freeze weeds?!

[Dawn Fletcher]

You can freeze sedum leaves.........they survive ok........Im going to start picking and saving some for mine next week as the plant is starting to keal over now with the weight and length of the stems.

Dawn

[Alan1]

Mine are not interested in sedum, I wish I had known that before I spent loads of dosh on all the ones I bought

[dugy]

Originally Posted by caledonia

Yeah, I would have thought weed freezing would have been tried by now since people have been keeping torts for a year or two now

The best bet might be to get a lot of hardy weeds growing now and get them into the coldframe for the winter months. plantain, bittercress, sedum, winter pansy..

no alan, this was my waking up in the middle of the night genius idea... hasn't ever been thought of ever in the whole world or mars (aliums are starting to keep redfoots )

i managed last winter with one but this winter i may have to supply for three (if bruce comes home ) if i cannot hibernate properly.....

or i may just buy a big propergator to grow with and then use it outdoor in the summer for the torts?!

hmmm im far too clever

x

[Fredtortoise]

Hi,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's unlikely you will be able to successfully freeze weeds.

They are simply too fragile. Because they are made up of mainly water, when this freezes, ice crystals develop. These crystals break through the plant cell walls and thus 'turning them to mush' upon defrosting.

Because the weeds are so flimsy, blanching first won't help, as the ice crystals will still break the plant cells upon freezing.

However, if you do find a breakthrough - do let us know!

Tara

[wolverine]

I get my grass and weeds all winter long,I brush the snow off,cut a plate full,bring them inside and put then on a paper towel for half an hour then feed them,theres a lot of weeds and clover that stay good under the snow,it also makes your neighbors wonder what your doing

[dugy]

im gunna prove all you guys wrong!! (or look very silly!)

i kinda understand that flimsy lil weeds wont survive... im thinking of the big bad boys....

i will soon find a way to preserve a batch of weeds for a period of a few months! its my ambition.....

<<<<<<<<<'im doing it for my tortoises mannn'>>>>>>>>

quote me when i win the nobel peace prize!

[Alan1]

Plantain is one that might work as it's less of a watery plant but then it grows in winter anyway

[Tr@cey]

Originally Posted by caledonia

Mine are not interested in sedum, I wish I had known that before I spent loads of dosh on all the ones I bought

All my torts go absolutely mad for sedum even the new ones...are you sure you have the right variety. I have this one:

[Alistair&Robyn]

Originally Posted by caledonia

When vegetables are frozen I'm sure they are blanched first so the same would have to apply to weeds surely? You can't just freeze veggies straight from picking. I think the weeds would go to mush when going in the boiling water

Would they be put in boiling water? I hope it works, you'll have to let us know!

[Alan1]

Originally Posted by Tr@cey

All my torts go absolutely mad for sedum even the new ones...are you sure you have the right variety. I have this one:

I've got loads of different ones. They eat it when given it by me indoors but outside where they make up their own minds what to eat, they choose not to eat it. I have Hermanns, I've noticed though that Horsfields, Iberas and Hermanns don't necessarily like the same things