Sheep on the Wild Graze

[SageHill]

Somethings that were particularly tasty today...........
Wild Mustard - Brassica nigra - Brassica tournefortii
Definitely edible. Even for people. When it's young the sheep love this. It can grow to be well over 6 ft tall. It's very leggy at that stage, being an easy thing for animals - dogs, sheep, us to get tangled in. According to legend, in CA the missionaries who travelled up and down CA cast seeds as they went, in the spring the mustard would provide a path of tall yellow flowers for them to follow back to the mission they came from. It is also tagged as the first invasive plant in CA.

Horseweed - Erigeron canadensis, Erigeron sumatrensis

Interesting fact - it's the first known plant to be resistant to glyphosate. The Zuni have used it medicinally.
Sheep love it when it's not too tall (it can reach 5-6 ft).

California Buckwheat - Eriogonum fasciculatum
Always a favorite with the sheep anytime of the year and in any growth cycle. It is a California native. They eat it as if it were candy, however they won't decimate the plant. They eat what they want and move on.

 

[Baymule]

You have some interesting plants. My grandmother grew castor as an ornamental. She always cautioned me not to eat it—like I would? If it was that toxic, even as a kid, I saw no reason to have it!

 

[Baymule]

I have spotted spurge too.

 

[Ridgetop]

I wish MY sheep would eat ALL the grass down in a particular spot and then move on to the next spot. But NOOOO….. they only want a bite here, a bite there and next! Time to move!

Goats also eat a bit then move on - perhaps why toxic plants don't kill sheep that can graze and move on to other edibles. If that is all they have in a pasture then they eat too much and die, but in a larger grazing situation they can move along to something else.

Castor Bean, castor oil - Ricinus communis
This is in the euphorbiaceae family -- spurge family. The seeds are highly poisonous - ricin bad news.
More bad news - a quick web search has growing and care guides for this monster! It has a huge spike of pretty flowers, each with big seeds.

This is grown as a favored decorative landscaping plant. AND is much favored by mystery writers as a source of home manufactured poison. LOL Another favored poison of English mystery writers is yew.

And don't forget the ubiquitous oleander much loved by California freeway landscapers. So toxic that my grandparents cautioned me never to touch it and, if I did, immediately wash. Every California school child was told the story of the early Spanish explorers who broke off a stick from the plant, used it to stir their stew, and were dead hours after eating. A cautionary tale for kids. Oleander is much favored in desert areas for landscaping since it is drought resistant and comes in several colors. Then there is the poinsettia in every home at Christmas with it's poisonous milky sap that can blind you if it gets in your eyes.

So many common decorative plants that are deadly poison. Makes you wonder if that was one of the punishments God sent when turning Adam and Eve out of Eden.

I don't know what is in my field (at this point nothing since it has been eaten to the ground) but several years ago DH waged war against the castor bean and oleander. He dug them up year after year until they were all gone. Now we have is wild mustard turning the hills green when the rains come, blooming yellow in late spring and early summer, until the hills turn a soft gold as the mustard dies off. The golden hills with blue skies or purple clouds behind them are lovely. Here in southern California we are believed to be dry in the early days there were hidden springs, rills, and ponds. At the bottom of our road we had a natural spring and pond when the houses were built in the early '50'sin the builders of our house had a son who drowned in that pond. The spring was blocked off after that but the early rancheros grazed countless numbers of cattle sheep and goats everywhere and had plenty of water in the canyons. I love history.

 

[SageHill]

Goats also eat a bit then move on - perhaps why toxic plants don't kill sheep that can graze and move on to other edibles. If that is all they have in a pasture then they eat too much and die, but in a larger grazing situation they can move along to something else.


This is grown as a favored decorative landscaping plant. AND is much favored by mystery writers as a source of home manufactured poison. LOL Another favored poison of English mystery writers is yew.

And don't forget the ubiquitous oleander much loved by California freeway landscapers. So toxic that my grandparents cautioned me never to touch it and, if I did, immediately wash. Every California school child was told the story of the early Spanish explorers who broke off a stick from the plant, used it to stir their stew, and were dead hours after eating. A cautionary tale for kids. Oleander is much favored in desert areas for landscaping since it is drought resistant and comes in several colors. Then there is the poinsettia in every home at Christmas with it's poisonous milky sap that can blind you if it gets in your eyes.

So many common decorative plants that are deadly poison. Makes you wonder if that was one of the punishments God sent when turning Adam and Eve out of Eden.

I don't know what is in my field (at this point nothing since it has been eaten to the ground) but several years ago DH waged war against the castor bean and oleander. He dug them up year after year until they were all gone. Now we have is wild mustard turning the hills green when the rains come, blooming yellow in late spring and early summer, until the hills turn a soft gold as the mustard dies off. The golden hills with blue skies or purple clouds behind them are lovely. Here in southern California we are believed to be dry in the early days there were hidden springs, rills, and ponds. At the bottom of our road we had a natural spring and pond when the houses were built in the early '50'sin the builders of our house had a son who drowned in that pond. The spring was blocked off after that but the early rancheros grazed countless numbers of cattle sheep and goats everywhere and had plenty of water in the canyons. I love history.

Yeah - there is so much out there. And so much untapped and lost in folklore that really could have been useful w/o all the chem-pharm crud. A balance of both would be good. Pharmiculture vs Horticulture Dollars vs Donuts
Doing this is quite eye opening. The mustard we get is gold at least according to the foraging sites. But UC Davis notes that wild mustard seeds contain alkaloids that can be toxic to livestock if ingested in large quantities. And
CAL-PIC says the plant produces allelopathic chemicals that prevent germination of native plants. If that's true then it sure accounts for our hills of golden yellow in the spring. I don't have oleander growing here thank God. But yeah - it's all over the place in landscaping.

 

[Ridgetop]

Our sheep, goats, horses, etc. have eaten the wild mustard in all its stages - green, dry, with and without seeds, both growing and cut and tossed in a pile, with no ill effects. You certainly don't find many different species in with the mustard. You can find some natives but not many.

I think I will overseed my pastures with sheep pasture mix in Texas. I won't overseed the 30 acres of hay (Bahia and Bermuda) since Cody wants to mow and bale hay there. Instead, I will take my rent in bales of hay for winter. By overseeding the grazing pastures, I might be able to raise the protein level with broadleaf grasses and legumes. If I am successful. Have to get rid of the goat weed. DH will have to be "Super Mower" - I will make him a shirt! I wonder what sort of pasture stuff I could over seed that would choke out the goat weed. And the sheep would eat! Any ideas?

 

[SageHill]

I wonder what sort of pasture stuff I could over seed that would choke out the goat weed.

Probably ............... mustard ..................... but you must wear a Franciscan padre costume
In all seriousness, perhaps chicory?? I have no idea what grows in TX.
PS -- is your goat weed the same as our goat head weed??

 

[Baymule]

Nothing eats goat weed. Doves like the seeds, but goat weed produces lots of seeds. Mowing will cut down on goat weed, but it will be a stubble and still make seed on a new shoot at ground level.

 

[Ridgetop]

We have quite a few stands of goat weed. The seeds will sprout each year, so we have to mow/spray before it flowers. Pulling it out by hand won't work since the tiny seeds will be in the soil. DH loves riding on his tractor though, so it is all good - once I get him a special pillow for his metal tractor seat! All that spraying and mowing will also get him out of the house just like a real job allowing me to do my work without interruption.

 

[SageHill]

I'm guessing your goat weed and my goat head weed are two different beasts. The goatheads are nasty seedpods with even meaner torns. The cause of many a kid's flat tire around here. I'll get a decent pic soon.