Umm, what's a mangel?

I just read they were a long hot summer/ southern crop. Northern areas should look at other crops- I think turnips and fodder beets are the equivalant.

and, mangonel is the "upgrade" to the onager, and precurosr to the catapult!

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According to Jim at Prairie Seeds, we can grow them here in BC...he grows them in Saskatchewan....

Hi, I would like a packet of the mangel seeds. I don't have your address so if you would let me know what it is I will send the money. Thanks Rita

The opposite is true. Mangels and sugar beets are very common in North Europe. In fact, their origin goes back to Germany and Poland.

Mangels ARE fodder beets!

Martin

Here's an alternative feed article for farmstead animals from Countryside that mentions mangels.

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Aha! So a mangel is a fodder beet! Thank you Martin, I had not been able to figure out the difference between the two!

I see that Wiki has it right, too. www.en.wikipedia.org/Beet
Sugar beets and mangels are virtually identical except that one is used to make sugar and the other used for feeding livestock. In fact, the tops of sugar beets are also fed as silage and the farmers may even get the pulp back to use as feed.

If anyone in Canada needs a packet of mangel seed, doesn't cost much more to send one north. Just can't use any loonies in return!

Martin

Thank you Martin...I am not sure if seeds can be sent easily over the border, I have never done it....

I'll take a look at the link u put up....since I thought they were different, I ALSO ordered sugar beet seeds, thank goodness only 1 pkt...I have more mangel seed coming than that! Here's hoping we are overrun with them by this Fall, lol.

Seeds are no problem. It's plants, roots, tubers, and bulbs into and out of Canada which have severe restrictions. Seed for "hobby gardeners" only has restrictions for certain invasive weeds. Thus far this year, I've sent tomato and bean seed to BC (1), ONT (3), and QUE (1). Packets are marked "Garden Seeds" and take about 10 to 14 days to reach their destinations.

Martin

I'm from Germany and grew up in a farming community. My aunt/uncle had a farm back then [25+ yrs ago] and they raised mangels for their pigs [got shredded raw in something that looked a lot like a chipper/shredder into a large vat where they cooked their pigs food] before feeding. Their neighbors had horses who loved the mangels as well [raw to gnaw on], I'm not sure if their cows got any, but they also cut them into large slices/chunks for their rabbits.

My guess is they would be good for all types of lifestock - either cooked [pigs + chickens], or raw as a supplemental feed. The horses + rabbits actually loved theirs. If I recall correctly the green tops went also to the cows and rabbits.

The german word for it was "Rummeln or Rummelsche", and they were huge. Looked in shape and color somewhat like smooth and evenly grown sweet potatoes, but easy the size of large cantelopes or small watermelons, just shaped differently and heavy! If I recall correctly this is the same type "Rueben" that is used to make sugar over there.

How would these be stored? Could they be stored in a barn, as long as they were in a dry area out of the air and sun? How long would they safely store do you think? And what would the nutritional value be?

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Quoting John Seymour....

"Fodder beets are very similar to mangels, but smaller and far more nutritious.....high in protein....personally I think they are a better crop". "Sow and thin exactly like mangels but thin to 8 inches".

He also suggests turnips if you have a have a "cold wet season" with a late planting. BC has a multitude of climates, you ust can't gneralize not knowing where exactly you are. But IMO the long season areas have a wet spring which sounds like poor planting weather and the interior has the dry heat they like, though frosts finish late and come early in many places.
I've been considering trying them due to the 50 tonnes per acre claim, but will also try fodder beets and turnips and compare for what works best here.

(Page 159/160 in The Self-Sufficient Life)

I don't know how someone could mix that up! Mangels were developed from chard. Sugar beets were developed from mangels. Anything in between chard and sugar beets is a mangel. There ARE a number of varieties of mangels and development continues. That could be what led that author to give misleading information. The two varieties offered by Jung's are Mammoth Long Red and Golden Eckendorf. The first is the most common for stock feed and can easily grow to 20 pounds. 15" spacing is used for them. The second has a more tapered root and could handle 8" spacing.

Martin

Dirtslinger, yes I agree with you for sure that some parts of BC are likely not suitable for growing mangels....do u mind my asking whereabouts you are located?

We are in the Cariboo....very cold in winter, lots of snow, hot and dry in summer, BUT with temperatures cooling a great deal in the evening. But I am quite sure we won't have trouble growing mangels. At least we are going to try!

On the Coast, especially North Coast, I could see more of a problem, because of so much rain...but it is still worth a try, isn't it?

Edited to add: Have u tried rutabagas? If you can grow good turnips, you should be able to grow rutabagas...they get big, and can be fed to livestock

MisFitFarm, the books I have read say to store them in a clamp....lol I am still unsure as to what that actually means...

we are going to store ours in our cold room downstairs, OR in an area of the barn, provided we get the rest of the walls framed....too much to do around this place still!

You should be able to store them the same way as rutabagas

Any place where you can grow beets or chard will grow mangels and sugar beets since they are all the same species of plant but different variations. The world record beet was grown in Alaska.

For storage, I only saw them in temporary field piles in Europe. Fall rains then rinse off most remaining dirt. All information suggests storing them no higher than about 4' to allow some air circulation. As with carrots, rutabagas, beets, potatoes, etc., important thing is to not allow them to freeze. Thus covering them with straw inside a barn would be the easiest way. They would be protected from the cold but still be able to "breathe".

Martin

As far as I can remember they had them in something that did doubleduty like a root cellar, along with bins and piles of potatoes and cabbages for the pigs [and the household]. It was part of the stables/barn, partitioned off [or possibly added on] w. cinderblock, roofed over but semi open to the front. About the size of an extra large single car garage and stock full with Rueben every late summer/fall. they would also have huge piles of it in the barn along w. hay + straw. They used a canvas tarp to cover front of the opening to avoid them getting wet, but other than that I don't remember any other particular care given to storage. Keep in mind I was a kid back then and not particularly interested in stuff like that [I just recall as it was the perfect dark hidey hole for playing hide and seek and the other girls would never go inside because of the spider webs, LOL].

I have no idea about nutritional values - but it along with potatoes, was the mainstay of my aunts pigs rations. They would split the very large ones apart with an axe and then run them through a shredder to create a wet soupy mix, that would be boiled in a large vat along with potatoes, cabbages and other garden stuff [it looked gross to me as a kid and I honestly never paid much attention to it].

The neighbor with the horses, rabbits and cows had some in piles in their hay barn, also covered with hay or straw and then a tarp - I think the idea was to keep them from freezing over winter, not so much to keep air out. I do remember that while the horses seemed to enjoy them, they only got a half a one or a small one a day [keep in mind these things were big and heavy] - more of a treat or supplement than actual for maintenance or regular feed. The rabbits got some quite frequently, but mainly were on either fresh gras [cut daily] or home raised hay. No pellets back then [25-30 years ago] and only a bit of oats + sunflower seeds for grain [again more treat/supplement than regular maintenance I think]. I do remember the neighbor getting truck loads of day old bread from a bakery or some such, and that was a regular part of all their animal feed...

Thank you for posting that...I am going to show the storage method to my husband...

Thanks so much, lmnde! That was great information. I'm getting more and more interested!

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