Turtles & me!!

[Heather]

Hi - I do hope that my Tortoise Table friends are safe & well at this very strange & somewhat frightening time.....Unlike many, I'm so far enjoying my furloughed escape from work, spending loads of time with many friends & plants - added to by the gang from work (I'm a school Biology Technician) - numbering an additional 40 plants, two goldfish, axolotls, stick insects, a very large snail & another snake!

I'm foraging.

My question relates to none of the above!....

Can I assume that anything in the plant world that is safe for Achillea to eat is also edible for turtles & me?! Bought turtle food is high in fish & other animal protein items, & my adult turtles should eat a higher proportion of vegetable matter, so I'm trying to encourage them to eat some leaves. They reluctantly nibble dandelion leaves, a bit of geranium, & maybe ground elder so far. I've tried cooking nettles for me as well as nibbling ground elder myself. I think we could all widen our pallets!

Heather

[Nina]

Hi Heather (or Dr. Doolittle as we will now call you). My goodness you've taken on a lot and I can see why you haven't been bored in lockdown! Do you have any photos of your menagerie?

Re the plants. Yes, I would say that everything that is safe for Achillea to eat is also safe for the turtles and you. It wouldn't be the other way round because as you know a lot of what turtles eat would be too high in protein for Achillea, but Achillea's diet could transfer to the turtles with no problem.

I have a friend who regularly forages for nettles and makes what he says is a really delicious nettle soup, so happy foraging!

And I hope that you and all your flora and fauna have an exceptionally happy Easter!

Nina

[Heather]

Thanks Nina - I did nettles as a veg last week - really tasty - just young leaves (remove stem), rinsed, & microwaved with a dollop of butter. I've tried nibbling at ground elder - pleasant sharp taste, but unlike Achillea, I just don't 'get' dandelions!