabbits and chickens. During the summer, our property has an abundance of dandelion greens that we provide to our animals, but we wanted to see if we could expand that access to the full year.
We decided to collect dandelion seeds from mature plants on our property to see if we could grow our own supply of dandelion greens all year round. In this experiment, we collected about a cup of seeds and stored them in the fridge to preserve their quality. To start the seeds, we sprinkled them on top of a shallow layer of packed soil. After a few days, the seeds began to germinate, and tiny sprouts started to emerge.
However, we noticed that the shallow soil may have limited their growth, so we transplanted some of the seedlings to a smaller container with deeper soil. The dandelion seedlings shot up, providing us with fresh healthy greens for the chickens and rabbits. This is likely a feasible experiment for supplementing our rabbits fresh greens and provide the occasional fresh greens to the chickens. But we want to hear your thoughts.
Watch the full video to see the results!
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Dandelion greens are good for us also, They looked healthier and fresher than the ones that grow outside so in my opinion, your experiment is a success!
Agreed
Awesome I would try them on a 5 gallon bucket full of soil as any dandelion I ever dug up had a tap root of a foot long. You are very inventive and I am sure you can work this out .
Great tip!
👍🏻 That way you can pick the leaves and not pull the plant so it’s a perennial plant growing deep enough to winter over!
I would suggest using the shop vac To gather the seeds you can collect a large amount very quickly I have done this in the past in my yard to help eliminate the dandelions from overtaking my yard I don’t like using chemicals
That is an interesting idea… when I collected seeds in bulk all the fluffy stuff would form a mat and it was hard to get all the seeds out… but I guess it could be a worthwhile trade off.
What a cool idea! Thanks for the info. 😊
You have inspired me to collect some dandelion seed this summer. My laying hens will enjoy the winter greens.
Go for it!
I love this idea dandelions are so nutritious and the whole plant is edible I want to grow them for myself and my family as well as animals
Yes I was tempted to steal the sprouts for salad so many times, but that was not the experiment 😂
Cool to here to science behind the germination process.
It is interesting just how many different ways exists for this one part of the plant growth!
And to answer your question, do I think your effort was worth it? Definitely! I am excited to see whatever followup success you have again with growing dandelions and plantain, as well.
Mullein makes SO MANY SEEDS. I don't know what the germination rate is, but if you have one spire, you'll have enough seeds for the winter AND a spring seeding (and probably next winter also). For the dandelions, you could try making "pots" from cereal boxes, tall and narrow, easy to pull apart to harvest the taproots.
Also, if you're experimenting with weeds, why not cultivate some quackgrass as a cut and come again? You can get some cuttings of weeds started in the fall to bring in, or leave them out in the snow until you're ready for them to grow, then move them to the warmth. Chickweed supposedly loves nitrogen, so you might even get to bulk out the potting mix with unfinished chicken compost.
Also: lettuce, if you're not worried about type or maturity dates etc, could make good sprouts/shoots. Radish seeds are fairly easy to save if you let a couple go to seed.
From what I have read, chickens and rabbits cannot eat mullein. But yes they produce a lot of seed! Interesting idea about the chickweed! And our livestock love that plant, I will have to look into that.
nice! Love dandelions! and dandelion wine is also very good!
Yes it is!
I gather seeds in a damp paper towel. Just fold it over. It will take many pieces of paper towel but they'll dry to reuse.
I'm just chiming in to say that I LOVE this type of content and would love to see more videos cultivating and processing "weeds"
We will have a ton of videos like this coming very soon. Stay tuned!
Good idea... you are needing a greenhouse just for weeds. Chickweed and lambsquarter
Dead nettle grows in the cool/cold season here in middle TN. It grows throughout the winter and my rabbits and chickens enjoy it. I expect it would do great in a greenhouse or a cold frame. Also, beets have thrived outside here this winter with temps getting as low as -6F this year. Even the green tops look great. I'm going to grow a large crop of them this year to give my rabbits the greens and chop the roots for the goats.
Wow. I found you searching for a better chicken coop design, but just scrolling through a couple of your videos I'm so impressed! Great job on so many projects and ideas. You guys are brilliant. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for joining us Laura, welcome to the Wilderstead!
Hello Amanda . Since dandelions were originally introduced to North America by early settlers as a food crop I expect you will do very well with this project. A. T. B
Very true!
I’m doing this as well. Growing them indoors so I can attempt overwintering a supply for both human and rabbit use. I prefer growing my greens indoors.
And thank you for sharing your research. You probably saved me a great deal of my own attempts! Also trying red clover indoors this summer as well. Curly dock makes an interesting “pesto” base I’ve found. Trying the seeds for grain when it matures this year. I made flour from sorghum seeds and the dock resembles it. Should work. Thanks for the experimental info! Good to know I’m not the only one foolhardy enough to think along these lines!
Awesome!
Unlimited free seed is a win.
I agree!
Great idea 💡 THANKS
Yes useful. I have chickens and ducks. There could come a day real soon that store bought feed might not be a option. Either through cost or the financial system crashing
The more we can make ourselves the better!
Dandelions have very deep roots, like a few feet deep sometimes. I'd try this in a container at least 15 inches deep for rapid growth. Good luck with your experiments :)
I think that is a great thing to do. Maybe fewer seeds and deeper dirt will be the key. I grow a lot of weeds and fruit just to feed my animals. I feel like they get a better diet and better tasting eggs too.
Great video and info, thankyou!
Try purslane,with that and dandelion you have almost the perfect super food salad,but I think a 4x8 ,14" deep or a DG kiddie pool would grow massive amounts,I think I'd want them more for people food than chicken feed.
If the government gets their way, it will be illegal to own chickens
how very interesting..thank you for sharing!
Great experiment! Thank you for sharing this with us!
Thanks for watching!
I’m planning on harvesting dandelion seed this year for next year. My botany skills are not high enough for me to confidently identify them before flowering, and I’m told the greens are best before the plant flowers, so I want to make a dandelion garden so I can be sure of what I’m picking!
Good idea!
@@Wilderstead heck, once the sun comes back out, I might be able to harvest seed from the early dandelions and get it established this year!
Would definitely be a good plan to have a controlled bed growing!
Awesome idea for hens greens in the winter. How about a small mesh net to collect seeds.
That might work if it could be combined with an easy way to remove the fluffy white part from the seed. I found when I gathered a lot of seeds and tried to get that part off after, it all became one big fluff and I lost a lot of seeds.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this video.
Glad you enjoyed it
I havent tried growing them before but Im very interested if deeper soil does the trick. I have grown plantain before and have LOTS growing wild. The chickens LOVED them as well. If we can grow them over the winter months, that would be awesome! Great video as always!
Thanks! And we have tons of BLP growing wild here as well, that is why I figure I could probably get enough to have a good batch a seed to grow. Glad to hear that you have some experience!
Your experiment was well thought out! I am going to give it a try for our chickens. For deep growing conditions, if you have access to old, unusable honey bee 'supers' (boxes) they could prove valuable. With plywood bottoms and filled with soil, I bet they could be excellent growing trays for deep-rooted dandelions. Wish you were closer to us - I'd give you a dozen for free to try!
I tried to eat dandelion in a salad but it was a little bit too bitter for me. Dandelion flowers, on the other hand, are great to make wine of very early in the year. Dandelion wine is best to drink just as soon as it fully clears. Tastes and smells a little bit of honey. Ageing it doesn't do it any good. Unless you prefer more herbal and less honey-like taste.
Pretty interesting! I did not think of growing dandelions for my rabbit garden but I will get some seeds this summer for sure. I just planted plantain few weeks ago and they are growing. It is impressive the amount of seeds in one head. You should add the #livestockgarden ;)
Sounds great! Glad to hear about the plantain
I say it be ok. Do you give your chickens scraps? That was a big help for us
i thought i was the only one to save and sow dandelions seeds lol. i just do it becasue i love danelions, those flowers are superb, i like to make tea and when i can finally have some soil ill do it for cookies. keep up, i think that even uf u can grow them that much would be so well received by rabbits and chicks. maybe sow less density so they can deveop better and faster, can u tell us temperature and time to grow those sizes?
Have you tested Seesii chainsaw? When will you show it on youtube?
Love everything about Dandelions. I've been trying to find a source to purchase for myself to eat with no luck. If anyone knows, please let me know. Thank you.
I have not seen them for sale, sorry. It was actually kinda fun to go around and collect all those seeds.
Quite a few of the seed catalogs have them though they are expensive. Outside pride or Johnny's for example. Easier to collect with a dustbuster handheld vacuum in the yard.
Brilliant experiment!
Maybe you soil was too good. Usually the dandelions grow in compacted soil. And what if you let them go longer and harvest the outside leaves so they can continue to grow? If it’s just for supplemental feed, it might work?
That's a good idea, it is hard though to say if we often see them in compacted soil because prefer compacted soil or if they have a competitive advantage over other plants in that soil due to their tap root. I can do more compacted soil and going longer. It will be a balance between growth, space, and going to seed. They also won’t taste as good, but maybe that isn’t true for rabbits and chickens?
Well, how should I put this...There is no oxalic acid in danelions.
That would be great. I have searched everywhere and what I have read varies from low, medium, to even high levels. Can you provide me the sources you use, as I would love that information.
@@Wilderstead I will try, but this will need some time, cause I have to translate from german to english. Long story short: dandelion and oxalic acid producing plants are not in the same family. There is a small amount of oxalic acids in older dandelion plants, (mainly the dark leaves), but as you are going to feed the young leaves to yout livestock, this should not be a problem. Also, dandelion needs a fairly deep soil...öhh...bed? to grow well.
So what you’re saying is that there is oxalic acid in dandelions then? ‘Cause I thought you said there wasn’t.
@@Wilderstead Hey! My reply is gone!
It´ll take a second typing it again....