Edible plant?

[debra wiltshire]

hello everyone...does any one know anything about Rosebay willowherb? Is it OK for cattle to eat etc

[Broomcroft]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilobium_angustifolium

[Saffy]

Hello Debra,

It isn't as far as I know but I can't find the usual list of plants I look at so I can't be sure - it is OK for humans though as I found this below, can't say I fancy a try!

"Rosebay Willowherb Epilobium angustifolium is despised by gardeners as it spreads like wild fire, due to its fluffy seeds which are dispersed by the wind to great affect. The leaves are edible when young, as is the root, raw or cooked."

Are your cattle keen on it?

Hopefully someone here will know the answer.

Stephanie



Edited By Saffy on 1280343891

[Basil]

Yes, it is edible. We used to keep goats and they loved it.
Kelvin

[debra wiltshire]

we have two young steers who are conservation grazing..the grass is starting to get alittle thin so have moved onto the willowherb. They look well on it but their movements are a vary lurid green!
Thanks for the replies...

[fdb]

I am reading through back posts, have read through the odd numbers and am now on the even ones, hence the reason for responding to so many old posts. Rosebay willow herb is a ruderal it has small wind born seeds that need bare ground to colonise. My Dexters graze a number of wildlife trust sites and select different plants at different times of year, often ignoring lush grass that only weeks before they had eaten. Early in the season they would eat RB Willow herb and went mad for Sallow willow at first flush also blackthorn, hawthorn and fresh oak leaves. They ignored Ash completely yet at leaf fall cattle love ash leaves. The strangest of the lot though was watching them select out horsetails when it first emerged, I watched the bull walk across the site picking horsetails out and eating them. I am convinced that at certain stages of growth different plants are more attractive to stock just as they are to deer and for that matter probably important for their well being.

[debra wiltshire]

Thanks for the information...the two steers have now gone but they both did well. We were happy with our first venture into conservation grazing and would like to find some more in our area. Any idea how we can find some?

[fdb]

Where abouts are you on the boarder of lincs leicester?

[debra wiltshire]

Croxton Kerrial, between Melton Mowbray and Grantham..

[fdb]

Probably to far for FC land, I was going to suggest putting you on our list for southwick, sudborough or bedford perlieus. Only other suggestion is the wildlife trust