seaweed as a fertiliser
 

The shore is about 300 meters from the house, any tips for using seaweed to
fertalise the garden?

cheers roy

The message
from "roy davidson" contains these words:

The shore is about 300 meters from the house, any tips for using seaweed to
fertalise the garden?

Traditionally, you thatch your house and byre with hay. When you have
cut fresh hay, you drag the old thatch off the roof and re-thatch with
new stuff, then, layer the old thatch with cleanings from the byre and
seaweed from the shore, and leave it there for a year, then spread it on
the lazy-beds with the alluvium which has accumulated in the channels
between them.

But some people just dig it into the soil as it comes...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On 10/9/04 22:31, in article , "roy
davidson" wrote:

The shore is about 300 meters from the house, any tips for using seaweed to
fertalise the garden?

cheers roy


There was a thread about this a month or two ago. But basically, bring it
ashore and dump it on your veg patch in the autumn. That is when the storms
tend to wash up great piles or bladder wrack which is what is most used,
AFAIK. Over the winter, it will rot down and give valuable nutrients to the
soil.
This will give you some information.
http://www.societe-jersiaise.org/langsec/vraic.html

Here's a quote from the site:
"Work by F Woodland Toms, Jersey's Official Analyst for over 40 years, shows
that dried vraic is three to four times as effective as a fertiliser than
the fresh weed."

(There are about 2.5 vergees to the acre)

On grazing land, the farmers believed it acted as a sort of disinfectant.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article , Sacha
writes

Here's a quote from the site:
"Work by F Woodland Toms, Jersey's Official Analyst for over 40 years, shows
that dried vraic is three to four times as effective as a fertiliser than
the fresh weed."

On what basis? By weight? By volume?

The fresh weed has a large water content - is the 'increased
effectiveness' anything more than the result of applying it 'neat'
rather than 'diluted'?

(I have in mind that in cooking one uses about 4 times as much of the
fresh herb than the same herb dried)
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"roy davidson" wrote in message
...
The shore is about 300 meters from the house, any tips for using seaweed
to
fertalise the garden?

cheers roy



Gather every bit you can and pile it in your compost bins .........its
fantastic stuff ........add some to worm bins .....keeps them sweet and oh
how I envy you

On 11/9/04 13:56, in article , "Kay"
wrote:

In article , Sacha
writes

Here's a quote from the site:
"Work by F Woodland Toms, Jersey's Official Analyst for over 40 years, shows
that dried vraic is three to four times as effective as a fertiliser than
the fresh weed."

On what basis? By weight? By volume?

The fresh weed has a large water content - is the 'increased
effectiveness' anything more than the result of applying it 'neat'
rather than 'diluted'?

(I have in mind that in cooking one uses about 4 times as much of the
fresh herb than the same herb dried)

I can't tell you the science behind it all and if you haven't looked at the
site there is this quote:

"The best sort of vraic for use in these circumstances is the dried variety,
which, not so many years ago, was prepared in stacks near the shoreline at
La Rocque, La Pulente and L'Etacq.

Work by F Woodland Toms, Jersey's Official Analyst for over 40 years, shows
that dried vraic is three to four times as effective as a fertiliser than
the fresh weed.

His analysis also showed that collet (kelp) is richer in potash than other
seaweeds and that cliaque (green weed, such as sea lettuce) is rich in
nitrogen.

Perhaps surprisingly, vraic taken in the spring is richer than autumn weed
collected after a summer's growth.

The rate of application for wet vraic is up to 20 tons per vergée and six
tons per vergée for the dried version.

Mr Thomas says that a traditional vraitcheur would aim to collect about 16
loads or 50 tons a day during the height of the vraicing season."

If you emailed the Societe Jersiaise, they might be able to give you more
info on the breakdown. http://www.societe-jersiaise.org/

Apparently, at one time, the vraic also used to be cut and burned by farmers
and the ash spread on the land. That practice appears to have died
altogether and now it is gathered after storms and spread on the land - if
anyone bothers to do it!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 22:31:45 +0100, "roy davidson"
wrote:

The shore is about 300 meters from the house, any tips for using seaweed to
fertalise the garden?

cheers roy

I use it as a mulch around shrubs, straight from the beach, sand,
salt, hoppers and all. Spread it thick, say at least two inches.
Wonderful stuff. Keeps roots cool and moist in summer, improves soil
structure and texture and provides nutrients. My camellias love it.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

The message
from Janet Baraclough.. contains
these words:
The message
from Chris Hogg contains these words:

I use it as a mulch around shrubs, straight from the beach, sand,
salt, hoppers and all. Spread it thick, say at least two inches.
Wonderful stuff. Keeps roots cool and moist in summer, improves soil
structure and texture and provides nutrients. My camellias love it.

I second that..you can't apply too much!

I think that was a rather rash statement considering the number of
pedants here...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/