# Mustard Greens, Collard Greens



## bighairyone (Jan 11, 2010)

IGNORANCE ALERT........
can you find the above in your local supermarket. i would like to use them as a staple veg for beardies but have looked and cant seem to find them.


----------



## VW_Rick (Nov 8, 2009)

Thats the yank term, spring greens is the english one, available in tesco  I'm not so sure about mustard greens, I know you can get the seeds pretty easily and they grow well, but maybe someone will know somewhere to buy pre grown


----------



## Rydeboyz (Jan 3, 2010)

bighairyone said:


> IGNORANCE ALERT........
> can you find the above in your local supermarket. i would like to use them as a staple veg for beardies but have looked and cant seem to find them.


Not answering the question exactly but Mustard is very easy to grow yourself, it's just like cress! Only takes about 2 weeks.


----------



## bighairyone (Jan 11, 2010)

VW_Rick said:


> Thats the yank term, spring greens is the english one, available in tesco


which one?



Rydeboyz said:


> Not answering the question exactly but Mustard is very easy to grow yourself, it's just like cress! Only takes about 2 weeks.


can i use cress as a staple?


----------



## VW_Rick (Nov 8, 2009)

The one that says spring greens on the front . No, cress is not a staple diet for any animal, it's pretty much just water.


----------



## bighairyone (Jan 11, 2010)

VW_Rick said:


> The one that says spring greens on the front . No, cress is not a staple diet for any animal, it's pretty much just water.


lol you know what i mean, is it the Yanks term for Collard or Mustard?


----------



## VW_Rick (Nov 8, 2009)

Oh sorry, collard greens.


----------



## bighairyone (Jan 11, 2010)

cheers


----------



## Dawn-Marie (Jul 8, 2008)

aye morrisons and sainsburys sell spring greens in a bag, use those as stable and any others to add and make it exciting lol


----------



## Rydeboyz (Jan 3, 2010)

I take that back.. If you want your mustard as an alternative to cress it takes about 2 weeks to grow. Otherwise you're looking at 6 weeks or so for full leaf Mustard.


----------



## bighairyone (Jan 11, 2010)

what about Turnip greens?? you can tell i dont do the shopping lol


----------



## VW_Rick (Nov 8, 2009)

Spring greens are best, very good nutrient ratio's hence why it's so widely advised!


----------



## herriotfan (Dec 3, 2009)

I wondered what about that too..............thanks for the answer.
Tesco do, indeed sell spring greens, looks like their cheap, value cabbage chopped up to me!!
So what other beardie foods are given one name by British and another by Americans? 
All food translations added to forum would be good!
Or any other country.........
Go for it, tell us..........................................................................


----------



## awh (Aug 20, 2008)

all spring greens are is young cabbage grown closer together


----------



## Geckogirl_88 (Apr 24, 2009)

So can u use cabbage instead?
I was gonna use romaine lettuce as staple
xx


----------



## Iggylover (Sep 2, 2009)

> So can u use cabbage instead?
> I was gonna use romaine lettuce as staple
> xx
> __________________


You can use most of the types of cabbage, think dark green leafy veg when you choosing what to feed your lizard. Dont feed any type of lettuce to your lizard basically all water.


----------



## Nihlus (Jul 15, 2009)

Romaine lettuce is the best kind of lettuce to use but even that will give them the runs so don't use it as a staple stick with the spring greens or butternut squash.


----------



## VW_Rick (Nov 8, 2009)

Even better... 



Nihlus said:


> Romaine lettuce is the best kind of lettuce to use but even that will give them the runs so don't use it as a staple stick with the spring greens _AND_ butternut squash.



: victory:


----------



## xautomaticflowersx (Sep 7, 2009)

I've found that Asda's spring greens are much better (because I love them as much as my reptiles!) than the ones in Morrisons and Sainsburys. Tesco only seem to do crappy pre-chopped stuff in a bag which is woody as hell and has lots of the paler yellow/green in it and not as much of the dark green stuff.


----------



## Ethan1451 (May 6, 2012)

Hey can I freeze spring greens, does it defrost without getting soggy, to give to a beardie?


----------



## Manic Marley (Apr 21, 2012)

This might help also, it tells you what's best as staple etc

Food chart for bearded dragons


----------



## Manic Marley (Apr 21, 2012)

Also when giving them squash how o you prepare it? Do you just chop it up, grate it, remove skin etc


----------



## Tombo46 (Aug 5, 2010)

This thread makes me sad : (

Where's the mention of the friendly local Greengrocer?


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Manic Marley said:


> Also when giving them squash how o you prepare it? Do you just chop it up, grate it, remove skin etc


 
I grate it, or chop it up I am a beleiver in variety and with that also comes different ways of offering the food too, the preference is yours but I mostly grate it, personally I remove the skin on a part of it before shredding, the rest of the skin I leave on for extra protection to help keep it a bit longer.

Spring greens, they last quite a while anyways, and placing it in the fridge you should easily get a couple of weeks out of it.


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Just thought this is worth a shot since I threw this at some iguana keepers yesterday and today and most have it, but tescos is selling mixed salad packs with mustard greens in them for those interested I know it is often hard to find it, its the red packet mixed in with tatsoi, pack choi, rocket and mustard, Alby and the water dragons absaloutely loved it, I don't think they get it in very often either so I would definately check it out if you have one near you, they also sell other mixed packets different colours with some interesting varieties in like mazuna etc.


----------



## bloodisntred (May 21, 2012)

me and my bf have the same problem!
tesco morrisons etc 
when we got our iggy we were told NO CABBAGES etc and LETTUCE BUT!! how the hell are you spose to know the calcium to phrosphurus ratio of a green plant in a bag that looks like cabbage and is just being sold as fresh greens??? 
dosent really help 
we are growing giant red mustared which look a bit like a bush/dock leaves and we also have mustard greens which look exacly like fress unfortunitly this is our 3rd attemp at growing plants as they keep dying

i know, another post which hasnt answered you quetion but i just fort id share

also id reccomend looking round farmers markets like when they hold random events for largest carrot and stuff you might be in luk sell all kings of weird stuff


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

bloodisntred said:


> me and my bf have the same problem!
> tesco morrisons etc
> when we got our iggy we were told NO CABBAGES etc and LETTUCE BUT!! how the hell are you spose to know the calcium to phrosphurus ratio of a green plant in a bag that looks like cabbage and is just being sold as fresh greens???
> dosent really help
> ...


Every food is built up of an abundance of vitamins and minerals, and yes this also includes lettuces despite that "no nutriton" myth!
That myth most likley was born when comparing it to other greens.

You check nutritonal food charts, most give similar results of the vitamin and mineral count, As for the issue of lettuce there is infact a number of lettuces that can play a part in a balanced and thought out diet, romaine is the preference most tend to feed if they feed it at all. the problems with lettuce come from when it is fed far too often, your not going to feed iceberg lettuce for example too often because your iggy is not going to be getting the energy it needs from the food, so unless you have a good reason to pump them with more water etc (failing kidneys) or overall dehydration, it would be best to feed another kind if you wanted to include it.

Your not going to feed iceberg lettuce for example it is almost a 90% + water and that just won't provide the energy your iggy will need.

The very staple foods you feed can be harmful if fed in large enough quantities as can lettuce. Brassica is a family of greens which are often used as staples like the spring greens and mustard greens and they are extremely high in goitrogens too, variety is the spice of life as they say.

I know I possibly am confusing you and I am not telling you to go out and feed your iguana lettuce as a staple but just merely pointing out that lettuce along with other foods like cabbage can play a part in a thought out diet with some planning, you are not going to cause your pet to become malnourished feeding things mixed in with the other greens, infact I would be more worried about those goitrogens in the staple foods people feed.

I suppose it depends entirely on the intent of the food your feeding 
I can link you up to some papers if you like?
One of my favorite has to be the one written by F. Frye.

As for the issue of knowing what is in fresh greens nutritionally, both collards and spring greens (sold as fresh greens in some super markets) they are nutritionally almost identical.


----------

