Hi, all!

We have been fortunate to recently move into a beachfront home in a rural area. Due to the sandy/rocky soil and high salt water content in water supplies and sea spray, our "victory garden" is quite small. So, if TS truly HTF we are planning on becoming more "hunter-gatherers" than farmers. We have the crab pots and fishing supplies but I'm hoping someone on this forum has some insight into sea vegetables.

Here are my specific questions: Are all seaweeds edible? Can we collect from the beach, or must we harvest those that are still attached or part of seaweed forests? Finally (and most importantly) how do you prepare seaweed for optimum palatablity?

Thank you in advance for any advice and/or links you may have.

-- Cath (fin@llyGI.now), October 19, 1999

Answers

Cath, I don't know where you live, but I would not harvest seaweed so close to the shore. I was on the beach yesterday and got tar on my foot, reminding me how polluted the shoreline is by passing ships. Also, often untreated sewage is released... Seaweed is a great food, however. I buy it at the health food store.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), October 20, 1999.

I am not sure where you live but you need to be careful of the red tides. Also, we live on an island and harvest Beach Asparagus in the summer. Natives here eat it raw (a bit salty) but most can it. I put up five cases of it this summer, canned it with a few onion slices for flavor and it's delicious served with mayo, fresh onions, bacon bits (cold or hot). We have also eaten plantain.

You can also get yourself a book on foraging or check with your neighbors to see what they are eating from their surroundings.

-- Penda Zone (PendaZ@excite.com), October 20, 1999.

Better than pickles! I have discovered a seaweed here in Hawaii called "limu".

I experimented. After thoroughly washing it, I added vinegar, garlic cloves, and other pickling herbs and spices to a jar. It is delicious. After a few weeks in the fridge, it mellowed to a consistent flavor that is special.

Great source of minerals, of course.

-- Sara Nealy (keithn@aloha.net), October 20, 1999.

Notwithstanding pollution seaweeds are an
excellent source of iodine. I have eaten all
the local edible seaweeds (and some not so
edible) on the pacific coast. Some of the
better ones here are Pelvetiopsis and Fucus.
These can be eaten raw. Alaria marginata
can be parboiled and scrubbed with salt and
dried. Nereosystis fronds can be gathered by
boat, scrubbed with salt and dried to make a
great snack. Check those scientific names in
the back of a seaweed identification book.

There is also a plant on the beach that is
quite good. Salicaria (Pickle weed) is
very salty but tasty. All these plants have
a season when they taste better.

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), October 20, 1999.

Cath,

Don't know what coastline you're near, but if you are lucky enough to have an asian community near you, they are often the ones most clued in to this. Choice edibles in the west are the bright green sea lettuce, and the unlikely 'dead man's fingers'. I'd advise getting field guides; go to your public library & check out their edible plant, sea weed, & shore plant books. Pickleweed is an old shore favorite, as is New Zealand spinach. Yes, these things do have seasonal changes, you should be aware of runoff & pollution factors, as well as collecting limits, and responsible stewardship. Many areas have regulated the species, amount, and seasons that plants or animals can be taken - it would be smart to call fish & game - they can tell you the regulations & have some terrific brochures for free that tell you about the natural history of various plants & critters out there. Remember that many native plants are under intense pressure from habitat loss & invasive exotic species. Good luck, it's a fascinating world out there.

I would also like to say that sand dune communities are extremely fragile, yet quite fascinating and wonderous. You may have to special order some of the field guides that you decide to purchase, I'd take the library plunge soon if I were you. Used bookstores often have a wealth of guide & identification books as well.

For survival purposes, I think you'd be better off setting up a good pantry or larder. Population pressures make it extremely unlikely that hunter/gatherers are going to be a successful model for the future.

-- flora (***@__._), October 21, 1999.

Cath,

Don't know what coastline you're near, but if you are lucky enough to have an asian community near you, they are often the ones most clued in to this. Choice edibles in the west are the bright green sea lettuce, and the unlikely 'dead man's fingers'. I'd advise getting field guides; go to your public library & check out their edible plant, sea weed, & shore plant books. Pickleweed is an old shore favorite, as is New Zealand spinach. Yes, these things do have seasonal changes, you should be aware of runoff & pollution factors, as well as collecting limits, and responsible stewardship. Many areas have regulated the species, amount, and seasons that plants or animals can be taken - it would be smart to call fish & game - they can tell you the regulations & have some terrific brochures for free that tell you about the natural history of various plants & critters out there. Remember that many native plants are under intense pressure from habitat loss & invasive exotic species. Good luck, it's a fascinating world out there.

I would also like to say that sand dune communities are extremely fragile, yet quite fascinating and wonderous. You may have to special order some of the field guides that you decide to purchase, I'd take the library plunge soon if I were you. Used bookstores often have a wealth of guide & identification books as well.

For survival purposes, I think you'd be better off setting up a good pantry or larder. Population pressures make it extremely unlikely that hunter/gatherers are going to be a successful model for the near future.

-- flora (***@__._), October 21, 1999.

Quick afterthought,

Pick up some gardening books on raised beds, and 'square foot gardening' by Mel Bartholomew. Seashore gardens greatly benefit from ammending the organic material. If you have big racks of kelp wash in over the winter, they can be great in the garden bed once you leach out the salt. I highly recommend a box red worms for composting kitchen scraps {'cept those from animal products}. Good luck, the best potatoes I've ever eaten came from a beach garden in Washington.

I think some of the native edibles would do well transplanted into the garden, many of these have the added benefit of being perennials.

-- flora (***@__._), October 21, 1999.

Thank you, everyone!!

Great advice, we'll head over to the library and check out Amazon.com for field guides (if their site is up). I've looked at the asian food section of the local grocery stores, it's difficult to tell what plant the packaged seaweed came from. Also great idea about using kelp as a soil amendment for our raised beds, never thought of that!!

Thanks again!

-- Cath (fin@llyGI.now), October 21, 1999.

I seem to remember some sections on seeweed in:

Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop by Euell Gibbons, Catherine R. Hammond (Illustrator) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0911469052/o/qid=940612040/sr=2 -2/002-8939780-5928252

-- Dennis Law (PaulLaw@aol.com), October 22, 1999.