Foraging for the Geese!

I suppose that we are all trying to be a bit more frugal these days, tightening our spending belts whenever we can. Last summer, when my geese were babies, they foraged on grass and weeds in my yard, supplemented by greens from my garden.

Over the winter, I needed to continue to include greens in their diet, which meant purchasing them from the grocery store. I was lucky enough to have a steady supply of commercial dandelion greens -- their favorite -- for Sydney and Phoenix, brought down from Pennsylvania. This was supplemented with spring mix. Since the grass died back at some point, it turned out to be quite expensive to feed them over the winter!

My lettuces are just beginning to fill out in the garden. The girls get very excited, waiting at the garden gate for me to bring them out little bites of red or oak leaf lettuces as treats! Unfortunately, I am beginning to think that my dandelion ameliore seeds I planted a few weeks ago are not going to germinate -- or else, they are the slowest growing greens I have ever encountered!

Now that the grass and weeds are growing again in the backyard, the girls are quite content to "graze". But, what I have been doing is creatively supplementing Syd and Phoe's diet with "found" objects -- by that, I mean the common, ordinary dandelion that we all love to hate in our yard and the equally dreaded chickweed! With certainty, I am sure to be the only person in the neighborhood who doesn't dig out their dandelions. Instead, I selectively harvest some of the leaves, much like we harvest the outer leaves of lettuce in our gardens! Chickweed (on the right in the photo) is my friend, allowed to run rampant in my front yard!

Phoenix also favors a favorite childhood weed of mine. The father of the family who lived next door to me growing up introduced us to eating a wild sorrel that grew in the yard. He was Bulgarian and I am not sure of the exact spelling in that language, but phonetically, we pronounced it "kee-sah-lits". They have a taste that I can only describe as somewhere between bitter and tart. Syd doesn't seem to care for it at all, but Phoenix gobbles it up! Both girls crave what I think is wild parsnip, which is supposedly toxic to many animals -- but apparently not to geese!

It's free, it's plentiful, it's healthy -- and it will get me over the hump until my garden greens can feed my geese (and me!)!

Planting for Us -- And Our Animals!

While I plant the majority of vegetables in my garden for myself, I admit to planting with my pets in mind as well!

The geese are so curious about what I do in the garden and are usually right by the fence, hoping that I am bringing some tasty tidbit out for them to sample. They don't always wait for me, however! Last fall, Syd stuck her head right through the fence and ate my chard plants down to the ground! They never did recover, but she certainly enjoyed herself in the process!

Obviously, the geese enjoy greens of all kinds. In particular, I have noticed that Phoenix prefers red, curly leafed varieties, while Sydney prefers hers green. Neither likes spinach. But, their hands down favorite is -- drum roll, please -- dandelion greens! I am not talking about the common yard variety with the yellow flowers, although they enjoy these, too. What I am referring to are the commercial varieties that are still cut-leafed but much larger than the nuisance variety dandelion. My girls will literally drop what they are doing and run -- even fly over to me -- to get to these morsels as if they were the ambrosia of the gods or something!

My choice of seeds is called Dandelion Ameliore, ordered from The Cook's Garden out of Warminster, PA. I should be able to start planting this and other greens next week!

While my cats are not big fans of vegetables, my dogs are! In fact, my garden will take on greater significance for them, as I recently started feeding them a home-made diet. They had been eating a commercial food, Royal Canin's Venison and Potato, because they have had dietary issues. About two months ago, my vet informed me it would not be available for a while. So, following guidelines from The Whole Dog Journal, I began to cook for them. I rotate their proteins between lean beef, chicken, fish, or lamb, have continued to use potatoes rather than grains as their starch, and add in a variety of vegetables (no onions, though, which are toxic for dogs). Both dogs are doing very well with this lifestyle change!

Dallas and Riley will definitely share many of my vegetables with me, but in particular, I am planting a type of bush bean, Contender, for them. Green beans are not necessarily one of my favorites, but they like them. So, I will plant them...

I know I am not alone in planting for my animals...so, I want to hear everyone's stories in that regard! What do you plant for your pets? What do they seem to like?

(P.S. -- The photo above is Sydney the Goose, with the early spring skeleton of my garden in the background!)