On 2009-12-26, Mark Thorson > wrote:

> It looked easy. According to what I've read,
> snails need dirt to eat, in addition to food
> and water. The dirt is removed when they are
> put on their purge diet.

This is a pretty old subject. Ever since a French restaurateur came
to CA and discovered the same species of snail they go gaga over in
France is the same as the one CA gardeners consider the most
relentless pest in the state. It became all the rage and there were
even local escargot clubs that put out a howto pamphlets on how to go
about it. This all back in the early 80s and after a mad dash to
become prolific snail herders, the fad finally lost popularity and
slowed to a crawl. (snork)

Basically, you let 'em munch whatever you got, ground hugging ivy's
being a fave, then feed 'em corn meal for a few days to purge. Keep
flat boards (1x8,12s, etc) suspended an inch or less off the ground
giving the snails a place to rest on the underside, which these are
then easily picked up and scraped for harvesting. Other than those
basics, I didn't get into it. There must be a tons of specifics on
it out there somewhere.

nb

notbob wrote:
>
> On 2009-12-26, Mark Thorson > wrote:
>
> > It looked easy. According to what I've read,
> > snails need dirt to eat, in addition to food
> > and water. The dirt is removed when they are
> > put on their purge diet.
>
> This is a pretty old subject. Ever since a French restaurateur came
> to CA and discovered the same species of snail they go gaga over in
> France is the same as the one CA gardeners consider the most

That would be Francois Picart. I have his book.

> relentless pest in the state. It became all the rage and there were
> even local escargot clubs that put out a howto pamphlets on how to go
> about it. This all back in the early 80s and after a mad dash to
> become prolific snail herders, the fad finally lost popularity and
> slowed to a crawl. (snork)
>
> Basically, you let 'em munch whatever you got, ground hugging ivy's
> being a fave, then feed 'em corn meal for a few days to purge. Keep
> flat boards (1x8,12s, etc) suspended an inch or less off the ground
> giving the snails a place to rest on the underside, which these are
> then easily picked up and scraped for harvesting. Other than those
> basics, I didn't get into it. There must be a tons of specifics on
> it out there somewhere.

The problem with the Picart approach is that it is
outdoors and it is big. I want a system that is
indoors and compact. I think that should be possible.

On 2009-12-26, Mark Thorson > wrote:

> outdoors and it is big. I want a system that is
> indoors and compact. I think that should be possible.

Have you googled for hydroponic snail farming?

nb

On Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:49:34 -0800, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

>The problem with the Picart approach is that it is
>outdoors and it is big. I want a system that is
>indoors and compact. I think that should be possible.

I only raised them after I'd paid the kids a penny each to pick sand
buckets full of snails off the plants in the garden. I kept them in
an old fish tank. I would *not* feed them ivy. I'd pick some "wild"
nasturtium (another weed here) to feed them and I wouldn't try to keep
them longer than a week or two, feeding on nasturtiums and then
purging on lettuce and cornmeal. Eat the big ones, drown the rest.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.