Harvesting Turtle

Gopher Tortoise, illegal to capture except by special permit, common is sandy long-leaf pine savannas, spend most of their time in long, deep burrows which provide habitat for other creatures and enable them to thermoregulate and avoid forest fires.

     The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) closely regulates the types and number of turtles that can be harvested from the wild for different purposes, including personal use (i.e. eating) or raising on your own land for later personal use. It is illegal to sell turtles taken from the wild in Florida, and that rule may apply to their meat as well so do be careful. 

 "Freshwater turtles can only be taken by hand, dip net, minnow seine or baited hook. Most freshwater turtles may be taken year-round. Taking turtles with bucket traps, snares, or shooting with firearms is prohibited. Softshell turtles may not be taken from the wild from May 1 to July 31. In addition, collecting of freshwater turtle eggs is prohibited.
    Some turtle farms depend on collection of wild freshwater turtles. With the new rule, certified turtle aquaculture facilities, under a tightly controlled permitting system, will be allowed to collect turtles to establish reproduction in captivity so that farms can become self-sustaining to lessen their dependence on collection of turtles from the wild.
Possession limits for the following turtle species and their eggs are as follows:

• Loggerhead musk turtles - two

• Box turtles - two

• Escambia map turtles - two

• Diamondback terrapins - two"

     Information on sea turtle harvesting is not listed on the FWC official site, which leads me to believe that it is illegal in Florida waters. Interestingly, Gator-Woman claims that the largest threat to Florida's indigenous turtle population is that Chinese, a blatantly racist remark. She claims their love of turtle is skyrocketing the price of domestic turtle meat.
     Once you acquire the turtle you can butcher immediately, or some would recommend storing the captive turtle securely in clean water for a day or more, providing feed for the turtle as well. This is to lessen the supposed "muddy" flavor of the meat.
     The proper way to clean a carcass would involve enticing the turtle to bite a stick, then pulling its neck out as far as possible before slicing through as quickly and close to the base as possible, then hang by the tail to drain the blood. Next slice off the legs, tail, and shoulders for the meat. Remove the head from the neck and use the neck meat as well. Some open the shell to remove the fatty lining near the vertebra, or strap, as it is sometimes called. Frequently that step is omitted as opening the shell may not always be worth the mess or hassle. Care should be taken to avoid reflexive movement of jaws and legs which persist long after the turtle is decapitated.
     Most recipes for preparing turtle meat call for creating a soup, stew, or possible deep-frying. Some cook with the bones, some remove the bones before cooking.
     

Black (Turtle) Bean and Rice Soup with Lime and Cilantro

     This is a simple Latin American soup made with readily available ingredients that store well for the long term. Black beans and cilantro can be grown fresh in your garden, and limes may be grown. Lemon could be substituted, and Meyer Lemon is a variety that can handle the temperatures in central Florida very well. Or what about sour orange? or unripe tangerines?
     If you are cooking the beans from dried stores, about half a cup of dried beans is all this recipe calls for, give or take a few.

Black Bean and Rice Soup with Lime and Cilantro(makes 6 servings, can be doubled for larger Crockpot or stovetop cooking, recipe created by Kalyn)

Ingredients:
2 cans black beans with liquid
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
(use 2 cups for stovetop cooking)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. minced garlic (or more)
1 T ground cumin
1 T dried oregano
1 1/4 tsp. ground chile powder
1/4 cup white long-grain rice (not more!)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or more)

Instructions:

In small Crockpot or 3 quart sauce pan, combine beans, tomatoes, chicken stock, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, Ancho chile powder and Chipotle chile powder. Cook on low for 6-8 hours in Crockpot or 1-2 hours on stove, until tomatoes are disintegrating and beans are starting to fall apart. On stovetop, you might need to add a little water during the cooking time.

When soup has reached the consistency you want, raise heat slightly or turn Crockpot to high. Add 1/4 cup rice and cook until rice is done, about 30 minutes for either Crockpot or stove.

Lower heat again, add fresh lime juice and cilantro and cook 5 minutes. Serve hot, with additional fresh lime pieces for each person to squeeze into soup.

Simple Cooking at Home

"Each woman should feel herself to be a hostess to her family. This is the grand climax of a procession of achievements. A woman who is a good planner, a wise purchaser, an excellent cook and a gracious hostess to her family is truly a MASTER HOME BUILDER."
-Meta Given, The Modern Family Cook Book, 1942.

     Our world has changed a great deal since Ms. Givens wrote that anti-feminist statement in the 1940s. Since then we've seen the rise of our great economy. Oil, plastics, refrigeration, transportation, and feminism leading to a changing workforce have modified our way of life. Many a young and old person no longer have the skills or desire to cook at home.
     I think the best reason for cooking at all is so that you can control exactly what goes in to your own food. In the world of peanut, gluten, and iodine allergies this is important, but also from the chemical and preservative perspective as well. You can actively control how much sodium, fat, and oil goes in the meals. You can actively exclude high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, MSG, sorbitol/xylitol, and other irritants. You can choose between organic or genetically modified, a choice somewhat lacking in most restaurants. Local versus imported. Food colored or irradiated. Fresh or canned or frozen.
     My mother likes to cook at home to save money, but she also likes all of her recipes to be easy to make, so she tends to have a handful of raw ingredients and some pre-made ingredients in her recipes. Pancakes from mixes. Pies from canned, pre-sugared filling. Corned beef and cabbage made with canned meat. Store-bought ice cream.
     I don't necessarily disagree with her philosophy in that it works for her and she likes doing things that way. It looks to me to be a generational issue, as lots of young women returned to the workforce they wanted to have their boxed cake batter and eat it too. I just think its a bit of a consumerist mindset, or lack of mindset, to think we need to have pancake batter to make pancakes is just silly. (Make babies and go shopping!)
     It has been proven the nutritional content of every food declines with time and processing, except in the special case of fermenting. Freezing, canning, cooking, storing, dehydrating; all suffer some loss of quality over fresh.
     The solution of the perpetual question of what are we to eat is simple. It's all about pairing foods to create a balance, then sprinkle a little bit of your preferences on top. Eat a variety of foods every day, it doesnt have to be expensive if you're careful.
     Beans pair with grains, whole are more beneficial than processed.
     Meat pairs with vegetables.
     Dairy pair with grains.
     Fruit in moderation.
     It is almost always cheaper to buy unprocessed simple ingredients, like sugar and flour, in bulk.

Dehydrating Food on the Cheap

     Having a curious mind will get you everywhere. While stumbling around the internet I was able to find some fascinating information about using solar cookers. There are many different kinds of solar cookers available to build yourself or purchase. There may even be a market to produce solar cookers for sale, if someone were enterprising enough.
     The best part about using a solar cooker is that it uses no electricity at all. It creates no heat in your kitchen for your refrigerator and air conditioner to fight against. It is carbon-neutral, green technology that can be cheaply made and acquired, that will pay for itself in savings after a few uses.
     I am unclear on why so few people use solar cooking here in Florida and elsewhere around the United States. When the weather is pleasant it is good to just be outside, and most solar cookers require very little tending. Sunlight, is much more plentiful and cheaper than charcoal, firewood, or propane.
     The most basic solar cooker that I know of has materials I was able to get at the local W. Mart for under 10 USD. It really has only two necessities, a vehicle sun visor and some self-adhesive Velcro from the craft department.

     Wrap the vehicle sun visor into a cone with the reflective side on the inside. Place the Velcro carefully so as to attach the sides to one another. Ready to go, and portable.
     When dehydrating, follow the conventional rules for dehydration. There are many great videos online, apparently spearheaded by the Mormon movement. Cut the food as thinly as possible, then into as small of pieces as possible. I placed the apples in between two splatter guards that I got for Christmas. I put the splatter guards on top of a dark bowl, then out in the sun at about 11:00 am. I did end up turning the cooker about every hour to track the sun - about 5 seconds worth of work. After 4 hours, half the apples were completely dry. The rest I put out the next day to finish up.
     The secret to dehydrating well seems to be all in the cutting. A lot of people recommend using things like lemon juice or soy sauce, and you can if you wish. But the magic is in the slicing.

Windshield Shade Solar Cooker

Diets of Forgotten Florida Cultures

    Have you ever heard of the Paleo Diet? It is a modern recreation of what mankind must have been eating before agriculture came into being. It may be an oversimplification to say so, but it is a variety of low Carb. No grains or dairy, just meats, vegetables, herbs, and fruit. There's no salt or processed chemicals either.

     The people that lived here in the scrublands lived primitively in regards to diet, hunting and gathering and fishing. Following are some foods that it is thought they grew or encouraged to grow.
     Maize, Beans, Squash, Pumpkins, Gourds, Citrons, Sunflowers

     Here are plants they foraged for food, medicine, or weaving materials.
Acorns, Hickory nuts, Plums, Blackberries, Elderberries, Peppervine, Ground Cherries, Bristlegrass, Spatterdock, Yucca, Cabbage Palm, Water Lily, Rivercane, Palm berries, Wild Cherries, Persimmons, Blueberries, Huckleberries, Poke Weed, Amaranth, Broomgrass, Cattail, Ache, Morning Glory, Saw Palmetto, Yaupon, Smartweed, Knotted Bullrush, Nut Sedge, Buttonbush, Watershield, Sea Grapes, Coco Plums, Cofontie, Prickley Pear, Sea Oats, Goosefoot

     They ate a wide variety of fish, shellfish, snakes, turtles, small and large game, and birds. These things Florida is flush with, as long as you know where to look.

Data from Ancient Native.