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When you know you know.
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This post was originally written a few years ago. Living close to land gives you a window into possibilities of what is to come. Nature wants us to thrive, all we need to do is respect it and listen. ❤️
🌱Protein In The Victory Garden🌱
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Every now and again I let my brain do the exercise of “what if everything in the world stopped? What if all I had was what was on my land?” We are fortunate to have some space to plant veggie gardens as well as enough land for chickens and quail. We would have our food groups pretty well covered on the protein and veggie front.
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After I tick the mental boxes in my head of our nourishment needs I try to imagine myself in a city with a small backyard or only a rooftop to play around with. In that scenario my protein choice would be coming from the quail eggs. Quail like to be in small spaces where they feel safe (think a rabbit hutch) and they would be perfect for a small urban setting. They mature at 6-8 weeks of age, allowing them to begin laying eggs in a very swift amount of time.
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The protein from an egg is easier for our body to assimilate than any meat or milk source. The humble egg laid by the humble chicken or quail hen are nutritional gold!
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Quail prefer to be in confinement where they feel safe. In such a setting their droppings can be easily collected to provide awesome fertilizer for the gardens and before you know it they are closing the loop on your sustainability needs. 🌱
Quail lay as frequently as chickens and if the eggs are left unwashed and stored properly in a temperature regulated space they can can be unrefrigerated and remain good for months. Back in the days before refrigeration and supplemental light folks would collect excess eggs in the summer and store them for the fall and winter packed in straw in root cellars. We could achieve the same thing today in a basement or pantry depending on the temperature of our houses. 🌱
The type of quail that lay the eggs in this photo are Pharoh Coturnix. They reveal their gender at 3 weeks of age through a distinct feather pattern on their breast. They begin laying 6 weeks after hatch ❤️
Shared from Alchemist Farm & Garden on FB https://www.facebook.com/alchemistfarm/photos/a.1630833473873003/2660145327608474/?type=3
(I am sharing posts that I want to save like this due to having so many saved pages and posts deleted on social media as well as other webpages disappearing. Original link will always be provided but I cannot guarantee the original page still exists)