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MadCow · 02-12-2006, 09:49 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

In message , Sacha
writes
On 29/11/06 18:42, in article , "Keith
(Dorset)" wrote:

We live a few hundred yards from 'tons' of seaweed.. but I wouldn't want it
on my veg. plot. however good it might be! Nasty, pooey, slimy stuff.

Jersey farmers have used bladder wrack (vraic in Jersey) on their fields for
generations. Only in more recent years have they used the ghastly nitrates.
The potatoes grown in land fed with vraic laid on them straight from the
beach are sublime in flavour and the soil they grow in is wonderful.
In California, I've heard of people who actually pay others to go and
collect seaweed and sell it to them! If you have bladder wrack at hand and
don't use it, you're really missing out.

Collect your seaweed from the strand line after a storm. A shingle or
sand beach is more likely to have storm debris than a mud one. They're
expecting a storm tonight so good luck.

If your beach belongs to a holiday park, town council etc they may
remove the seaweed every morning, at least in summer. I saw a machine
doing this in Devon - then you'd have to get there first.

If your soil has an appreciable clay content try to get the seaweed
rained free of salt before you use it.

--
Sue ]