Monday 15 December 2014

A Gift From The Sea


You may have heard about the torrential rain and high winds we've experienced on the coast. Our meadow was covered in water and the highway was awash but we suffered no serious disruption to our lives. Once the system passed we decided to see if  any seaweed had been tossed up on the beach. Not only did we find seaweed but the most beautiful leaf mulch washed from the hills. It was already well broken down, a rich, aromatic mixture of organic materials. It had piled up in drifts on the land side of large logs which line the beach. It hadn't picked up a lot of sand or grit and was relatively dry from the few hours of sunshine we had post storm.



We took five buckets, one of seaweed and four of the mulch. Seaweed is superlative for adding minerals to the soil. I don't like to take too much although currently it is not over harvested. I won't be harvesting any from Christmas onward as kelp is the repository for herring eggs and an important element in the marine food chain.


Tomorrow it will be spread on the garden as part of my soil building programme.

29 comments:

  1. This is great, Susan. Wish I could harvest some gifts from the sea too. :)
    I do make my own compost but it's hard to get enough for all of my gardens.

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    1. Rebuilding our garden has stretched our resources in time, materials and money.

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  2. I've collected mulch from the mouth of a river in Chippewa Bay on Powell Lake, and the sandy beach near us has some great peat moss. I did it more when my garden was young and needed more volume (free is a lot cheaper than the nursery). Now I use my own compost to keep increasing the size of my cliff-side garden. The floating garden gets peat and manure from the store since I only need a little bit for each bed. - Margy

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    1. We have carted a lot of bags home from the store. It was real gift to find such beautiful material for free.

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  3. Replies
    1. So true. Nature seems to have it figured out.

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  4. What a beautiful setting :)

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    Replies
    1. It was a beautiful day. Walking the beach is a great stress reliever.

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  5. Your garden must be lovely in its natural beauty.

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    1. It is a good job there is the natural beauty because I have yet to add to it. Next year will be flower year.

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  6. What a nice bonus from all that bloody rain. Glad to hear you had no harm done. Cheers!

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  7. Double fun: a lovely day on the beach and wonderful food for the garden!

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  8. What a gift! And I love your header photograph. It is so lovely and brightens up my day every time I see it.

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  9. I often pick up seaweed for my garden - they say asparagus really likes extra salt. I also sometimes add it to the compost heap as it seems to get it heating up nicely. A neighbour told me I should wash the salt out - I have not noticed any problems - do you wash the salt out?

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    1. I wondered about the salt. I asked a soil scientist and she said it wasn't enough to cause a problem. Also our winter is so wet a lot of it gets washed out. I hope this proves true as I put it on unwashed.

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  10. There is always a positive, though we often must look for it. I hope you are having a good week! Bonnie

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    1. A beautiful day often follows a storm, another wonderful way Nature works.

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  11. I add dried kelp to my garden in the fall and the plants love it. :o) What a wonderful silver lining to a stormy day. :o)

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    1. Our soil is desperate for a good meal. I hope I see results next year.

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  12. What a gift from the sea for your garden friend! And what beautiful photos you captured of the sea! Wishing you a wonderful weekend Susan...and yes....I am looking very seriously at moving my family to a large plot of land! Nicole xoxo

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    1. Good for you! I'll keep my fingers crossed you find a place to love.

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  13. I like the harvesting from the sea idea. Here Lake Michigan has organic materials too, but my bluff is so steep, even with the stairs, I could never harvest much. However, I think you have the right idea doing it because it is so "nutritious" for the gardens. Good visiting again. Jack

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    1. I have a short but steep hill to climb, the small distance is more than enough. The torrential rains plus a king tide have done some serious damage to the bluffs here.

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  14. I used to like to collect seaweed for the garden when I lived in San Diego, but now we are too far. But we have to mow lots of grass and also chip lots of blackberry vines and Red Cedar boughs, so we get lots of organic matter, and I supplement with crushed lava rock to add some minerals.

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  15. What a fabulous gift and a beautiful way to celebrate the end of fall.

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  16. What a wonderful idea Susan! I would have never thought about using seaweed in the garden.

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