GARDEN DELICACIES Grow your own rabbit food

Bannies thrive on fresh herbs and vegetables. These lush plants provide our pets with the essential vitamins and minerals the need to stay healthy. Plus, bunnies love to eat them!

Although most rabbit owners buy their pets herbs and vegetables at the grocery store, some prefer to cultivate their bunnies’ meals. While buying your produce may seen easier than growing it yourself, you’ll find plenty of benefits to planting and harvesting your own rabbit food right at home.

Frist and froemost is your rabbit’s health. Chances are high that the produce your buy in the supermarket has been grown with chemical fertilizers and treated with insecticides and herbicides. Even though you might thorougly wash the produce before you offer it to your pet, some residual chemicals usually remain.

Another good reason to grow your own garden delicacies is that it will give you a sense of accomplishment and pride. Knowing that you have cultivated your pet’s food yourself-and being assured that it is healthy and even better tasting (grocery-bought produce usually pales in comparison to home-grown veggies)-will make you feel like the best rabbit owner around.

Enough to whet your appetite? Here’s how to get starded:

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Finding the right location for your garden is your first mission. Most herbes and vegetables love the sun, so choose an area of your yard that receives at least eight hours of direct sunchine each day. If you choose to grow vegetables that thrive in filtered sun (sunlight coming though the shade of a tree) like endive, cilantro and arugula, you can replicate this by putting up a shade net over that part of your garden.

Your garden soil should be able to drain well, so pick a high spot in your yard. Even better, consider installing a raised bed, which should be several inches above the ground.