Hi there all,
I am new to this forum and was wondering if any of you could answer this question. My butternut’s and late rockmellon have gone “nuts” and i am having to prune regularly (about a wheelbarrow load a fortnight) and at present i am putting it on the compost heap. But every time i do my turkey pair voice their disgust at the waste of good green food! So i am looking to find out if i can end the dissaproving noises and give their treat to them? Its not as if they are hard done by, weeds are loved fed and nurtured so they can be fed to the chooks and turkeys, (ducks and geese). And all other garden goodies go to them too, any way i look forward to hearing your opinions!

the chooks should eat it.

Generally, chickens won’t eat what doesn’t suit them…

Dinetta said:

Generally, chickens won’t eat what doesn’t suit them…

Very true..

also generally there isn’t that much chooks won’t eat.

i reckon they know what they shouldn’t eat because when there out they don’t eat the Rhubarb at all.

Thanks for the input, i will pass on the goodies next time.

They’ll make a meal of any pumpkin and rockmelons that aren’t to your liking as well.

Where I come from there are often heaps of rockmenlons that never get sent to market because they are simply too ripe to put in a box.

These are often fed to poultry on the farm or fed to pigs or cattle. The same with pumpkins.

hi Turkeymum and welcome :)

The only proviso I would add is not to give them to the poultry when the vines start getting mouldy at the end of their life. But that is just off the top of my head, not something that I have read anywhere.

Turkeymum said:

But every time i do my turkey pair voice their disgust at the waste of good green food!

Turkeymum, welcome.

Now your Turkeys are pretty cluey. Up here in PNG, we rarely eat pumikins, they take too long to grow and mature and besides, the rest of the plant is soooo tasty. Regularly, the women here will pick the last 30cms of the tendrils including the last few immature leaves, and they will bunch them up into a posy and then sell them at the markets for around 20toea or around 11cents for each bundle.

Now, you cook these just like spinach, a quick stir fry, steam or in coconut milk.

And you can do likewise with the ends of Tulip Trees, and Choko vines.

Don’t waste the tendril ends on your turkeys, eat ‘em yourself!

pain master said:

Turkeymum said:

But every time i do my turkey pair voice their disgust at the waste of good green food!

Turkeymum, welcome.

Now your Turkeys are pretty cluey. Up here in PNG, we rarely eat pumikins, they take too long to grow and mature and besides, the rest of the plant is soooo tasty. Regularly, the women here will pick the last 30cms of the tendrils including the last few immature leaves, and they will bunch them up into a posy and then sell them at the markets for around 20toea or around 11cents for each bundle.

Now, you cook these just like spinach, a quick stir fry, steam or in coconut milk.

And you can do likewise with the ends of Tulip Trees, and Choko vines.

Don’t waste the tendril ends on your turkeys, eat ‘em yourself!

Italians do the same and they eat the flowers from the Zucchini and pumpkin.

roughbarked said:

pain master said:

Turkeymum said:

But every time i do my turkey pair voice their disgust at the waste of good green food!

Turkeymum, welcome.

Now your Turkeys are pretty cluey. Up here in PNG, we rarely eat pumikins, they take too long to grow and mature and besides, the rest of the plant is soooo tasty. Regularly, the women here will pick the last 30cms of the tendrils including the last few immature leaves, and they will bunch them up into a posy and then sell them at the markets for around 20toea or around 11cents for each bundle.

Now, you cook these just like spinach, a quick stir fry, steam or in coconut milk.

And you can do likewise with the ends of Tulip Trees, and Choko vines.

Don’t waste the tendril ends on your turkeys, eat ‘em yourself!

Italians do the same and they eat the flowers from the Zucchini and pumpkin.

^ er .. the male flowers ;)

I see Italians out in the fields of zucchini or pumpkin.. picking male flowers while also helping pollinate female flowers by spilling pollen as they go.. These are cooked usually as battered in deep fry or eaten in salads.

roughbarked said:

pain master said:

Turkeymum said:

But every time i do my turkey pair voice their disgust at the waste of good green food!

Turkeymum, welcome.

Now your Turkeys are pretty cluey. Up here in PNG, we rarely eat pumikins, they take too long to grow and mature and besides, the rest of the plant is soooo tasty. Regularly, the women here will pick the last 30cms of the tendrils including the last few immature leaves, and they will bunch them up into a posy and then sell them at the markets for around 20toea or around 11cents for each bundle.

Now, you cook these just like spinach, a quick stir fry, steam or in coconut milk.

And you can do likewise with the ends of Tulip Trees, and Choko vines.

Don’t waste the tendril ends on your turkeys, eat ‘em yourself!

Italians do the same and they eat the flowers from the Zucchini and pumpkin.

Just don’t get carried away experimenting…all parts of the plant from the solanum family other than the fruit are highly toxic, so leave tomatoes, capsicums, chili and potato plants well alone.