Gathering seaweed for my garden.
Yesterday I went boogie boarding at Upham Beach and noticed that there were piles of turtle grass and manatee grass on the beach. Several days of onshore winds have been increasing the amounts of seaweed on the beach.
I decided that a couple of bags of seaweed would be very good for my garden, so I came back today with Sue and got two kitchen trash bags full. There was some shell mixed in. I only got 2 bags because I was concerned about the smell in my yard as it decomposes. I needn’t have been.
Once I got the seaweed home, I spread it out on the grass and rinsed the excess salt off quickly with the hose before putting it on the garden. I had some left over, so I spread that around one of the orange trees that has been a bit yellow lately from a lack of minor elements. Perhaps it will help.
That was about 5 hours ago. The sun has been on it since then. I just walked outside and found that it has almost completely dehydrated and is nearly crispy-dry. No smell whatsoever.
I’ll be going back for more.
I got the idea from a guy I knew in Bradenton back in the 1980’s. His entire backyard was an organic garden. His name was Henry Ortman and he was in his 70’s. Henry frequently drove out to the beach and brought back seaweed for his incredible garden. He was a real inspiration to me. I could do a whole blog post on him.
Thanks Henry, wherever you may be.
