Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi,

Part of my reasons for starting to grow vegetables is food for my pet iguanas.

I have the normal stuff growing, but iguanas cannot/must not eat cabbage, they have for the last five years been eating mixtures of different veg but the main ingrediant is "Spring Greens".

Now to the question, I have lots of seed catalogues here and have searced on the net but for the life of me I cannot find Spring Greens, Can someone please tell me where the heck I can get seeds from as at £15.00 a week just on this ingrediant they are becoming quite expensive to keep.

Sorry for such a long and boring post, but I thought I had explain why they have to be Spring Greens

But spring greens are young cabbage, so I'm confused as to why they are suitable but cabbage is not.

The seeds are sown in autumn and overwintered for spring harvesting before the cabbage hearts form. You can buy seed from Thompson and Morgan.

__________________
Mark

Vegetable Kingdom blog

Thanks for such a quick reply...

Well now you have got me thinking, I will have to check what I have based my assumptions on for the last 5 years,, I read somewhere that cabbage had a certain chemical in that Iguanas could not tolerate, I can't think what chemical it was, but I will take your advice and get ordering some seeds.

One final question on the subject then,, can they be grown in containers, are they slow or fast growing, would I be best using growbags ??.. TIA

Thankyou

Yes, I just read about this out of interest. The chemicals are called goitrogens which are present in the cabbage family and they prevent iodine being absorbed by iguanas which can cause swollen thyroid glands. So I don't think feeding spring greens is a good idea. I'd recommend growing turnips and spinach which are easy, give the iguana the leaves and you can eat the tasty turnips.

__________________
Mark

Vegetable Kingdom blog

Spot on, that is exactly what I had read, but I also read that spring greens were ok,, this is the trouble in the reptile keeping world, so much conflicting information makes you and but they have all faired well for the last 5 years,, my concern now is actually stopping the greens, they are succeptable to change :

hi there, i thought spring greens were from sprouts, or am i going mad!

spinach should be good though and mine has grown really quick and is really tasty!

SS

__________________
Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

So can I grow turnips in a container, and I guess I am too late for then now this year ?

You can get new leaf growth from brussels when you cut the tops off after harvesting the sprouts in winter. These new leaves are edible. But when I see spring greens in the supermarket they look like young cabbage to me.

__________________
Mark

Vegetable Kingdom blog

No, turnips can be grown throughout the year and containers would be ok.

__________________
Mark

Vegetable Kingdom blog

Thanks Mark, will get ordering some seeds then,, BTW they can not eat spinach either :-(,, atleast hopefully this year they will have carrot tops, yellow wax beans, peas, and now turnip tops as something different

OK, glad I could help, but I don't have any experience of keeping reptiles, so perhaps you should double check with a reputable pet store or a vet/RSPCA.

__________________
Mark

Vegetable Kingdom blog

I know for fact that the above are all OK, (Have already checked) , just the greens causing confusion

Don't forget to sow a few seeds every week or two to keep the greens nice and fresh. Do you have a light and heat for the iguanas? If so, these might enable you to grow fresh greens through the winter too.

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

I was thinking of that, I have 7 Vivariums, for my iggies, but I also have a "Spare" one completely set up, steady temperature of 80f, and uv light, I was wandering about using it for actually growing the veg in, maybee it would be worth a go, 8' X 6' X 3' so not a bad size but being new to the veg growing not sure what would grow without overgrowing if you know what I mean

I would give it a go - just experiment with a couple of seeds in a shallow container. You don't really need to worry about depth of soil for the root to develop, you want to encourage as much leaf as possible.

We no longer have fish and I am trying to persuade Madmax to let me keep the tank so I can have a go at growing fresh veggies in it in the winter.

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Thats how I grow my chili's, 4' X 15" X 18" aquarium, heater in about 3" of water, polystyrene sheet on water, seed trays/insers floating on top,, works a treat

What about Kohl Rabi it is a fairly quick growing veg similar to turnip, and I have not usually had the same problem of flea beetle with kohl rabi that I have had wih swede and turnip.

Ian

Yes that is suitable but where do you get it from ?,, heard about it long time ago

Most suppliers do kohl rabi now, Suttons do a speedy seeds one that is supposed to be ready in about 10 weeks (if you can keep the slimeys off it). Think you might find it in Wilkinsons too.

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

I thought "greens" is any of the leafy bits from brassicas, not just young cabbages but would include turnip / swede tops, broccoli leaves etc? Possibly "spring greens" is just one of those vague ingredients...

Kohlrabi seeds are quite widely available, I think.
kohlrabi seeds uk - Google Search

__________________
Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

Kohl rabi is another brassica, same as cabbage etc. I don't think that would be suitable.

__________________
Mark

Vegetable Kingdom blog

Hugh was just talking about nettles as spring greens. Might be worth taking advice on them since they're free.

Yep already use dandelions & nettles,, iggys love them