About Us
About Quail in a box, LLC
“And by the way, we make eggs.” Quailinabox TM (QIB) has created and patented a low waste quail farm. This has been the long-standing ethos of David Gardner, CEO of QIB. He even lectured on pollution prevention by using waste streams as input streams for the US Agency for International Development in India. He always sees pollution as a resource out of place and even wrote a curriculum for the US EPA DFE program in pollution prevention.
Back in the early 1980’s Dave had just graduated from inner city Woodward High school in Toledo, Ohio. His Mother died the day he graduated, leaving Dave and his dad Charles alone at home. Dave gave up a full-ride scholarship to MIT where they could have understood his autism and accepted a full-ride scholarship to the University of Toledo. Then Charles died during his first quarter (way back then we had quarters not semesters!) and his brothers sold the house and put him to the curb. His GPA that first semester was 0.66! This is really where our story begins. Most people would have just quit. Dave got another full set of scholarships from the Veterans (thanks Dad for being a Veteran of WWII!) and stayed in school while working full-time selling shoes.
Modern Agriculture Equipment
Awesome Harvest of Wheat
Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
Dave's Tenacious Journey in Environmental Management
His first degree was an associate of applied science (AAS) in environmental management. Then Dave quit his full-time shoe selling job for an internship at a drinking water plant with no hope of employment after August, just experience. He bet on himself. Just in time, he was hired as an environmental technician for Toledo Edison at the Davis Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio. Never slowing down, while working full time managing the Navarre Marsh (here starts his journey with birds) and operating a wastewater treatment plant (during this time he received waster and water plant licenses and a wastewater analysts license) he finished his BS degree in Environmental Science in just two more years from UT. Why does this matter to QIB? Dave is the literal definition of tenacious. Once he graduated, he was picked up by Westinghouse and worked at several nuclear weapons facilities. During this time, he completed an MA in Business Policy with emphasis in Environmental Policy from the State University of New York ESC. He was then picked up by Owens College in Ohio where he was Chairman of Environmental management and quality assurance for several years. He also served as Chairman of the Partnership for Environmental Technology Education. Personal issues moved him to Texas where he was a liaison for Governor Perry then opened SolArm, an energy efficiency contractor which he ran for the next 24 years, putting 5 children to and through college.
Innovative Closed-Loop Environmental System
Now, Dave gets to return to his real passion. Animals and closed loop environmental systems that emulate Nature whenever possible. He conceptualized and patented a system that grows Coturnix quail. The manure from quail is unusable as compost. So, he went back to his roots and conceptualized a treatment system to reduce the waste. The sludge from the plant, rather than being sent to a landfill, is being fed to black soldier fly who consume the sludge and convert it back to protein which is in turn fed back to the birds! And the fras (manure from the flies) is now a valuable soil additive! No waste. Further, the birds are in a contained building where their CO2 builds up. Additionally, they need light to lay eggs all year. Well…plants love CO2 and light. This means the waste products from the birds get fed to the plants that get fed to the family and to the birds. How elegant. And, oh by the way, we make eggs. This is also where he picked up his title as the Quizzard (quail wizard). In 2023 we attended “quailcon” to learn about quail. By 2024 the Quizzard was invited back as a lecturer.
Donna Gardner: The "Quitch" and Her Creative Touch
Speaking of eggs…co-owner Donna Gardner uses these eggs in her baking, and makes the most amazing quail egg custard you’ll ever try. She is also an artist and you can find her unique collections here on this website. Mother of 6 kids she quickly took to raising the baby quail and is affectionately known as the Mother of Quail. Visit the Mother of Quail’s site on this page to see her amazing carved eggs and jewelry. She also picked up the title of Quitch to go with the Quizzard. the Quitch and the Quizard now operate a food cart in Texas showcasing the amazing food that they are making from these birds
