It's an ill wind that blows no good, and the storm of Sunday night and Monday morning was no exception. Among other benefits, it brought us a good supply of seaweed along the south-facing beaches.
As we clear the beds in our vegetable garden of their summer produce, so we start to prepare them for next year's crops. Today we carried four builder's buckets of seaweed up from the bay below our house and dug them into the ground.
The piled debris contains a variety of seaweed species, and this must greatly increase its value as a fertilizer. It was used by the crofters in the days when Ormsaigbeg's fields carried crops of potatoes and barley, and it has probably been used for a thousand years or more before crofts were invented, so we feel we are continuing an age-old tradition. More, it's environmentally friendly, there are no emissions from its transport - other than some sweat - and it's free.
Having never used seaweed on the garden, I wonder: How long does it take to rot down, does it smell as it rots, does it attract flies in warm weather, is it a slip risk and does it produce a potting medium if heaped separately? Have you tried growing comparison crops with seaweed versus garden compost?
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