The Last of the Dandelions: Dehydrating Wild Edibles for Rabbit Consumption

Here in NE Ohio, the leaves are in mid- color- which is my personal favorite point of leaf coloration. There are deep reds, golden yellows, a little purple, a smattering of brown, and bright spring green- all in addition to some (still) deep green.

The air is turning crisp- especially at night but the sun still warms things up enough during the day to make collecting edibles a rare and real pleasure.

Throughout the early spring and summer, the Tugbunny rabbits have been enjoying a constant supply of wild edibles. Also, throughout the entire early spring until now no one has fallen ill. I do not believe that this is mere coincidence but, instead, the result of feeding a high- quality pellet along with a varied smorgasbord of various wild edibles… you know, the kinds of things that rabbits much on in the wild…

But, with cooler air approaching and, eventually, frost- comes the sad demise of most of the wild edibles that my rabbits have enjoyed since early spring. With this in mind, I have decided to collect and dehydrate the last of the edibles from my yard. I have no idea how this will turn out but, as with all things, it is better to try and to fail than to not try at all…

Plants like plantain, dandelion, dock (immature plants, without spikes), cleavers, various forms of thistle and grape leaves will soon be finding their way into my dehydrator.

The plan is to pick, wash, dry and then dehydrate on the lowest setting possible- which on my dehydrator- an Excalibur 9 tray- is a little less than 125 degrees (F). The point is to dehydrate the edibles at a high enough temperature to effectively do the job while also using a low enough temperature to protect beneficial enzymes, vitamins, etc. from death and harm.

The edibles will be spaced far enough apart to provide for adequate air circulation and in order to prevent the growth of mold as the dehydration process will take longer as a result of the low temperature used.

Alternatively, edibles can be placed onto a screen or drying rack outdoors (provided rain is not in the forecast) and dried. Personally, I have never gone this route because, with my schedule, it is more convenient to use a dehydrator.

While using a dehydrator would most likely not be ideal for a large harvest, for a small, experimental harvest/ adventure, it will do just fine.

To be continued…