The message
from Janet Baraclough contains these words:

Crofters on the west-Scotland coast, where soil is often very thin,
traditionally planted potatoes on a mound of seaweed. The mounds were
called lazybeds, must have been named by someone who had never done it
:-) Potatoes grown with seaweed taste marvellous.

Ahem! Lazybeds were strips of soil with the areas beside them dug out to
make a trench. The spoil from the trench was put on the bed.

In successive years the beds would be fertilised by using the previous
year's compost. This was traditionally started in the spring, when the
byre was mucked-out and the thatch pulled off and replaced with new. To
this was added loads of seaweed.

Pics of the house I nearly bought on the Isle of Lewis, clearly showing
the old pattern of lazybeds at:

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/lewis/ and look at the line of
thumbnail links 'The Croft and Crofthouse'.

--
Rusty
horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk