The Foodist: Exotic Quail Egg Salad

The Foodist: Exotic Quail Egg Salad

The Foodist: Spinach, Artichoke, and Quail Egg Salad

This salad is a surprising and savory delight! The Foodist: Exotic Quail Egg Salad and for a fun surprise add hot bacon or hot bacon dressing. Hearty and very good spring through winter.

Adapted from a recipe by Beth Sexton Stryker published Bon Appétit (May 1992). We made some changes and added the quail eggs. Those quail are laying dozens of eggs a week!

Ingredients

Salad

  • 4 cups stemmed fresh spinach (one 10 oz bag)
  • 1 can artichokes
  • 6 slices of bacon
  • 12 quail eggs, boiled
  • Salt and crack pepper

Salad Dressing

  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup chopped shallot
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

  1. Prepare and wash the spinach and drain artichokes. Mix the salad in a stainless salad bowl.
  2. Cook bacon to a crispy texture, drain, pat clear, and crumble. Add bacon to the salad. Preserve the bacon grease.
  3. Combine the dressing ingredients and whisk sharply and reserve to the side in a bowl.
  4. Serve the salad and top with the vinaigrette.
  5. Heat vinaigrette, if desired.

Options

Use the reserved bacon grease to wilt the spinach for a hearty and warm salad for winter. See the poached duck egg and wilted green salad here. The extra dressing can be used with boiled potatoes or steamed green vegetables to make an instant salad later in the week. Of course, this salad is easily converted to a vegetarian option by omitting bacon.

This salad is a crowd pleaser. It can be modified in a variety of different ways. Wilted, served as an appetizer on crackers, or turned into a minestrone, there are options!


Revisiting the Chicken/Duck Run in 2024

Revisiting the Chicken/Duck Run in 2024

Ah, the poultry run between the livestock shed and the energy generation shed! What a delight it is. I think it’s time for revisiting the chicken/duck run in 2024.

Why Revisit?

Well there are two main reasons I need to modify this system. The first being that when it works, it’s great, but when it doesn’t – like in the winter – it’s bad. The second is that it is labor and resource heavy to maintain it with satisfactory sanitation.

The issue is the rubber horse mattes. They are terrific and are required by law in my City. They are easy to clean, impermeable and long-lasting. The weakness is that I cannot adequately collect the manure runoff in a sustainable way for long before they clog or at all in the winter.

I was beginning to think that I had to modify the understructure of the mattes in a way that allows for chickens and ducks to have more natural materials beneath their feet. Secondly, I need a system that will manage manure in a way that does not back up. I found my solution from an unlikely source.

Paris or Bust

My original proof of concept was the redesigned 19th Century sewers of Paris. Allow water and waste to flow through channels and down into a main sewer where I could treat wastes with diatomaceous earth and UV radiation to cure the hot, acidic manure in a covered cistern. Then I could reuse the manure as a potent nutrient resource.

Alas, my sewers were under-designed and would clog easily. Even an 8″ diameter pipe and grated sumps placed strategically around the run were insufficient. In order for the system to work, I needed to engineer a 30cm (18″) drop which meant a cistern five feet deep.

Obviously that is a lot of work. It would also be a pain to empty. It does not work well in winter either.

Tour of The Livestock Sheds

Clean and functional poultry run

Dysfunctional Run in winter

The bioPath to the north of the poultry run and the manure collection cistern

Leave It To The Kids

Because this BioTechnology Summer Camp is an applied STEM summer camp, the team also came up with a series of solutions to the messy wastes and backup problem. Scrap it. Create a hybrid system that benefits animals and humans.

Team Duck, Mezzacello BioTechnology Camp Students

I have known this was a brewing issue for a while now. After two winters I can see the many flaws in my plan. But it was my BioTechnology Summer Camp Kids that really drove the point home.

In a section of the camp called sustainable habitats, one team of kids ran a meticulous review of the run and readily identified these issues. I was very proud of them.

Because this BioTechnology Summer Camp is an applied STEM summer camp, the team also came up with a series of solutions to the messy wastes and backup problem. Scrap it. Create a hybrid system that benefits animals and humans.

Listen To The Kids

Their suggestion was to install long French Drains located at the matte edges beneath the mattes. This would allow a small gap covered in hardware cloth to let water and wastes drop in and flow. They encouraged me to seal the south ends end to prevent rodents. They encouraged me to cover the rubber horse mattes with river rock to allow the manure and to percolate down and stay clean at the same time.

The drains would empty straight into a single 25cm (10″) deep, 8″ trough with a grate over at the run side of the walkway. Lastly, I am impressed that they recognized quickly the three major flaws with my existing system. I was quite surprised when they delivered their analysis.

I actually think this analysis the kids did is quite genius. One of them even drew what they thought the biggest problem with the system was: Too many 90 degree turns in the pipes. That had never occurred to me, but I see now that they were absolutely correct.

Their calculations showed that this stone hybrid interface would require .5 cubic meters (7.2 cubic yards) of river rock to achieve. The french drains would stretch north to south beneath the mattes and I could repurpose the existing sewer into a straight run in the walkway with a 10cm drop at the east end. The run drains to the north towards the walkway so this makes great sense.

This straight run and the smooth drains with steeper runs and no turns or wells to clog will allow me to clear wastes and recycle them easier – even in winter. The stones will keep the birds healthier and control the mess. The entire system will be far more sustainable and sanitary.

My BioTechnology design cohort!

I will keep you posted on the progress. Follow me if you have a coop and want to see the CAD plans and the before and after. If nothing else, show this to your kids to remind them that kids are the future, and a bit of Applied STEM goes a LONG way!


Mezzacello Zoo Brew Adventures 2023

Mezzacello Zoo Brew Adventures 2023

Well, now what do I do? Earlier this year I was gifted 25 cubic yards of Columbus Zoo and Aquariums manure called Zoo Brew. This is the story of Mezzacello Zoo Brew Adventures 2023.

Why So Much?

The truth is, 25 Cubic Yards is what Price Organic Farms proposed to me originally. I knew instinctively that that amount was FAR too much. But I knew I could spread 10 Cubic Yards around quite easily.

So I turned to the data. I have 45 growing beds and permaculture installations at Mezzacello. Once I started mapping out area and volume, that amount of manure disappeared quite quickly. It also meant that I had to move that mountain myself.

A Diagrammatic Map of Mezzacello Urban Farm with every system in place.
These Areas are the growing and garden beds at Mezzacello Urban Farm.

Once I started looking at Mezzacello to scale in CAD, I knew I was right. I was going to need at least 10 Cubic yards of manure and compost for all of the growing systems I have at this modest farm. This includes all of the farm febs and raised beds, hedges, and permaculture formal garden, parterre, and allee beds as well.

Yes, it’s a big pile of refined poop. Yes, it smells like elephants, zebras, and giraffes. As soon as this pissy gray late fall drizzle weather passes, I’ll begin moving this mountain.


The Foodist: Scotched Quail Eggs

The Foodist: Scotched Quail Eggs

The Foodist: Scotched Quail Eggs

This was a surprise and a delight, The Foodist: Scotched Quail Eggs! In 2023 we started keeping quail to supplement the ecosystems of the chickens and the ducks at Mezzacello. The quail eat similar foods, but their manure is a different consistency and contains more unique minerals.

In addition to the fabulous and interesting biome enhancements, we also get really cool little quail eggs! It’s been fun making omelettes, quiches, and deserts with these funny little eggs. Rick decided to scoth them and this was great!

INGREDIENTS

  • 18 quail eggs
  • 1/2 pound ground beef or loose sausage

    • Optional
    • 1 tablespoon prepared English mustard
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
    • 1/2 packed teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

  • 2 chicken eggs
  • Flour
  • Bread crumbs
  • Chives
  • Oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

  1. Bring a pot of water to a hard boil. In 3 batches, boil the quail eggs for exactly 1 minute and 50 seconds. Immediately rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
  2. Gently peel the eggs, removing the shell and the thin inner shell lining.

    • This is a little tricky if you have never worked with quail eggs before, and I lost 2 or 3 eggs before getting the hang of it.
    • Break the shell all around the egg first, then start at the top, making sure to grab hold of the inner lining as well as the shell.
    • Then work in a spiral around the egg, pulling off the entire shell in one continuous strip.

  3. Beat the 2 chicken eggs to form an egg wash, and prepare your breading station with a plate of flour, a plate of egg wash, and a plate of breadcrumbs.
  4. Roll out the beef or sausage very thin and lightly salt. If seasoning add 1 tablespoon prepared English mustard, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/2 packed teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg in a medium bowl. Fold and mix until combined.
  5. Lightly flour the egg. Wrap in a thin layer of meat and press into your hand in an effort to seal the meat all around the egg. Don’t press too hard or you will break the yolk!
  6. When the meat is sealed around the egg, lightly flour it and roll it around in your hands again, using the flour coating to help seal everything shut.
  7. Lightly dust with flour again, then coat in egg, and finally the breadcrumbs.
  8. Deep fry at 350°F for about 2 minutes until the breadcrumbs are nicely browned.
  9. Garnish with chives and serve.

SAUCE

  • A simple sauce consists of 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons stone-ground mustard, juice of 1 lemon. I like using horseradish. Add to horseradish to taste.

NOTE:

  • Keep the egg shells! Broil them in an oven and crush them. Return them to the quail or chickens as a ready source of calcium! Or use them in your plants to make strong stems or in your compost!

BioDome Automated Systems 2023

BioDome Automated Systems 2023

Gallery of the BioDome Automated Systems 2023 showing the steel frame, the dual insulated covers, and the systems inside to encourage tropical plant growth.

Well it was a bit of an obsessive struggle, but I can say I understand my modified geodesic system well enough to build and dismantle it now. I also discovered that I needed two layers of plastic to better insulate it. I also needed to add vents to let in fresh air – regardless of the external temperatures.

More Focused Sensors This Time

In my original iterations of the biodome I had too many sensors that were giving me data that I could not use. Too Hot, Too Humid, Too much sun, Too much chill. This time there are three sensors:

  1. How much sun as a function of time
  2. How often and long does water need to spray
  3. What are baseline temps during day and night only

This will make it much easier to use the data from the sensors to give these fragile plants a better chance of surviving our Ohio winters. And the automation will save me a lot of time. I need to come up with a way to monitor scale and pests though.

So for now it’s a visual test. I am putting this system to the test now as i am on vacation and this system is running on automated systems. Wish me luck!


Summer Camp Infrastructure and TheoDoor

Summer Camp Infrastructure and TheoDoor

Summer Camp Infrastructure and TheoDoor
To the left the engineering door, to the right the electrical engineering door

This is my summer camp infrastructure and TheoDoor blog post. It isn’t the THINGS. It was what I could now do with those things.

What Is a TheoDoor?

It was one of my summer camp kids that came up with this idea! There are a lot of tools that are required to run a summer camp. But when kids and tools come together, there is chaos!

Kadyn’s brilliant strategy was to lay the tools out in a space and create outlines to place them. Then they placed them by mechanical and typical use. I just built infrastructure around it.

The following camp another young genius (My friend, Genivieve) named my door storage system, “TheoDOOR”. That was a stroke of genius. Now there are FOUR TheoDOORS!

The BioLab TheoDOOR

The BioLab has a dutch door. This is by design. One of the roles of the BioLab door is to be open above, but secured below. This allows for students and urban farmers to keep animals safely contained within the BioLab but still allow for tools and air to circulate above.

In the winter and early spring, the BioLab will double as a greenhouse facility. So TheoDoor III and IV will be dedicated to tools for growing food and conducting basic biological experiments. I love the way the boots get arranged around the doors.

Helping Engineers Become Engineers

It’s useless to have tools for use if you do not educate and empower young people to understand, use, and respect tools. They see them naturally as toys. But they cannot be treated like toys.

These tools are expensive and exclusive and they require knowledge, experience, and imagination to use. That is why the TheoDoor system is so important. It reminds kids that these tools live in a special kingdom, free of rain, sunlight, and prying hands.

That last part: rain, sun, and prying hands is CRITICAL. 12 critical pieces of equipment were lost due to carelessness. Tools lost in bushes, or left out, or just broken and never mentioned for fear of retribution. That last part is where the most important part of growth at Mezzacello matters.

New ideas about engineering
Look at these brilliant engineers

This is WHY I do what I do. I want people to grow naturally. I want young people to be, see, explore who they believe they are. This is a good dream and it is worth dreaming about.


This is a part of the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation Summer Grant Grant #1521-2023


From Data to Compost to Life

From Data to Compost to Life

From Data to Compost to Life
Recycled pre and post survey paper being used as a doping layer for bioaccelerant.

The pursuit of knowledge and insight is always worth the risk or even the raw materials to collect that insight. The many pre and post surveys that were administered here at Mezzacello during my summer camps in 2023 were collected and shredded. This shredded paper was then graciously returned to me where I could turn it from data to compost to life.

When Data Is Also Carbon

Firstly, I want to tank the VERY thoughtful anthropologists involved in this research to even think about returning this to me as a gift. Their support and insight is always welcome and invaluable. If you know an ethnographer or an anthropologist, give them some love: They are heroes.

Secondly, I love that these researchers learned (from me) that paper is just carbon and trace elements and that all ink is soy based and therefor nontoxic. So when they went around to shredding all of the sensitive data – after their analysis – they knew I could use the carbon. It will make an invaluable addition as both a brown in my carbon and a way to dope the compost with my Eden’s Ghost accelerant.

Why Use a Doping Layer for Accelerant?

There are multiple answers to this question. First, paper absorbs liquids much more efficiently than grass greens or shredded sry leaves. So the accelerant gets locked at the top of the compost, just below the greens and is this slower to release into the main compost body.

Second, there is a poetic justice that these survey data are from kids who helped me learn to synthesize 11 different soil and plant amendments during summer camps this year, I will be using their synthesized fertilizers to dope the shredded paper – and that is poetically sustainable.

Third, The gradual reuse of the paper and its pulp adds to the richness of the compost as it holds moisture in the compost very well. It’s not good to ONLY use paper as life REQUIRES diversity, but paper as a layer is a good idea. The more data and diversity, the better the compost.

What Is the Strangest Compost Additive You have Used?

I am definitely curious about how you lot build your compost. What’s the strangest compost additive you have ever added? I recently chatted with an acquaintance who was building compost for a VERY specific crop.

Now I am very curious about the rest of you! LOL! Share in the comments!


This is a part of the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation Summer Grant Grant #1521-2023


Sustainability and Renewables on an Urban Technology Farm

Sustainability and Renewables on an Urban Technology Farm

I gave a presentation yesterday that I am very proud of. In this presentation, “Sustainability and Renewables on an Urban Technology Farm“, I introduced a new and novel equation for sustainability. The presentation was presented this Saturday, 22 July, 2023.

3:8
—————-
1:1.618

Of Course I will expound on this. You can view the presentation here or on the link below. I designed this presentation to encourage young people around the world to rethink their idea of sustainability and renewable resources. It was very well received, so I thought I would share it here.

What We Know About Sustainability and Proportion

I built this presentation deck as a presentation to the Global Innovation Field Trip in July 2023. I knew I wanted to discuss what I thought was the most important aspect of sustainability. Understanding the inputs and proporations that nature REQUIRES for sustainability.

We know today that we cannot trust humanity to plan for sustainability. Humans fear change and they try very hard to avoid extra work. By combining the rule of 3 inputs to 8 outputs and the transcendental number Phi.

The symbol Phi

This is a part of the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation Summer Grant Grant #1521-2023


Creating Unique Fertilizers From Scratch

Creating Unique Fertilizers From Scratch

One of the benefits of living on an urban farm is the opportunity for creating unique fertilizers from scratch. At Mezzacello we try to recapture every bit of magic so we can attain our core mission of sustainability. Here is a gallery of a few of the ways we go about doing this.

Liquid Fertilizers

This is the most dynamic source of fertilizer at Mezzacello. We produce seven liquid fertilizers at Mezzacello. Hmmm, and we have seven enclosed ecosystems as well?

All of these fertilizers are created on site from materials produced at Mezzacello. They are contained in reused box wine bags. This makes it easy to fill and deliver – and dispense!

  1. Eden’s Ghost
  2. Comfrey Tea
  3. Soy Emulsion
  4. Calcium Emulsion
  5. Banana and Banana Leaf Emulsion
  6. Rice Water
  7. Algae reduction

Instructions For Use

In the case of Mezzacello’s liquid fertilizers, the ratio for optimal delivery is 1:16. That means 1.47 Liters of fertilizers to 75 liters gallons of water (6 ounces of fertilizer to 256 ounces of water). Some of these fertilizers (Like Eden’s Ghost) are extremely potent! Pay attention to this ratio!

  • Liters to Liters: .47 : 75 (both liters)
  • Ounces to Gallons: 16 : 2 Gallons (256 ounces)

Use this link to calculate volumes

Eden’s Ghost

  • Pre-digestive formula that is brewed from compost with water, glucose, beer, and ammonia accelerators.
  • Brewed for three weeks and packaged.
  • This MUST be diluted or it will sterilize roots and microbiota.
  • When used correctly, it is a powerful fertilizer.

Comfrey Tea

  • This is both a soil amendment and a fertilizer.
  • The roots of comfrey pull the nutrients out of the soil and into the leaves.
  • This will remove a lot of the nutrient value of the soil when you grow comfrey.
  • The upside is that the roots build better soil and break up clay.
  • Removing the plant and then treating the soil with comfrey tea restores the soil and creates life.
  • Think about what it can do for your soil.

Soy Emulsion Water

  • Soybean Emulsion is high in nitrogen and encourages bright green foliage.
  • It also encourages root development and nitrogen uptake.
  • The protein in the emulsion also fuels microorganisms.
  • The edamame beans can be ground and added to the soil as well!

Calcium Emulsion Water

  • Baked egg shells and crushed finely or oyster shells crushed finely.
  • The calcium powder is steeped in water for 24 hours.
  • This will provide calcium to the root system of plants and build strong healthy stems.
  • The molecularized calcium ions are easily absorbed by the plants

Banana and Banana Leaf Emulsion Water

  • This fertilizer can be made from banana peels and banana leaves.
  • The peels and leaves are shredded and then steeped like a tea.
  • The resulting fertilizer is high in phosphorus and magnesium and will help plants maintain vibrant green leaves.

Rice Water

  • This is the gentlest of all the fertilizers at Mezzacello.
  • It brings nitrogen and sugars that power microorganisms and microrhyzomes in the soil.
  • This creates soil that is electrically conducive to plants communicating and sharing nutrients.

Algae Reduction

  • Algae is very good source of nitrogen, potassium, and carbon for your garden.
  • Pouring algae water on plants will green them up quite quickly!
  • The algae at Mezzacello also contains ammonia, fish manure emulsion, and salts that plants need to allow ion transfer in their root systems.
  • Lastly, algae improves soil structure a great deal.

Dried Fertilizers

These dried fertilizer amendments are actually liquid fertilizers that have been UV treated or physically dehydrated. They are great amendments because as they are vacuum-sealed, they keep really well. Because they have their liquid removed, they ship really well – even to Mars!

  • Dried Algae
  • Soybean Meal
  • Comfrey Meal
  • Freeze-dried Grass

Dried Algae

Algae that has been dehydrated has multiple and significant benefits. First and foremost, it stores the energy of the sun for a long time. It has so many benefits, I’ll list them out below.

  • Dehydrated and vacuum-sealed algae can be stored in a cool dark space for two years.
  • Adding dried algae to any soil will immediately improve the soil structure.
  • The nitrogen locked within the dried algae will slowly release into the soil.
  • Algae and its derivatives will attract microbiotic, arthropod, and insect life to your soil.

Soybean Meal

Soybean meal is a terrific soil amendment! It has all all the protein and nitrogen of the soy emulsion and the granular structure and carbon of the bean. I learned early on that chickens, ducks, and quail do NOT like edamame.

Comfrey Meal

After we have brewed the comfrey tea for two months, the leaves and stems remain. I can add them to compost, or I can dehydrate and grind them into a terrific soil amendment. I call this comfrey meal and I use the heat from my biodome to dehydrate the comfrey naturally.

Freeze-dried Grass

This is the most exotic dried fertilizer I have at Mezzacello. It requires a lot of energy, but it is a potent source of ammonia and Carbon Dioxide. Rehydrating it will jump start any compost bin you like!

Manure-Based Fertilizers

This class of manure is as the title infers, manure-based. Each comes in vacuum-sealed packages or in the case of the “Manure Cube” in the shape of a large LEGO block that be stacked to start any garden bed!

Compost Fertilizers

Mezzacello Urban Farm produces 3000L of high quality compost every season. All compost is available as a bagged option or in boxes. Bring your own container and we can make a discount happen!


This is a part of the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation Summer Grant Grant #1521-2023


USDA Zones vs EcoRegions

USDA Zones vs EcoRegions

The conflict between the USDA zones vs Ecoregions is pretty obvious when you see them together. one is a broad approximation of climate across a continent and the other is a more nuanced map of the topology and regions of a state. Both are true, one is more accurate.

The USDA hardiness zones take into account the continental averages and impacts from the artic and the jet streams. The EcoRegion map takes into account smaller regional impacts of rivers and geology that is of a smaller scale. This is an important distinction.