Building a Simple Quail Cage

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Raising backyard Quail seem to be the flavor of the day. While I’ve been raising them for several years, lately, word has spread about the simplicity of raising them.That’s a good thing for several reasons – it becomes more socially acceptable, it increases the availability of breeding stock, it allows folks to raise some of their own food on a scale small enough for just about any household, and it makes for some GREAT eats.

Popular or not, I’ll be Continue reading →

Free books! Quail Q&A, and other tidbits from Floridahillbilly

Today’s article was brought to you by the generous folks over at Hides.com. Go check out their great line of “Multifunction Eyewear Necessities”, and tell them FloridaHillbilly sent you!

Today I am updating everyone on a few changes here at FloridaHillbilly.com, as well as answering some quail questions that came in last week.

First, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I now include ads in my articles, as well as small ad banners on my sidebar. This is to allow me to continue writing on a daily basis. My wife is very understanding about my drive to write here, but she becomes even MORE understanding when I can generate some income while doing so.

So from here out, you’ll get to see Continue reading →

Guest Post: Spicy Thai Jerky

Today’s article was brought to you by the fine folks over at Reef-Hunter.com. Go check out their great line of custom apparel, and tell them FloridaHillbilly sent you! (click to open a new page)

I received an email from a regular that I’ve gone over with a fine toothed comb, and while I’ve not tried it myself, I know the author well enough to believe it is a good thing. CHopper also lives in Florida, and has some similar interests (And tastes) as I do. We’ve bounced ideas back and forth on several topics, and I’ve found him to be refreshing, if a little stubborn on his required use of fish sauce.

Here is the email and recipe:

db,

After all the great Info I get from you blog I figured it was time to share the love.

I almost Continue reading →

No Post Today

Nothing written today, mostly because I needed my sleep last night. I did want to tell everyone that I’ve Continue reading →

Grind Your Own Burger

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From an article I read recently: “Though it initially made “absolute assurances” that all of its burgers were 100% beef, Burger King has been forced to admit that some of its patties may have contained horse meat, after traces of equine DNA were found at one of their processing plants.“

Now I don’t have a problem with the thought of eating horse meat. I even have a few friends from The U.K. that have eaten quite a bit of horse and said they prefer it to beef. (Oddly enough, one of them is married to a horse trainer…I wonder what happens to THEIR old horses??)

I’ve missed a few meals in my day, (of course not lately, have you seen me?) but it wouldn’t take a lot of coaxing for me to eat Mr. Ed. But my wife and kids are a different story. They stress all the time about what I’m serving them,

“Is this chicken? Are you SURE it’s chicken? It doesn’t look like chicken dad…” (It was)

Or:

“That was some great stir fry dad, the chicken was awesome!” (It wasn’t chicken)

So sadly, my family MUST know what they are eating now…let’s just say I am known for Continue reading →

Smoking Rabbit

Today’s article was brought to you by the fine folks over at Reef-Hunter.com. Go check out their great line of custom apparel, and tell them FloridaHillbilly sent you!

The only thing better than having a good friend with a smoker, is have TWO good friends with a smoker. Last week, my buddy SB and I were talking, and I mentioned that I had a bunch of rabbits to harvest. He offered to smoke some for me, assuming he would get some of it for his efforts.

How could I refuse?

I had 6 rabbits ready for harvest, at what is considered “fryer” stage. This means they are Continue reading →

Interview at InTheRabbitHole.com

Today I’ll be talking instead of writing. I was recently interviewed by the great folks over at InTheRabbitHole.com, Aaron and Jason.

Here is their post regarding my interview:

Episode 101: The Season II Finale

by AARON FRANKEL on MAY 12, 2013

in URBAN SURVIVAL PODCAST EPISODES

Episode 101: The Season II Finale [ 1:23:41 | 38.81 MB

Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download(Right-click, then “Save As”)

itrh art 1400 150x150 Episode 101: The Season II Finale Hosts Aaron and Jason wrap up Season II with special guest Darrell of FloridaHillBilly.com.

Darrell has been a long time listener and friend to the show. And he’s got way more farming experience than we do. So tune in and enjoy the great tips, fun poked at us, and how a well endowed duck killed Darrell’s hens.

But wait, someone said Season Finale!

Yes, that’s correct. We’re taking the bulk of the summer off to recharge our prepper batteries. And work on some projects to make Season III even better than I and II. (Crazy, we know.)

ITRH will be airing best of reruns till we return. And when August 26th 2013 rolls around (when Season III starts) we’ll have all kinds of cool interviews, stories, and, of course, urban farming updates.

But in the mean time, don’t forget to listen to this episode now.

Topics:

All over the map. But fun and educational as always.

Episode Resources:

Darrell’s great blog: FloridayHillbilly.com
How to raise Quail
Quail Egg Scissors
Red Claw Crawfish
Metal Rainwater Harvesting Tanks in Houston

Home Canning – Your First Batch, Strawberry Jam

This is the final entry in my Home Canning series. I cannot stress how simple the whole process is, how little extra equipment you need, how much money you save on the end product, or how much better quality and taste is of the final product. I am able to only come up with one reason not to start canning – you are too lazy to give it a try.

I don’t eat jam very often, it has too much sugar in it for me, but I still make it as a trade item for favors. The same with my Candied Jalapeno recipe, or my Hickory Bark Syrup…they make fantastic trade/barter/gifts. When I get 30 or 40 requests a year for these items from casual friends, that should tell you Continue reading →

Home Canning – Sources for Items to Can

Not everyone has an acre of garden beds producing bushels of produce daily, or pastures for cows, goats, pigs or any other living protein source. Some of use are living in town with barely enough room for a small bed of basil…

Where do we find quality foods to preserve via canning?

Honestly, there are lots of options, depending on your area.

Let’s go from most likely to least likely, according to my area. Keep in mind these may be Continue reading →

Getting Started With Home Canning – Safe Recipe Sources

I mentioned yesterday about “sources for safe recipes”, because unfortunately, the Internet is full of fools writing anything they they misheard as a kid is fact. And in canning, that can lead to very devastating results.

Another source is old family recipe’s handed down from generation to generation. Yes, they have sentimental value…but are they safe?

And to make matters worse, using an untested recipe doesn’t ALWAYS have bad results. In fact, more often than not, there are Continue reading →

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