Mallow - Malva parviflora

When I was a boy my friends and I would often pick the immature fruit off the cheeseweed and eat them raw. We'd collect hand fulls of them, peel off the outer covering and pop them into our mouth. The flavor was a bit sweet like carrot but no after taste.  Some cultures make a green sauce out of the mallow leaves and they can be boiled like spinach. I'll have to do more experimenting.

Mallow grows in soil that has been disturbed. It has a deep tap root and in our area over winters and is one of the first greens that emerge in the spring. If you pull them from the top, the branches typically break off and it keeps coming back. That's fine if you want a steady supply of greens for your rabbits but I use a grub hoe to dig deep and get the root. Rabbits can eat all parts of the plant. Most of my rabbits will eat at least some mallow but some of them obviously like it better than others. I never only feed mallow, as always, give variety.

I've read that mallow is poisonous for some livestock such as sheep and horses but sounds like it depends on the nitrogen levels. I've never had any problem feeding mallow to rabbits but if I feed more than they can eat, it gets left in the cage. I just throw any left over in the compost.

You can dry the entire plant and store it for winter hay. Fresh or dry be sure to mix with several other plants. When feeding without pellets, I always offer at least five different plants at one time to my rabbits. Keeps them healthy and happy.

Malva parviflora

Has large tap root