Spicey herbs?

[NZminilops]

I bought some mint to grow the other day and didn't take much notice of it until I just re-potted it a few minutes ago. I hate mint so I got it for bunny food, but I couldn't smell anything minty about the plant so took a bite of a leave...YIKES!

It sort of tastes like chillies or something, it's kind of spicey! I think it's an asian mint but I have lost the part of the labeling that had the name on it. I wish I had sampled it before buying it

Should I just chuck it out? Seems a pity, it does taste nice, just not sure if something spicey tasting would be ok for rabbits? I could just keep it and use it for cooking for myself though, just unsure if it would be safe or not for buns.

Also is basil ok for rabbits? I bought some of that to grow too, but I'm not a herb person at all and to me it seems strong and made my mouth feel a little numb/weird eating it.

 

[naturestee]

Wow, no offense buy you have very sensitive taste buds! All mint varieties are safe for rabbits, mine rather like them. Same with basil. Not all buns will like all herbs, but mine like most of them. Actually the cilantro I grow is much stronger than the store stuff and my buns go nuts over it.

If you want a milder herb try lemon balm. It's also a perennial in the mint family so you'll want to keep it potted to prevent it from taking over the yard. My buns also like lavender, rosemary, and thyme.

 

[NZminilops]

That is what's weird about the plants as i don't normally have sensitive tase buds really - well not to an extreme degree. I love hot spicey curry but this mint was just, woah! :shock: I would equate the heat to jalapenos (hope I spelt that right). Has no minty smell at all. It has small dark leaves with a redish brown streak in each leaf.

Maybe we have some weird varieties about at the moment? The basil isn't strong in flavour that I can tell, I have never had basil before though, was just surprised that it left a sort of tingly numb feeling in my mouth.

I gave Sakura a little taste of both, she likes the hot spicey mint but wasn't keen on the basil.

I've got everything growing inside on the kitchen windowsill, I know how mint can be, but was thinking to actually stick that outside and HOPE it goes wild hehe! I hate the garden and filling it with something that grows itself sounds good.

I have a large lavender bush, didn't know/remember that it was rabbit safe, excellent , thanks for your advice.

 

[Little Bay Poo]

I tried some parsley once to see why the bunnies liked it. That stuff was nasty and had a very strong flavor...I had to spit it out. A couple of days ago I tried some dry oatmeal since the bunnies go crazy for it. It tasted like paper. I have yet to try their pellets...not sure if I can psych myself up for that one. Anyhow, I don't understand their food choices :dunno

 

[Maureen Las]

I tried to chew hay once to see what kind of teeth were necessary to chew it :biggrin2:

I couldn't even make a dent in it and it was really awful (yeah I know that sounds crazy )

I also bought mustard greens once instead of kale and tried it raw to see what it tasted like. Burned the *** out of my mouth. I'ts on the OK list so I gave them each a little and of course they like it.
I don't understand their food choices either.

 

[mouse_chalk]

LOL @ you guys!! :rofl:

I've tried hay too lol- it tastes horrible (like dried grass- DUH!) and is sooo hard to chew! Wont be doing that again And oats DO taste like paper, don't they? I tried them dry to try and work out just why the bunnies go so crazy for them, but it's lost on me :dunno

Mind you, bunnies eat cecals, and seem to really enjoy them (see the blissful look on their face as they chew them?), and that I can NEVER understand lol!

Parsley makes me sick and even the smell of it is horrible to me. Chalk comes up and kisses me with parsley breath and I'm like 'awww so cute, but eeew! No!'

We love Basil and coriander (cilantro) in my house- I use them in cooking all the time. Basil goes great in a tomato soup/sauce, and I make a little salady-type thing with chopped coriander, red onion and tomato in a little vinegar and salt and pepper

Basil is a very popular herb with the buns! Sadly they don't like mint, which is a shame because it's cheap and you can always find that in supermarkets...

 

[Michaela]

Little Bay Poo wrote:

I tried some parsley once to see why the bunnies liked it. That stuff was nasty and had a very strong flavor...I had to spit it out. A couple of days ago I tried some dry oatmeal since the bunnies go crazy for it. It tasted like paper. I have yet to try their pellets...not sure if I can psych myself up for that one. Anyhow, I don't understand their food choices :dunno

Don't try pellets they are yucky! :yuck So is hay.. Oats are nice though!

I've heard about mint growing well too.. never tried the bunnies with it, I may buy some and try and grow it if they like it. We've been trying to grow parsley as the rabbits love it, but so far it hasn't gone very well. :?

 

[NZminilops]

Parsley is GGRRROOOSSS! I guess I just don't like herbs :?, I don't think there is any I do like, perhaps chives? Is that a herb?

The things we do for our buns! I've tried pellets before, sort of boring tasting. I actually eat dried oats a lot though, not because of the rabbits, just always liked my cereal type products dry.

 

[Maureen Las]

Cilantro is pretty good if you like a mexican dip for chips..

 

[BethM]

If the mint you got was in the edible herb section of the store, it's probably ok for the bunnies.

Remember, there are some plants with "mint" in the common name, though they may not be any relation to an edible mint plant. Also, there are many, many plants in the mint family (many other herbs, including basil, thyme, rosemary, lavender,...are in the mint family) that are edible, but there are a few that can be toxic. (Pennyroyal can be toxic.) If you roll the stem between your fingers, and it feels square instead of round, it is in the mint family, at least. Also, the leaves will be opposite. (The leaves in pairs, directly opposite each other on the stem.)

I don't mean to be a downer, but better safe than sorry, if you're not totally sure what kind of mint it is. If you don't know for sure, check with the place you bought it from, or go back and look at the tag on another of the same plant.


That being said, my bunnies love the spearmint I gave them this year, but wouldn't go near peppermint I offered last year.
The mint is still going strong on my deck, but my apartment complex is repainting all the buildings, so I no longer consider any of my herbs to be edible, to me or the bunnies, because there will be paint on them now. It's a shame, I've got two *huge* basil plants, and a large rosemary, and a lavender, as well as the mint. Seems a waste. Oh yeah, an oregano and chives, too. Unfortunately, there is nowhere I can put the plants inside until painting is done. I don't think the workers will intentionally spray the plants with paint, but I know some fine droplets will get on them.

 

[NZminilops]

Thanks for that! You're not being a downer at all .

I did some research and what was sold to me as "Asian mint" is infact Vietnamese coriander, a mint relative. I thought it smelt like laksa (a soup type thing that is very delicious), and now that I can place the smell I think it smells great! Still tastes hot enough to burn my eyebrows off though and I don't think it will be suitable for rabbit consumption.

I read online " The term “Vietnamese mint” frequently found in English literature is botanic nonsense, as peppermint belongs to a distant plant family, Lamiaceae."

So I'm thinking the supermarket was silly to sell it as a mint, but oh well, it smells nice .

 

[shelly316]

Sounds like it could be cilantro? Cilantro is kind of spicy and is used ina lot of Mexican dishes. Does it look just like flat leaf parsley? I often have trouble figuring out which is which at the supermarket as they like to put them RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER!

 

[Hazel-Mom]

I grow Vietnamese Coriander in my garden! (no, it's not like cilantro at all! It's a different family, even.) I didn't think it was that hot, though it does tase strong.
I use it once in a while to spice up salads, you don't use much of it and chop it fine, and gives the salad a nice flavour.
It's ok for buns to eat. Hazel doesn't like it very much, though she'll nibble some once in a while. White Chocolate liked it more.