La Stagione delle Ciliegie – The Cherry Season

Just when the cherry harvest was at its peak – and my friend and I arrived from Cromwell with around 200 kg of Cherries – soon our trusted Cherry Pitter decided to take a break. A little rebellion in the kitchen for more pay and variety!

Still, the bounty of the season did not go to waste. In the warm, fragrant kitchen, we quickly transformed the cherries into Cherry Wine, Cherry Cordial, Cherry Jam, Cherry Preserve and Cherry Grappa – treasures to carry the taste of summer through the year

🍷 Vino di Ciliegie — Cherry Wine, La Fattoria Style

In true Italian farmhouse fashion, our cherry wine is simple, hands-on, and made with love:

  1. Prepare the Fruit: Place pitted cherries in a clean fermentation vessel and cover them with boiling water
  2. Sweeten & Balance: Once cooled to room temperature, add sugar to taste and adjust the acidity as needed
  3. Add Life: Stir in wine yeast (Mangrove Jack’s MA33 and AW4) and yeast nutrients
  4. Ferment on the Must: Let it sit for about a week, stirring daily, allowing the fruit and yeast to mingle and awaken

If the yeast seems hungry, a little more sugar or nutrients keeps it happily working

🍶 Secondary Fermentation

  1. Strain and siphon the liquid into a clean demijohn (damigiana) with an airlock
  2. Watch as it gently bubbles away, slowly transforming into wine over several weeks
  3. When the fermenting slows, rack into a clean vessel and leave for about four weeks to ensure the wine is fully at rest

🍾 Bottiglia e Godimento — Bottling and Enjoying

Once the wine is clear and quiet, it is ready to:

Bottle – Seal – Label – Store

A simple, rustic cherry wine, carrying the warmth and charm of the Italian countryside – perfect for sharing with family, friends !!

QUAILS and LIGHTING PROGRAM

To maximise egg production in Coturnix coturnix Quails from 5 weeks of age through peak and sustained lay, lighting must be managed as a structured, consistent program – not left to chance

From 5 weeks of age, just prior to sexual maturity (first eggs typically appear at 6–8 weeks), gradually increase total day length to 15 – 16 hours per day. Extend light slowly, no more than 60 minutes per week, using timer-controlled supplemental lighting. Maintain moderate, even intensity at bird level (approximately 10 – 15 lux) – excessively bright lighting can trigger stress and aggression

Combine natural daylight with artificial lighting strategically. As natural day length changes seasonally, artificial lighting must be adjusted so total daily exposure stay on 16 hours. During transitional periods, light may need to be added both before sunrise and after sunset to “cap” the day length at a consistent 15 – 16 hours without overshooting as daylight expands.

Key principles for maximum production:

  • Maintain a consistent 15 – 16 hours total light (natural + artificial)
  • Never exceed 16 hours per day
  • Provide at least 8 hours of uninterrupted darkness for proper rest and hormonal balance
  • Never reduce day length once birds are in production, as this can trigger a drop in lay or induce molt
  • Adjust lighting gradually as seasons change
  • Use reliable timers to prevent sudden fluctuations

A stable, well-managed photoperiod stimulates ovarian development, supports early peak production, and sustains annual outputs of approximately 200–300 eggs per hen. Consistency in timing, intensity, and seasonal adjustment is the foundation of long-term, high-level performance

Alternatively, if you prefer, you can leave your quails to follow the natural seasons, but expect seasonal drops in laying during shorter winter days.

THE BYF COMPLETE QUAIL NUTRITION SYSTEM

FOUR PRECISION FEEDS

One Seamless Program – Proven, Consistent Results

At Back Yard Farmer, we reject one-size-fits-all feeds. Quail have precise, ever-changing nutritional demands through every life stage – and nailing those stages is what separates average flocks from exceptional performers with superior growth, vitality, fertility, and longevity. That is exactly why we developed and proudly offer a complete, life-stage-specific quail feeding system:

Starter → Grower → Breeder → Mature Maintenance

These four feeds are engineered to transition smoothly, eliminating nutritional stress, digestive upset, and guesswork. When used as a coordinated system, you get predictable outcomes: rapid, uniform growth • robust skeletal development • healthy, long-lasting breeders • exceptional shell quality • high fertility • and reliable, high hatchability.

Why the BYF System Delivers Superior Results

  • Smart, progressive balance of protein and energy – perfectly matched to each phase
  • Precise mineral control — avoiding dangerous over, or under supplementation
  • Consistent ingredients and formulation across all feeds for steady performance
  • Breeder-focused design — prioritising longevity and sustained productivity over short term burnout

This isn’t just a loose collection of feeds – it is a proven, integrated program born from real world quail breeding experience. Feed is not mere “fuel” It is the precise combination of proteins, fats, fibres, minerals, vitamins, and carbohydrates that drives health, reproduction, and hatch success.

Feed Stages at a Glance

Starter Feed

For chicks from hatch to 21 days
Kick-starts explosive early growth with high digestibility, optimal gut development, strong immunity, and rapid muscle formation. Produces uniform, well-framed juveniles without over-stressing tiny systems

Grower Feed


For birds from 22 days to 7 weeks
Moderates growth rate while building strong bones, solid structure, and lean body condition Prepares quail perfectly for maturity — avoiding excess fat or oversized/poor-quality eggs down the line

Breeder Feed


For all actively producing mature birds.
Optimised for peak fertility, outstanding shell strength, and top-tier hatchability. Supports consistent egg quality and long-term breeder health — maximizing production without sacrificing bird welfare

Mature Maintenance Feed


For non-laying mature birds
Promotes healthy molting, restores vital reserves, and conditions birds for peak performance in the next breeding cycle. Engineered for Exceptional Hatchability


When quail are fed exclusively on the BYF system and eggs are handled properly, nutrition-related hatch failures become extremely rare. Balanced amino acids, carefully calibrated minerals, and stable energy sources work in harmony to develop strong embryos and hatch vigorous, lively chicks

The Simple Rule for Success


Feed the right diet at the right stage and let your birds deliver outstanding results.

Ready to unlock consistent, high-performance quail breeding?

Choose the BYF Complete Quail Nutrition System, where precision feeding meets real world reliability

THE BYF NO-WASTE QUAIL FEEDER

Feed is the single most expensive item when keeping quails. It is therefore essential to prevent birds from contaminating or wasting feed. Back Yard Farmer has developed a simple, effective, and low-cost solution using a standard 3-litre plastic milk bottle.

This DIY feeder is easy to make, costs nothing, and outperforms many commercial feeders.

How to Make the Feeder

  1. Drill a 35 mm hole approximately 70 mm from the bottom of the bottle
  2. Drill a 40 mm hole roughly halfway up the bottle
  3. Cut along the straight lines between the holes as shown in the images
  4. Now do the same onthe other side

You will end up with a durable, efficient feeder that allows easy access for the quails while minimizing waste.

Why This Feeder Works Better

Compared to commercial feeders, the BYF feeder offers several important advantages:

  • Quails cannot defecate in the feed
  • Quails cannot climb into the feeder and scratch feed out
  • The slot design allows quails to insert their heads comfortably and withdraw easily
  • Quails naturally flick feed sideways with their beaks, causing losses—this design prevents feed from being flicked out
  • The handle remains intact, making the feeder easy to carry and reposition
  • The feeder is easy to wash and keep hygienic
  • It can be moved around the cage to reduce trampling and ground damage

Feeding Capacity and Use

  • Fill the feeder to a depth of approximately 60 mm, which is about 10 mm below the bottom of the 35 mm hole
  • This holds roughly 650 g of feed
  • Quails cannot reach the extreme corners, so a small amount of feed remains, but one feeder easily supplies up to 6 birds for a full day

Daily feeding is simple:
Empty any remaining feed into a feed bucket, then refill the feeder using a scoop sized to deliver the correct amount (650 g). This also helps remix older feed with fresh feed, reducing waste even further

Daily feed consumption for mature Coturnix quails is about 30 – 35 grams (depending on many factors) and if you use more than this, there are either something sharing the feed with your quails, or wasteage is happening

Cost

Nothing.
Made from recycled materials, this feeder delivers excellent performance at zero cost

PIETRA DI SAPONE – A Rural Italian Recipe – Traditional Farmhouse Soap

Before supermarkets, detergents, and plastic bottles, farm households had to make do with what was on hand. Cleanliness was still important, but it was achieved with simple materials, practical knowledge, and a lot of experience.

In rural Italy, farmers and shepherds relied on a basic homemade soap often referred to as pietra di sapone — literally “soap stone”. It was a hard, plain soap made from animal fat and alkali, produced in large batches and used for everything from washing clothes to scrubbing floors and tools.

This was working soap, not luxury soap.

Soap Making on the Farm

Soap making was usually done once or twice a year, often after pig slaughtering, when large quantities of lard were available. Nothing was wasted. Fat that was unsuitable for eating became soap, and the end product was stored and used until the next batch was made.

There were many local variations, most passed on orally. The recipe recorded below, of which I made a 5 Kg batch today, was already in use by around 1870, and likely much earlier. It is one of the simplest and most economical versions.

The Traditional Base Recipe (Historical Record)

Ingredients

  • Pork lard – 5 litres
  • Water – 10 litres
  • Flour – 1 kg – (Use Whole Wheaa Flour for some texture and scrubbing effect – optional)
  • Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) – 1 kg

Basic Equipment

  • Large plastic or wooden tub
  • Wooden or plastic stirring utensil
  • Protective gloves

Traditional Method (As Practised Historically)

The lard was first rendered until fully melted and clear. Water was placed in a large tub and the flour mixed in to form a smooth liquid with no lumps. The melted fat was then added and stirred until evenly combined.

Only at this stage was the caustic soda introduced. The mixture was stirred continuously until it thickened noticeably — what old soap makers recognised by eye and feel rather than measurement.

When ready, the soap was left undisturbed for several days to set.

Once firm enough, the large block was turned out, cut into smaller pieces, and left to dry and harden in a well-ventilated place. Fresh soap was soft, almost butter-like, and became harder and more durable with time. Only useable after about 40 days.

What This Soap Was Used For

This was a strong, alkaline soap, intended mainly for :

  • Washing heavy work clothes
  • Cleaning floors and walls
  • Scrubbing tools, containers, and equipment

It was not designed for comfort or fragrance. Effectiveness mattered more than gentleness. Some families later added herbs or scents, but the basic soap remained plain and functional.

I also made some Extra Virgin Olive Oil Soaps today, adding coffee grind and mint leaves for a scrubbing effect and flavour

Why Flour Was Used

The addition of flour may seem odd today, but it made sense at the time. Flour helped thicken and stabilise the mixture in the absence of scales, thermometers, or chemical calculations. Soap making relied on observation, experience, and repetition rather than precision.

A Lesson in Self-Sufficiency

Recipes like this are a reminder of how farm households once operated. Everyday necessities were made at home, using local resources and practical knowledge built up over generations.

This old farmhouse soap is more than a cleaning product — it is a small example of rural independence, thrift, and ingenuity. Understanding how it was made helps us appreciate how closely farming life was tied to basic chemistry and hands-on skill.