Growing Dandelion Greens For Squirrels. Oh my!

[CrazySquirrelLady]

Never in my whole life thought I would be GROWING dandelions on purpose. :rofl4.

My kids love dandelion greens and I am running short of wild ones as they have been under snow and such.

Then my thoughts turned to my EMPTY greenhouse.

Hmmm. I am going to start up a batch of dandelion greens in there. Hope i don't regret this later.

Now the question is this: Seed catalog has 2 varieties of Dandelion greens for sale for salad... (seeds). Should I buy the

Italiko Rossa: 65 days, A colorful twist on this super performing green. Deep, maroon-red stems set off the forest green leaves for a spicy, delightful addition to your mixed green plants. Upright heads keep the 10-12 inch leaves nice and clean.


OR.....

Castlaogna Frastagliata: 65 days This famous variety is presented here in its most refined form. The leaves are bright green, long and very frilled, but have a desirably less promininent stalk than more common varieties. The plants are erect, 12 inches tall, and form very heavy branches. Enjoy this delectable Mediterranean flavor in your own garden salad.


oh my! hope the italian dandelions don't take over! eeek!

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

I say stick with the green ones. What if the maroon ones taste funny to them?

[Fireweed]

Omg, that's a great idea. I'd try both. :D And then when the wild ones go to seed in your yard, collect the seeds from those and spread in greenhouse dirt for the wild variety, too.

I'm gonna do this in my empty greenhouse, too. :thumbsup Thanks for the idea--can't believe I didn't think of this last summer when we drove several times 45 mins away to collect dandelions just so the wild squirrels in our yard would have a special treat! :rotfl (Very, very few dandelions around here for some odd reason :dono).

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

Wouldn't our stuffy 'ol neighbor fill his britches if he knew I was considering growing dandelions on purpose. He has to have his yard treated every year for dandelions and is very put-upon cuz none of the rest of us care about 'em. If I decide to grown some inside I'll be sure to sprinkle a few seeds in his yard, just for good measure. This is the guy that puts out poison peanuts for the moles and just happens to hate squirrels.

We need an emoticon that is holding up the middle finger for when we talk about our mean neighbors.

[kastillo]

I looked up images for both and the castalogna looks more like what grows in the yard! LOL, I tried looking up specific nutritional values for both, but haven't found them yet.
I've got tons of dandelion type flowers, different species, etc. growing in my yard , but haven't tried giving any to the squirrels for fear of giving them the wrong thing. I went to pick several different types of leaves,, and will take pictures and start a new thread later. I just don't want to be giving my babies something poisonous, and all the dandelion type leaves seem to produce a milky substance out of the leaves when I pick them.
Sorry for rambling....:thankyou

[CrazySquirrelLady]

Mine would rather have dandelion greens or no greens at all!

www.TerritorialSeed.com has both types of seeds for sale. First time I've seen them for sale.

I do have one regular dandelion seed thingy doo saved to plant NOW. lol


Mine just LOVE dandelion greens. WOW they eat em like candy !!!

My grandmother would cook them in the spring and eat them too! yuck. lol

[Fireweed]

kastillo, the milky substance is fine, normal. You pick just the leaves for your squirrels, usually, anyway--just make SURE (everyone!) that they aren't sprayed and are away from roads (exhaust settles on 'em, not very nice).
My ground squirrels eat nearly the whole plant--even the white milky stuff. :)

Also, kastillo, it's VERY smart of you to avoid picking anything wild for your squirrels if you aren't 100% about what you are picking. :thumbsup Hope everyone is as smart. :D

SGM: poison peanuts for the moles? As if the squirrels and jays and mice and cats and bunnies ETC aren't eating those peanuts, too. :shakehead Yes, definitely blow a bajillion dandelion seed heads directly onto his beloved lawn (while undercover of night, perhaps). :D

[CrazySquirrelLady]

Wouldn't our stuffy 'ol neighbor fill his britches if he knew I was considering growing dandelions on purpose. He has to have his yard treated every year for dandelions and is very put-upon cuz none of the rest of us care about 'em. If I decide to grown some inside I'll be sure to sprinkle a few seeds in his yard, just for good measure. This is the guy that puts out poison peanuts for the moles and just happens to hate squirrels.

We need an emoticon that is holding up the middle finger for when we talk about our mean neighbors.


You gotta do it, cuz these are SUPER long and big with UPRIGHT heads.. heheeheeheheehhe.

You can blow seeds over the fence at nite. lol

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

SGM: poison peanuts for the moles? As if the squirrels and jays and mice and cats and bunnies ETC aren't eating those peanuts, too. :shakehead Yes, definitely blow a bajillion dandelion seed heads directly onto his beloved lawn (while undercover of night, perhaps). :D

Oh yeah, don't even get me started. :soapbox There hasn't been a bunny in my yard for two years thanks to Mr. Let's-Poison-Everything. You know what's so ironic about the poison peanut thing? Moles in the midwest don't have the teeth to eat anything hard at all. They eat mainly worms & grubs and just suck them down! :shakehead

[CrazySquirrelLady]

oh dear Territorial Seed Co. wants $7.50 to ship $11.25 of seeds... BOOO

[Squirrelis]

Hey Squirrel Girls Mom why don't you kill you neighbor with kindness- take some of the poison peanuts he puts out and bake them into peanut butter cookies for him- he would love some fresh baked cookies:devil

CSL I buy dandelion greens weekly for my prairie dog and Squirrelis likes the flowers when the wild ones grow in the backyard - for me I cook greens until tender then drain and add olive oil, salt and pepper- delicious, love them:D the water you boil them in is also good for upset stomach and filled with vitamins

[Chickenlegs]

Does idiot man realize the moles he's so determined to murder keep the grubby things that eat his yard plants at bay? People with few brains seem to think killing things is just fine if the things inconvenience them. I can't think of anything more inconvenient than somebody who poisons my neighborhood.

[acorniv]

You've all got me really curious. My first squirrel liked ( didn't LOVE) dandelions, but Mokus wasn't impressed when I have him some a month ago. It just happens that today we gave him a fresh tray of dirt, and purposely selected several patches that had dandelions growing in them. I can't wait to see what he eats!

We just got our first frost today so there's still some wild things around. Any other suggestions for wild food?

[CrazySquirrelLady]

Foods my squirrels LOVE: Nuts, Avocado, Blueberry, Grape, Dandelion Greens.

Seriously, they love them and will always eat them all up as soon as they go in the cage. yum yum yum. Sugar snap peas last longer than dandelions in there!

I'm out in the yard pulling snow, looking for dandelions ;) lol

[pappy1264]

I have offered both, my squirrels like the all greens ones, but Annie prefers the red one! lol

[IrishHarps]

Yeah my inlaws poison the moles... it is disgusting. They KNOW not to bring it up around me because I do lecture! I don't care if they are my in-laws! (They think I'm weird anyways.)

[CrazySquirrelLady]

Italian dandelion greens are really CHICKORY. hmmmm..... shoot.

do squirrels like chickory greens? lol

[CrazySquirrelLady]

Yeah my inlaws poison the moles... it is disgusting. They KNOW not to bring it up around me because I do lecture! I don't care if they are my in-laws! (They think I'm weird anyways.)
Tell them about Juicy Fruit Gum.

It is an old wive's tale that putting Juicy Fruit Gum in the holes will kill the moles, cuz the supposedly can't resist it and it stops up their bowels and kills them.

This is not true, but gum is better for the environment than poison... ;)

My grandfather swore by Juicy Fruit Gum... lol

[Nemehoto]

Hehe, there is not a single dandelion on my whole street since my geese adore them, that is one weed the farmers around here don't need to worry about. It's a tempting thought to raise them for the geese and the squirrels. I'll have to look into that. Thanks for the idea.

[Charley Chuckles]

All ya need to do is when they go to seed make a wish and blow in the direction of your soil :D I love dandelion greens/I love all greens :thumbsup

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

Squirrelis, I like your style!! :rotfl

CL, I told him that the moles eat the grubs. He poisons those, too. No reason telling him that all of God's creatures have a purpose in the ecosystem - he obviously thinks he's God. We moved our garden as far away from his property as possible so we have less chance to get some of his poisons. We don't put any poison anywhere. My husband won't even kill a spider inside the house. He picks it up and takes it outside.

[MJS]

oh dear Territorial Seed Co. wants $7.50 to ship $11.25 of seeds... BOOO
:soapbox Never could figure that out!!! Tell them to just drop the seed packets into a manila envelope and slap a couple of stamps on it, charge you an extra $. Sheeesh!!! :soapbox

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

:soapbox Never could figure that out!!! Tell them to just drop the seed packets into a manila envelope and slap a couple of stamps on it, charge you an extra $. Sheeesh!!! :soapbox

:goodpost :goodpost :goodpost :goodpost :goodpost

[CrazySquirrelLady]

thank goodness I have a stash of regular dandelion seeds! I'll plant those.

[jfischer]

My squirrel likes Rose Hips. Have alot of knock-out roses. Maintenance free. Never have to do anything to them. Maybe you can get some of them. They have all colors, pink, red, yellow, white.

We use to have alot of dandelion here, but since our drought haven't seen any yet. We are being blessed with alot of rain today and tomorrow, hopefully they will start poping out.

Never thought about growing them from seed. Will look at our local feed store and see if they will have them. Thank you for the idea. Peanut loves them too.:thankyou

[kastillo]

Ok pulled some dandelion looking plants from my yard.
I know that the ones at the bottom left are definitely dandelion cause it had the yellow flowers and white puff balls too, but smaller than the classic dandelion, I only see those in summer.
So, you guys recognize the other two types? They are from different plants.
So I'm thinking there are all different types of dandelion.
My question is are all ok to feed?

http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s418/KrissiStitt/DSC02257_zpsd584ca0a.jpg

:thankyou