This year i'm starting a new project... Escargot!!!
What is escargot? some might say. Well, in a nutshell (or should it be snail shell)! Escargot is snail meat. "Yuck" I hear some of you say, whilst others think "why that? My reasons are varied, one is because of lack of space, the other is I no longer have access to fields to rear my own pigs or lambs, another is simple cost.
Contrary to belief, snail meat is very good for you. It is high in protein (around 12-14%) and Iron too. It is also cheap to produce.
I have kept snails and other exotic pets for a while and have found that the Giant African Land Snail is a good meat source and is a staple in East Africa. However it comes with risks when collecting from the wild. but I have 4th Generation captive Snails in my home as childrenspets, bear in mind they are 4th gen in my house, their ancestory dates back much further than that. Armed with this knowledge and the my Snails living conditions I can safely say they have a low risk of carrying many of the bad bacteria that wild snails carry.
So, my adult snails have laid eggs and they have been transfered into another box where they have hatched. the baby snails will not feed for a little while as they consume their shells which give them calcium. but I have placed a lettuce leaf in there with a fragment of cuttle fish for them for as and when they decided to eat.
I will now 'plug' my youtube video for the introduction of my little experiment and will keep that updated as and when I can and I will also keep this blog going as things progress. I'm excited about my project but getting the wife and children to eat a snail will be difficult, still I have about 10 months to get their heads around it! Enjoy the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSTVRAt1T9k
The romans used to fatten up snails with salted milk and even meat apparently (according to a book I read) which added to thier flavour. Hope the experiment is going well ^^
Thanks for the positive comments, All the 'limited' info i have found and read on the subject says about 10 to 18 months. I know from breeding these snails for years now to sell on ebay at 10 months you will have a snail that is 1 to 2 the size of an adult garden snail (which insidently can be eaten too).
I can't wait to read more and see the follow-up video of the eggs and little snails. Good luck! I love escargot.
How long do they take to grow from eggs to decent eating size?
Excellent. I absolutely love escargot! Good luck with your venture.