Kathy547's blog: All things RUTABAGA

I'm in ALOT of holistic type groups on Facebook for both humans & animals. I prefer most of the old ways of different peoples over modern medicine (but will still pop an aspirin, Tylenol, or ibuprofen over finding some willow bark or whatever to chew in a a heartbeat). I've seldom had insurance so doctor visits were always a "bleeding or no breathing" requirement. My profile picture is of my dog Bear, who went missing April 1, 2016. His litter mate, Axle, was always runty, & had a few seizures & parvo within a few weeks of me giving them their puppy wormer. Axle's always been a little "slow" & went wherever Bear went. This was never really a problem as we live in a rural area, where houses are sometimes miles apart. We are surrounded by woods & snakes are an issue, & Bear went after any he saw. Anyway, when he went missing, Axle mourned him. He would go out to the edge of the field & do this bark/howl/cry. Over & over & over. He plastered himself to me. If I went outdoors, he went outdoors & would literally press up to me, looking up at me then out towards the fields & trees. If I went inside, he went inside. For weeks he would only eat if I showed him I was holding his bowl. My playful, entertaining himself boy stopped being himself. About 2 months later, I noticed what I found out were hot spots. Axle & Bear were the result of someone dumping a corgi/corgi mix male & later someone else dumping a husky/husky mix female that I thought I had been spade. (My adult daughter's roommate left their dog & then she in turn brought her to my house. No permission to do so=dumped). Bear looked more husky but Axle looks more collie & corgi. With his thick coat, the hot spot(s) were horrible by the time I could really tell something was wrong. For months I took him to the vet & got him shaved, a medicated bath, & medications, but as soon as we would finish up, his issues would return. I joined group after group & found out some of his issues could be flea & tick treatments so I started doing more holistic things. I changed foods. I then started doing a few things from different groups & he finally stopped itching, & having yeast issues. And then I got lazy & now we're back to square one. I lost one of my part time jobs & could no longer afford regular vet visits. So I delved deeper into holistic methods.

What does this have to do with rutabagas? Well, in one of the groups, LOTS of people were gushing about how helpful a three day rutabega cleanse was for their dogs & cats. One lady even said her dog was greatly helped with it after getting into the trash, eating a plastic bag, & becoming blocked. So I did a three day cleanse for Axle, & he did seem better. I then started feeding him a cooked diet but got lazy & money got tight so I went back to whatever dog food was on sale. And then he got worse & that's where we are now. He just finished a three day cleanse of just rutabega. Now we're on a rutabega with celery cooked in with it cleanse. I also add some cottage cheese to his bowl & a boiled egg, some sardines in water or both. I'll do this until the rutabega is all gone & then its back to a cooked diet.

To do the rutabega cleanse: Cut both ends off & peel the rutabega(s). Cut into small bite size pieces. Put in a pot with enough water to cover & boil over low heat for 3 hours until they turn this orange color. No salt, no butter. I then take a potato masher & kind of mash them. Axle eats his no problem but some people have to add unsalted butter or something for their guys. You swap the rutabega for their regular food & feed them the same amount of rutabega as their food. For 3 days you only give them the rutabega & any medications or supplements you normally give.

Before this, I had never bought a rutabega in my life. At nearly $2 a pound, getting enough for just my dogs for a 3 day cleanse got expensive fast. So I started thinking about maybe growing my own. Now, here in the south, lots of people grow turnip greens & will occasionally use turnips in their turnip greens. I don't see people buying just the turnips but they sell them so I guess they do. I've never heard anyone mention rutabega but I do notice sometimes the grocery stores have them.

Here's a stock photo showing the difference between a turnip & a rutabega. People get these confused & often think they're the same.



Here's a fact sheet from the University of Arkansas Extension:






Here are some links for pet owners just in case anyone is interested. These aren't necessarily about rutabegas specifically but are about pet health & detoxing.

https://wearethecure.org/8-sup...

https://www.chagrinfallspetcli...

https://www.naturalawakenings....

https://thenaturalpetdoctor.co...

This link answers the question "Can dogs eat rutebaga?"
https://outfitters.com/health/...

Here are a couple that talks about the health benefits for humans, including cancer:
https://www.nature-and-garden....

https://drake.com/nutrition/ru...

Found more information & a few recipes on the Old Farmer's Almanac site:
https://www.almanac.com/plant/...

If I'm understanding the chart at the following site, it says grow 5-10 plants per person. That seems awfully low to have enough rutabagas for all year.

https://harvesttotable.com/veg...

https://morningchores.com/vege...

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