Buy this plant from me?

     This morning I snapped a quick picture of this dwarf pink canna. This is its first bloom of the season.
     As you may know, cannas love full sun and plenty of water. Its hard to overwater them! They can be placed in a pot into an existing or new pond. I was thinking $5 or plant trade would be a good price, as this is a 100% organic offering of an edible suitable for the front yard.
     Check out the Craigslist Posting for this plant.

Buy this plant from me - Dwarf Red Canna

This morning I snapped a quick picture of this dwarf, red Canna. This is its first bloom of the season.
As you may know, Cannas love full sun and plenty of water. It's difficult to overwater them! Cannas can be placed into a pot in a new or existing pond, or planted out in the ditch that might exist in your yard.
I was thinking $5 or a trade/barter would be a good price, as this is a 100% organic offering of an edible plant beautiful enough for the front yard.
Thank you for checking out my plants. More offerings to come in the future. Ok to ask questions, even dumb ones.
-Knotty Pots
Chrissy

Rabbits, Spring of 2019

     It has been a long time since I have bred my rabbits. They are like my little garden buddies. They turn leaves into compost for me, the ultra fast way. And they are always eager to see what soggy fruit or vegetable peel i have for them. So this week I put two of them together and they seemed to have a successful coupling. I should have kits in 4 weeks! And extra buns for sale in 2 months!
     Check out this blackgrass I have planted for them. Edible for rabbits. And beautiful as well.

4 O'Clocks, Mirabilis jalapa

     Years ago I had discovered these beautifully flowered fragrant beauties hiding amongst the unwanted plants in the swale of my front yard. At that time I had thought the 4 o'clocks were pretty but toxic. It turns out there is mixed and conflicting information put there regarding Mirabilis, but Plants for a Future states that it has an edibility rating of 2 out of 5. And has been used in the past for medicinal purposes. And hallucinatory purposes.
     The leaves are edible, but not the seeds or the roots. Other sources say the roots are edible. Be cautious.
     I'm going to propagate this plant. It grows well year after year here and often creates seedlings in unexpected places.

Opuntia Placed Using the STUN method.

     I may have said before that I am a huge fan of Mark Sheppard's STUN method of gardening, which is short for Sheer Total Utter Neglect.  In short, you plant a whole lot of the thing you want to grow, as many different varieties as you wish, collect the seeds of the survivors, and continue to plant and collect seed of future generations so that you will be growing the best, most adapted plants for your space.
     So I pruned all of my Opuntia, which came out to a lot more than I had thought it would. Filling up an entire bucket! From my postage stamp yard I was impressed. These are not old and large plants, but tiny things I have found in the neighborhood and bought one at the botancal gardens. These are the native Opuntias, be cautious when handling!

     Then I took all the tunas to the new property, which I am going to have to give a name to. I had wanted to make a fortress of solitude out of the place complete with a moat of Cactus all around it, but as yet I dont have enough plant matter for that. So I placed them all in the ground in a protected area. Could always move them later on. I was delighted to find the sand was moist about an inch deep, perfect for these cacti! With any luck, I can STUN these into thousands more plants for my moat.

Eat Your Sand, beautiful edibles for the front yard

Announcing the official opening of project Eat Your Sand

After two grueling years of college, I have finally emerged. Hopefully the headaches will be over, and I will have more time to do the things that I love to do, like teach the little ones about nature and growing plants. I have also been cultivating a minimalist lifestyle, and this spring I have been potting and propagating, in hopes to find other permits to trade with, or just interested gardeners. Its not about selling plants and rabbits, its about sharing, getting, and producing bounty. Care of people and all.
So this spring I have more growies than I know what to do with. It has inspired me to create a trading page with a listing of everything that I have a lot of success with, including rabbits and premium plants.
Come check it out
EatYourSand
Don't hesitate to shoot me an email or use the form to contact me. I love to trade! Eat Your Sand will be updated frequently with what is currently being offered, and I am willing to travel to trade.

Manure Brewer

How to ghetto-tastically make a manure brewer. (Say that 5 times fast!)

     The first step: Get your hands on a blue barrel. This is probably the hardest part, but they are out there if you really want them. There are many sources,  I ghetto-tastically just asked someone who wasn't using theirs.
     Then, using a saw, slice in half in the middle. This is the best time to clean the inside out really good.
     If it had a cap or plug on the top, take it off. Get a large piece of old screen to more than cover the cap area.
     In the base, drill a hole and install a spigot. This will need to be glued and caulked very well so there are no leakage problems.
 Then invert the top onto the bottom, so the top acts as a cup for the raw manure. It should be open to the air so rain can come in.

This one isn't so attractive. Yours can be better.

     Then fill the whole top with all the rabbit manure, waste hay, other manure, and small bits of kitchen waste, like eggshells. If you find any worms in your garden, add them as well.
     How to use the manure brewer:
Dump water in the open top
Open the spigot and drain manure water into your watering can or bucket.
Take the watering can or bucket to your hungry plants, water slowly so more nutrition is absorbed.

Harvesting the Cranberry Hibiscus

     Earlier this spring my mother found these young plants at a garage sale, and they must have been priced well because she picked up one for me. It turned out the bargain annual happened to be the interesting and beautiful Hibiscus sabdariffa mentioned on the Florida Survival Gardening blog by David. No doubt the original seeds were from ECHO, as my mother lives not too far from there.

     I had no idea this plant could be so beautiful, unusual, useful, pest free, maintenance free...

     Today I am going to harvest the fruit. According to David, the round green bits are not the delicious part, but are where the seeds are stored. It's the red wrappers (or calyx) around the  round green fruit that is used for cooking and eating. This year recouping seeds is a high priority, since this is the only plant that I can source, and likely the only cranberry hibiscus growing in my county. It would be amazing to grow about 10 of these next year, as they like full sun. They do visibly wilt if you neglect to ensure hydration, but bounce back very easily and quickly. (I must have wilted it at least 5 times during the hot part of the summer.) Never would a tomato be this resilient.


       The leaves are edible, and I can tell you that the rabbits eat these leaves even before they eat their normal favorite weeds, Spanish Needle (Bidens alba). Although Hibiscus sabdariffa is tasty, none of the plants in the mallow family, or rose family, are particularly high in nitrogen (protein about 2 1/2%) - a consideration for overall rabbit dietary needs. I did eat a few of the leaves, which were very mild but did have a pretty tasty flavor, much better than Bidens, which is tart. These leaves would be good in a salad or on a sandwich (which is probably what I will be doing since the cold weather is here.)

     The seeds are higher in protein and very high in omega 6 fatty acids, and in quantity are valued as animal feed, particularly for chickens.

     This is the first and largest of probably two harvests from my one plant.

Vitamin C for the Survivalist

     Have you ever thought about what your diet would be like if you had to fend for yourself? Have you found a solution to the problems of vitamin insufficiency in restricted diets? Most of our modern, processed foods have been vitamin-enriched to prevent scurvy, rickets, and folate deficiency. If you were trying to supply your whole diet from what you can grow or forage, would you be safe?

     Interestingly, capybaras and guinea pigs (cuys) also lack the ability to synthesize ascorbic acid just like humans, bats, and some other apes. If cuys are one of your survival protein sources or urban farming animal, this is a problem you will have to address.

     Lack of vitamin C results in scurvy, with significant symptoms appearing in as little as three months. Foods naturally high in ascorbic acid are cruciferous vegetables, all kinds of peppers, kiwi, seabuckthorn, acerola, goji berry, persimmon, and citrus. Also found in oysters and animal liver. Heat (cooking or canning) significantly reduces available vitamin C in foods. One trick for canning is to add lemon juice to foods which are lacking, increasing the vitamins, preventing oxidation, and lowering the pH.

     Although I have no real proof, I suspect that the leaves of many of our edible plants that produce high-vitamin crops probably have a higher than average concentration of those vitamins, particularly before flowering and fruiting. I suspect strawberry, rose, and hibiscus leaves to be higher in vitamin C, banana leaves to be higher in potassium, citrus leaves high in both. With our soils naturally being magnesium-deficient, I suspect that to be lacking in a person living on a native Floridian diet (in the absence of shellfish and other seafoods). The more research I have done to prove or disprove this hypothesis, the more I notice there is a lack of study in this area, though I did find here that purslane and plantain are very high in vitamin A precursor. This study finds that ascorbic acid is higher in lemon leaves than in the bark, roots, and juice, partially confirming my hypothesis.

Another Great Reason to Grow Lemon Trees

     There are several reasons to grow citrus trees even if your production of fruit turns out disappointing, or if you live in an apartment and only have room for a small plant in dim light indoors.
     Vitamins found in the leaves can be higher than the vitamins found in the fruit. This includes vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin A precursor. Potassium and vitamin C are not stored well by the body, so have to be replenished periodically by the diet. There is some evidence that dehydrating the leaves concentrates the vitamins, as long as the dehydrating is performed without excessive heat. Can we say valuable post-apocalyptic trading commodity? Also a great reason to enjoy herbal tisanes and justify the cost of an inexpensive solar dehydrator for the backyard.
     Citrus greening could become a problem, but not if you are growing the plants specifically for the leaves. Greening is the newest, baddest threat to Florida's citrus industry, basically an uncontrollable bacteria that causes fruit to improperly ripen. However, leaves are unaffected, and the bacteria is not a human pathogen. The best time to harvest leaves is right before the lemon trees flower and fruit, as that is when they will have the maximum nutrition. Meyer lemons flower in December, usually, and fruit a few months later. The flowers are fragrant and nutritious too! Citrus trees are perennials, so care must be taken to sustainably harvest them.
     As much as IFAS and the news sensationalize the plights of the citrus industry, most citrus trees are largely resistant to pests. Perhaps it is because those statistics come from the monocultured orchard citrus industry. Perhaps it's because most are already grafted before you have the opportunity to purchase the trees. Perhaps it is because most people's backyard citrus are not planted so densely so as to encourage the growth of pests and the lack of beneficial insects and bacteria. Remember this previous article about how the state destroyed thousands of homeowner's citrus trees, then lost a lawsuit because it was scientifically unfounded? It just shows that they don't really know the answers either.
     The fruit has many culinary uses. It is used in canning to lower pH and prevent oxidation. It can be used to cook raw fish without heat, but dehydrates the proteins - changing the texture. Lemonade. Household cleaner. Fragrance. Color. Limitless possibilities.
     It may have some medicinal properties. Although not thoroughly researched here in the US, lemon is used in Ayurveda in India. According to this study, lemon is used to treat disorders of the throat and persistent catarrh (inflammation of the mucous membranes usually in the airway, causing an overproduction of phlegm and mucus). The low pH of lemon juice inhibits bacterial growth. Certainly vitamin C is absolutely necessary in our diet. Remember this post where I wrote about vitamin C and guinea pigs (as a survival protein source)? We all need good nutrition.
     The recommendations for lemon culture from IFAS state that lemons are more vigorous than most citrus species and that dense plantings encourage pests. They are recommended for the warmest, sunniest part of the landscape that does not flood. IFAS doesn't recommend propagation by seed, but rather grafting onto a rootstock specifically chosen to avoid certain soil pathogens.

Making Bread After the Apocalypse

     The biggest problem with making bread after the apocalypse has to be the availability of ingredients. This is the part where gluten-free bakers get to jump up and shout hooray, because they have probably already been making potato bread and cassava bread for some time. Of the grains that do grow here in Central Florida, perhaps amaranth and sorghum might be our best choices. Research should be done into kenaf and durum semolina also. Assuming you'll be able to acquire some kind of flour or substitute...
     Many preppers foresee themselves culturing sourdough starter to make homemade breads at some point in the future. After maintaining a starter for several years, I now no longer do so because I don't have a large enough family to properly produce and use almost any quantity of starter. It also takes a lot of cleaning and attention to bacterial growth prevention. Here in Florida, the warmer temperatures in your average air-conditioned kitchen will make your starter 'grow' about three times as fast as the yankees' starter. A sourdough starter gone flat can still be used in your bread recipes with the addition of either commercial yeast or a pinch of baking soda.
     What can be used to leaven bread when you can't get baking soda? Hardwood ashes, once leeched and turned into lye (potassium hydroxide), can further be dehydrated and kiln-fired into potash/pearlash. Potash is potassium carbonate, known commonly for its fertilizer properties. It was an American tradition with some Native Americans and the colonists to leaven bread with potassium carbonate, but over time this fell out of favor when commercial baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) became available, as it has less of a bitter aftertaste. It is conceivable that the underground kiln your buddy used for making biochar was also making some pretty high-quality pearlash, or could be used to produce some.
     For the easiest Solar Cooker ever, used to bake bread in along with an oven bag, check out this design that I have used successfully.
     For other ideas on cooking with your preps, with local ingredients, and without expensive ingredients, please check out the labels marked Pantry Raid or Cook With Your Preps in the sidebar.

Urban Homesteading: Quail

     Quail are probably the niftiest native but domesticated backyard birds available. I have been tossing around the idea of getting quail versus chickens, but considering I will need to buy 100% of their feed, quail seem like the best choice. They are quieter and take up very little space, and even more prolific than chickens in terms of meat and eggs.
     Quail could also serve as cat and dog food with hardly any preparation in the event that we were unable to buy pet food. If that day seemed close on the horizon, rabbits, quail,  and chickens would be raised in every back yard. Quail are insectivores beyond par, it would behoove all of us to raise insects (mealworms, black soldier fly, cockroaches, grasshoppers) to feed our microlivestock healthfully. Although there is not much common knowledge on the topic, cockroaches would probably be the easiest to raise, since they can live on cardboard and mulch, right?

     The young man over at Florida Hillbilly has written a number of articles featuring knowledge he has learned from raising quail in his backyard. This kind of secondhand experience is priceless, and makes for interesting reading even if you aren't interested in quail...yet. Florida Hillbilly's Quail

Florida's Department of Making Water Gardeners Sad

On this list, all the plants are illegal.

These species can only be grown in licensed, permitted, and inspected nurseries which have taken measures to ensure no possibility of escape for these plants.

     While some of these plants are unfamiliar, others are sources of human and animal nutrition that should not be disallowed in non-tender areas. For example, non-native water hyacinth is a favorite food of manatees and is reported to be well-received by cattle, goats, and rabbits. It's one of the main plants that I wanted for my pond, since it has beautiful tropical flowers and is edible. A few other plants of making people sad are water chestnuts, water spinach, and water lettuce.

Innovative Intensive Farming for the Humid Tropics

     I really enjoy this diagram for a self-sufficient farm in the semi-tropics. This particular plan calls for a large crop of sugar cane, which is processed into juice to feed the ducks and pigs. Perennial nitrogen-fixing forage trees are chopped to feed sheep, and azolla is cultivated to feed fish, sheep, ducks, and pigs.
     All the wastes are managed and recycled into the system to fertilize and prevent erosion. When done on a large enough scale, the meat and vegetable production could be great enough to take to market.
     This particular system could easily be modified for Florida by not changing a thing. Sugar cane grows well in most parts of the state, as does azolla and duckweed. The system might slow down in our cool winter, but should restart without any troubles in our warm spring. The daily chores would involve collecting food for the animals and managing livestock and manures. Like on any farm or homestead, the family's vegetable garden would need periodic tending. Overall, it looks like a balanced system with minimal outside inputs.
     The full description can be found here.
   

Survival Gardening in Florida, Part 2

     As far as growing carbohydrates, nothing really jumps out at me beyond sweet potatoes, cassava, sugarcane, the safe yams, and coontie, which are all very nutritious and pack a good deal of fiber as well. Also, kids like them. The leaves of all but coontie can be eaten or used as fodder. White potatoes are great too, if you are really good at growing them. Some grains that do well in Florida include amaranth and sorghum. Sorghum can be made into a tasty molasses if a person desired it. There are a ton of fruits that grow very well in Florida, the most well-loved being citrus, which can, with choosing proper varieties, be available for picking fresh about half the year. Canna, carrots, lilies, and cassava roots are all loaded with vitamins and nutrition. Sugarcane grows very well through most of the state. Bees love it here too.
     As far as growing fats, that's going to be a tough one. This might be a good time to mention micro-livestock like rabbits, guinea pigs, or chickens. Quail are great, but need an extremely high-protein feed as they naturally eat insects. Rabbits can live almost completely on grass and weeds. Chickens can live on almost completely grains and bugs. Fish can be raised in ponds or containers and fed things like azolla, duckweed, or garden worms.
     If I had to choose just three plants to grow to survive on, it would be cowpeas, cannas, and sweet potatoes. Cowpeas are a nitrogen-fixing legume that grow very well in poor soil and can be grown twice a year. The beans are high in protein and fiber, while the plant is high in protein for the rabbits. Cannas, aside from being beautiful and able to handle our hot, humid weather, can yield a starchy root and the leaves are high in vitamins for the rabbits. Sweet potatoes are a nutrient-dense starch, with very excellent tasting leaves which are high in protein. The leaves from all three plants can be eaten raw or cooked.
     Areas of the property which are not actively gardened can be, over time, landscaped with perennials that produce nutrition, fodder, or both. My favorite useful perennial is probably the wild rose bush. They don't have much of a smell, but make large, beautiful flowers that turn into rose hips - very nutritious. The leaves are good fodder and the thorns make the plant valuable for fencing. Thorned or thornless prickly pears are also a wonderful perennial, as the leaves are edible and the fruit is delicious. Plant those with an asiatic lily in between each bush and you will have created lush, flowery nutrition.
(Previous Page)

Actual Survival Gardening, Part 1

    Survival gardening is a phrase that has been thrown about and equated with permaculture, which it is not. Permaculture is lasting plantings of perennials which give abundantly year after year, while survival gardening is active gardening with a care to provide all of a person's nutritional needs.
     All nutritional needs. Fats, carbohydrates, proteins, fibers, trace minerals, and vitamins.
     There is a lot of debate as to how much land it would take to provide for all nutritional needs. Some people might say one acre per person, others more. Would all nutritional needs include meat and fish? what about the healthy fats that are in avocado and olives? So everyone is going to have their own opinion on land consumption, particularly in regards to climate and use, for example, like bio-intensive agriculture.
     I think as far as growing protein the first thing that jumps to mind is nut trees, and the first one that really jumps to mind is pecans. They grow really well in most parts of Florida, where other nuts fail. The rumors of a pecan blight exist, though I have not seen it for myself yet. Then there are bean plants, which are low-growing, sun-loving herbaceous protein factories. Peanuts, cowpeas, and green beans all do well here. Probably the best part about growing beans is that the plant stalk and leaves make great fodder for livestock once the beans are harvested. Sprouted grains are reputedly high in protein and vitamins.
(Continue Reading)

Benefits vs. Arguments for Guerrilla Gardening

     Guerilla gardening is in full swing during the warmer months all across the United States. Likely a reaction to cooped-up urbanites retaliation against metropolitan space waste, guerrilla gardeners plant flowers and vegetables in areas that are otherwise laying fallow or abandoned.
     Some people aren't happy with guerrilla gardeners. Recently in Washington DC, the city removed hundreds of red, white, and blue flowering plants that had been placed by a guerrilla gardener on a sloping embankment, claiming that his climbing could lead to falling, which would incur liability for the taxpayers. They also claimed that there was no money in their budget for the upkeep of the plantings.
     Another recent article in the New York Times paints urban guerrilla gardeners in a negative light by supposing that a landscape of nothing but edibles will be a landscape without pollinators. This, of course, is untrue. I also emailed the author, Mariellé Anzelone, about her error concerning sassafrass. Her solution is not to avoid planting up the urban landscape, but to plant native wildflowers to promote diverse pollinators.

   "Urban activists should celebrate the indigenous wildflowers that sustain our pollinators beyond the short life span of fruit tree blossoms. In addition, we should incorporate native edibles into the planting palette. Blueberries, Juneberries and beach plums feed more species than just us humans."

     Anzelone and I agree on one thing, which is that native plants should be incorporated into any plan for regreening an urban zone. All too often city planners try to beautify by planting non-useful non-natives, like crepe myrtle and oleander. WE, the citizens, should be greening with natives and edibles like oak trees and others that were once found here in a time before pretty little homes.
     She neglects to point out that done properly, a neighborhood or area planted with nothing but edibles would still attract pollinators because the garden planners would want great diversity in their plantings. Anyone with a bit of gardening knowledge knows to plant more than one type of vegetable, or a time will come when you will be hungry. Does she think guerrilla gardeners are greening their cities with nothing but Irish potatoes, the nation's most popular vegetable? Or nothing but red delicious apples?
     As any permie can tell you, diversity in plantings is what promotes resistance to disease and pests. Planting a good deal of wildflowers will bring in butterflies and bees, but also bring in caterpillars and grasshoppers. You have to pick and choose your battles, and better to have a wide variety of edible or useful plantings than a lot of space wasted on toxics that attract plant-eaters. With the internet making distant knowledge available, and international shipping being how it is, there is no reason every abandoned easement can't be planted with useful edibles, or native edibles, or just native plants. Sweet potatoes from Japan, climbing beans from Germany, sugarcane from the Dominican Republic, the possibilities are endless. For some ideas for diverse edibles for Florida, check out my site and this site.
     For example, a maple tree might be useful in several ways, and is native. Native cottage roses are the same way. Both can be edible to humans and urban livestock and provide beauty. Roses attract pollinators. Maples provide shade and windbreaks, and can provide firewood. Almost any plant can be rated according to some simple points like these, and as long as plantings remain diverse, urban gardeners will do well with it.

     Eight Points for Identifying Useful Plants

     Edible to humans

     Edible to urban livestock

     Edible to urban wildlife

     Attract pollinators

     Provide beauty

     Provide shade and windbreaks

     Provide textiles or firewood for humans

     Provide habitat for urban animals

Covert Urban Homesteading, Part 2: Animals

   Without animals, your urban homestead is really just a super-nice garden. To really maximize your land use, you will want to get some small herbivores to convert your kitchen waste and yard refuse into instant fertilizer and protein. It should be noted that since you have a homestead here, and not an urban farm, you should be trying to provide as much of your animal feed as possible yourself. Buying feed is not what homesteaders do, it's what urbanites do, right?
     Every one of these animals will need their human caregivers to protect them from human and animal threats in addition to providing quality feed and water, and a clean living environment. Urban homesteaders here in Florida will have numerous pests such as weasels, hawks, cranes, cats, dogs, snakes, raccoons, teenagers, homeless, and the odd code enforcement official to contend with.

     Rabbits are by far my favorite outside animal. They can live on a completely home-grown diet of grasses and weeds, or planted vegetation. Larger operations will probably appreciate he convenience of pellet, which is not prohibitively expensive. The meat and manure are high quality, and extra stock can be sold as pets.

     Chickens are hilarious little birds. I've read that a combination of cat food and day-old bread, supplemented with egg shells, can be enough food for them, though I've never tried it.

     Quail need an extremely high protein diet as naturally they would eat nothing but insects. I've heard that they thrive in areas high in cockroaches, so...

     Guinea Pigs, also called cuys, are good eats in parts of South America. Think of them as slightly smaller rabbits.

     Mice/Hamsters. I'm considering raising them just for their cat and dog food value, since they will eat rabbit pellet and kitchen scraps and be fine with that. Maybe ground hamster could become the next big chicken or fish feed additive?

     Pigeons, especially homing pigeons, are popular outdoor pets in West Florida. I've heard that they can free-range and return home very well. They eat similar feed as chickens.

     Fish can be kept in aquariums as pets, raised for meat value, or raised for their plant fertilization value (think Aquaponics). Crawdads, catfish, and tilapia are all raised successfully here in Florida. Perhaps one of the most covert urban animal operations could involve a decorative "koi" pond filled with catfish or tilapia (Guess what I'm building in my back yard!).

     Bees live very well here in Florida, the main consideration being the location and disguise of your hive(s). After all, no one can complain you have bees if they can't see the hives. Most urban and suburban areas of Florida have decorative flowering plants and trees, that produce year-round blooms.

The (Draft) Safe Plant List for Florida Rabbits

     There is a large conversation taking up bits of internet as more people worldwide work on safe, natural diets to feed rabbits. There is so much information out there, but most is for climates that have plants that do not grow well here in Central Florida.

     The nutritional makeup up a rabbit's complete diet is a large subject best explored here (Rabbit Nutrition: The Numbers). This is meant to be just a list of safe plants, along with a list of common but unsafe plants. Starred items I have personally fed my rabbits with no ill effects.

Grassy Types 

     Banana leaves*

     Rye*

     Bamboo*

     Yellow Nutsedge*

     Bahia*

     Plantain*

     Sunflower

     Sorghum*

     Pampas Grass*

     Fountain Grass

     Kenaf
Papyrus*

Legume Types

     Cowpea leaves*

     Peanut leaves and shells*

     Black Turtle bean leaves*

     Green runner bean leaves*

     Desmodium spp. leaves*

Herb Types

     Spanish Needle (Bidens alba, Bidens pilosa)*

     Soap Ginger*

     Cardamom Ginger

     Purslane*

     Sweet potato leaves*

     All Rosaceae family, including blackberry*, raspberry, pears*, and roses

     Sycamore*

     Maple*

     Hibiscus*

     Mulberry

     Citrus leaves*

     Persimmon leaves*

     Canna leaves*

     Squash spp.*

     Carrot leaves*

     Cilantro*

     Rosemary

     Basil

     Parsley*

     Lemongrass

     Oregano

     Sage

     Prickly Pear (spines removed)

     Pusley, Brazilian* and Floridian*

     Violet Woodsorrel*
Palmetto*
Spanish Dagger*
Cabbage*
Spiderwort*
Loquat*

Unsafe but common plants

     Crinum

     Century plant

     All Prunus species including Cherry Laurel (fruit may be safe, pits are not)

     Chinaberry Tree

     4 O'Clocks

     Taro, Dasheen, Elephant Ear

     Caladium

     Amaryllis

     Gladiolus

     White Potato Greens

     Oleander

     Tomato plants

     Crape Myrtle

     Lantana

     Privet

     Frangipani

     Rhoeo spathacea Steam (syn. R. discolor Hance)

     Oyster plant

     Moses-in-a-Boat (Purple Heart)

     Rain lily
Asthma Weed, Spurge

Unknown Toxicity Status

     Heliconia

     Ixora
Oak trees and acorns

     Hydrangea

     Ferns

     Bromeliads

     Cabbage Palm

     Crepe Myrtle

     Fig

     Pine needles

     Stargazer or Daylily

     Kiwi

     Muscadine grape

     Orange Honeysuckle

     Mexican Creeper

     Passionflower

     Magnolia

     Allamanda

     Confederate Jasmine

     Wisteria

     Dog Fennel

     Liriope

     Peace Lily

     Periwinkle

     Mexican Petunia

     Air Potato, Diascorea spp.

     Mimosa

     Acacia spp.

     Begonia spp.

     Cypress spp.

     Pecan leaves

     Prickly sida, Sida spinosa
Monkey Ear Tree leaves

     Here is a quick list of some rabbit-safe forages from Hawaii. It may give some ideas to those who live in South Florida.

Kiawe (mesquite) 

Mulberry 

Plantain (the small green lawn weed type as well as the banana types of plantain)

Sweet potato vines

Sunflower - seeds, leaves and stems 

Grape vines and leaves 

Rosemary (it is said rosemary will make their wool lustrous, however they won't always eat it.) 

Basil 

Lemon balm 

Daikon 

Banana - leaves, skins, fruit and trunk

Corn - husks, leaves and stems - not too much of the grain, though.

Roses - leaves, flowers and stems 

Beet greens  - not too much of the root, but you are supposed to eat that yourself.

Pigeon Pea - leaves and pods

Russian olive - although they may not like the taste

Ti leaves

Guinea grass - although they prefer the young leaves to the old stickery ones.

Dandelions

Carrots, especially the green tops

Nasturiums

Parsley

Alfalfa

Clover

   
Rabbits turn weeds into fertilizer, just think of the possibilities...

Canna Lily (not really a lily at all)

Uses: Edible, Forage, Xeriscaping. Native to : Southeastern United States.

     This popular ornamental plant can be seen blooming everywhere in midsummer, but it is also a valuable part of a survival garden. The leaves and flowers are showy and tropical, shooting up from a rhizome that is loaded with starch.

     They are closely related to ginger, and will do well in any area that ginger does well in. Like ginger, they will freeze to the ground in wintertime and come back next spring. Cannas can handle full sun if planted in well-drained soil with adequate rainfall. Like taro, they do well in fairly damp areas.
     The roots can be dug and cooked like a potato, usually for at least two to five hours. Traditionally the rhizome was cooked then mashed and strained to remove the fibers. The starch is well known for being easily digestible for infants and elderly. In Vietnam, large amounts of canna are grown to make cellophane noodles. 

     If the rhizomes can be used as a potato, it would logically follow that a very enterprising individual could distill liquor from them much as a vodka is made. Perhaps cannas and taro could be a great source for  a southern alcohol bio-fuel?
     The leaves and stems are used as animal feed in some areas, as cannas can grow well on marginal lands with little soil nutrition. The plants are relatively unaffected by pests, which is no surprise considering how well they do here in Florida.

     Ms. Wildcraft from Backyard Food Production put up a great little video about some plants that are useful and can really take the heat. If you want to skip to the part where she talks about cannas, that would be about five minutes into the video.