The conversion to weed eating is going very slowly at our house so I've been looking for safe and varied foods whenever I'm at our farmers market. I've had luck with quite a few plants. Our tortoise is a very picky Russian, but most of these plants seem fine for multiple species. If you don't have options to grow or forage your own food, a farmers market might be worth a visit for you.
Some caveats:
At Hmong vendors especially, I've found a variety of tortoise edible plants. So far this year I've purchased clover, dandelion, squash leaves, and pennywort. I'm not sure about the clover but the other items are regularly used in Hmong and other Asian cuisines.
A number of vendors sell dandelion. Many are selling very soft, extra delicious French dandelions but I look for the weedy ones sold by vendors of organic or unsprayed produce. If you're lucky, you'll find some with bug holes!
Squash blossoms are available spring and summer at my market. They can be pricey per pound but as they are lightweight and only last a few days, you probably won't spend more than a quarter for a small tortoise.
At our most "granola" vendor, everything comes with bug holes! If they've got enough to spare (they feed them to their chickens), they'll give me a handful of turnip greens. This is where I buy my collards, one of the few foods our little miss would eat when we first got her.
Another vendor sells nettles in the spring and sometimes small cactus pads. Larger cactus pads are usually available as the weather warms up, along with prickly pear fruit and dragon fruit (another cactus fruit). You can buy just a few okra (it doesn't keep well for me).
One of our lettuce vendors sells frisee (a chicory) for much less than my local grocery store. Frisee keeps very well and it's another plant I'm using while we transition.
Most of these plants come in very big bunches, more than one tortoise could eat in a week (or two!). I happen to be a little granola myself and will cook or make salad with nearly all the plants listed above. I'll also throw a handful of greens into the blender when I'm making smoothies.
Some caveats:
First, I live in Southern California, where we have access to our markets year round. That's not the case everywhere, or the variety will be narrower but still worth a look. With substantial Asian and Indian populations, many vendors in my area sell food plants that are considered weeds or otherwise inedible by most Americans.
Second, I'm a regular at my market and I know my vendors well enough to know who sprays pesticides and who doesn't. I'm also comfortable asking what something is if I don't see a sign or the sign isn't in English. If you aren't sure what something is, ask! If something is new to me, I'll do some research on it before feeding. Most of what I buy is $1 or $2 per bunch, so I don't stress if something turns out to be a poor food plant.
And finally, market produce is often dirty and occasionally still buggy, so you'll need to rinse everything pretty well. I use a salad spinner to speed up the work.
Second, I'm a regular at my market and I know my vendors well enough to know who sprays pesticides and who doesn't. I'm also comfortable asking what something is if I don't see a sign or the sign isn't in English. If you aren't sure what something is, ask! If something is new to me, I'll do some research on it before feeding. Most of what I buy is $1 or $2 per bunch, so I don't stress if something turns out to be a poor food plant.
And finally, market produce is often dirty and occasionally still buggy, so you'll need to rinse everything pretty well. I use a salad spinner to speed up the work.
At Hmong vendors especially, I've found a variety of tortoise edible plants. So far this year I've purchased clover, dandelion, squash leaves, and pennywort. I'm not sure about the clover but the other items are regularly used in Hmong and other Asian cuisines.
A number of vendors sell dandelion. Many are selling very soft, extra delicious French dandelions but I look for the weedy ones sold by vendors of organic or unsprayed produce. If you're lucky, you'll find some with bug holes!
Squash blossoms are available spring and summer at my market. They can be pricey per pound but as they are lightweight and only last a few days, you probably won't spend more than a quarter for a small tortoise.
At our most "granola" vendor, everything comes with bug holes! If they've got enough to spare (they feed them to their chickens), they'll give me a handful of turnip greens. This is where I buy my collards, one of the few foods our little miss would eat when we first got her.
Another vendor sells nettles in the spring and sometimes small cactus pads. Larger cactus pads are usually available as the weather warms up, along with prickly pear fruit and dragon fruit (another cactus fruit). You can buy just a few okra (it doesn't keep well for me).
One of our lettuce vendors sells frisee (a chicory) for much less than my local grocery store. Frisee keeps very well and it's another plant I'm using while we transition.
Most of these plants come in very big bunches, more than one tortoise could eat in a week (or two!). I happen to be a little granola myself and will cook or make salad with nearly all the plants listed above. I'll also throw a handful of greens into the blender when I'm making smoothies.
