TeaTime Acres

01/15/2026

So out of the roughly 4 dozen this would have had in it, I actually got about a dozen and a half into the pickling brine, but it's just my quail eggs being a big hit here at home. Now to wait 15 days to taste them! I made garlic and onion eggs, and I am excited because I added some extra garlic! Here is a fun fact too: See that blue piece of garlic? It's a perfectly normal chemical reaction to the vinegar in a good brine! This one turned blue like that after only about an hour in the brine

01/05/2026

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Everyone meet Karen! She's one of our few Quail hens. Now, Karen got her name because of her behavior not the other way around. If I were to describe Karen, I would use some choice words. Most of Karen's... shenanigans.... I can put up with, however Karen has solidified my need to hatch her replacement, and has secured her one-way ticket to camp Kenmore, by attacking not only me multiple times, but also, and more seriously, her flock mates. With all that said in the spring we will be hatching Karen's replacement and want to know if any of y'all are interested in Jumbo Coturnix chicks of your own? Please let us know!

01/03/2026

*Long read, but I at least think it's exciting*
So I took a moment to catch up with agricultural homework, which should be looked into regularly, and found something exciting!! As of July 1 2025, the Tennessee Food Freedom Act (2025) has been updated and opened doors for little producers like us! It has allowed small producers to be exempt from requiring certain production permits under the same regulations as large producers!
What that means is we have to follow the same sanitation and safe packaging rules as big producers, but no longer require the same space or quantity of animals/plants as the large producers that do require permits still. (Ex: we DEFINITELY have fewer than 3,000 hens laying our eggs. I think we maybe have, like, 30....if even that many).
This is still limited though, and I believe meats and most dairy still require permits (I'm still doing my homework). However, this means we could potentially sell the exempt items, not only directly to you our consumers, but also to retailers and restaurants alike now! Again though, WE ARE STILL HELD TO THE SAME FOOD SAFETY REQUIREMENTS. Though, even if we legally weren't, I personally would still hold us to them; you just don't mess around with food. This just allows us little guys to actually get back in the main markets!!

*Yes, I'm re-using pictures AGAIN. Gotta suck it up buttercup, lol*

12/21/2025

Since it's the slow season out here, who wants to play a little game? I'll add hints to this post after wrong guesses until someone gets it right

Guess: What am I working on here?
✨✨Answer has been guessed! I was cooking bark to tan hides✨✨
*All items in the picture are hints, except for the bottom of the trashcan in the corner
*Hint: my hand got stained that dark tan during this
*Hint: the color is caused by a compound found in plants
*Hint: I used a part of a tree for this
*Hint: this is the start of a process that can take up to several weeks to complete depending on what type/size of what is added to this that you use

12/09/2025

Getting one of my favorite snacks made up! First time I've ever made pickled quail eggs. Wish me luck!

12/08/2025

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Look at these sweet innocent babies just being absolute angels for once.....oh, wait. They are eating stolen duck scratch. Crime bags, all of them!

12/05/2025

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Every herd has the one problem causer. Ours is called Houdini, and he's the reason we can't have nice things. Don't worry though, we've already reinforced that Coop's roof

12/03/2025

Winter is our slow season out here. Our updates are: Our quail are all laying now, we discovered we have a Drake problem in our duck flock and have been sorting it out, we lost one of our duck hens (I suspect the drakes. If you know you know), we are watching the goatie girls after Gael managed to break in with them a couple months back but if they are bred we expect spring kids, and otherwise we've just been reinforcing coops and fences because goats are the reason we can't have nice things

11/28/2025

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We are posting a day late as we spent yesterday with our friends and family. We also want to say we are thankful for what we've been able to accomplish this year, we are thankful for the ones we hold dear, and we are thankful for ALL OF YOU!! We hope next year brings us just as much if not more growth and let's offer more to all of you out there. Thank you!!

11/20/2025

We got our first Quail egg!!!!!! We will hopefully get more once we get their new lights in and up, but YAY!!! (Ps ignore my stained fingers 😅)

10/23/2025

We don't have anyone to take in order to vend this expo this time, but we are excited to see it return! We are going to try to at least attend and see who and what will be there!

Paris Exotic Pet Expo
517 Royal Oak Dr, Paris, TN 38242
Inside event will happen rain or shine.
Expo open to Birds, Snakes, Lizards, Plants, Small Mammals, and related items.

10/23/2025

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Baby (Chick) and the other quail are 4 weeks old which means we know what s*x everyone is! Baby (Chick) is a 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁 GIRL!! We have a lucky flock of 4 hens and one rooster! Baby Girl was named by our son who "hatched her himself", but our other 3 girls and our Roo need names! Pictures are of Baby Girl, one of the other hens, and our very unwilling roo. You can see the difference between Baby Girl's Pansy/Rotkopf color, and the Wild/Brown/Pharaoh color! You can also see the barred feathers on the girls' chests and our Roo's handsome solid chest. These feathers differences are what allow me to s*x them now rather than waiting until the roo crows or until they mature in two weeks and vent s*x them. We are also getting ready for our first eggs in the coming weeks!