Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetables
Sweet Kombu or sea cabbage (Hedophyllum sessile) grows in clusters like a cabbage bed. We harvest the blades that have bubbly indentations, as these are high in polysaccharides, which give this sea vegetable its sweet smoky aftertaste. Sweet Kombu is a brown seaweed. It can be eaten like a chip right out of the bag, as well as cooked in stews, … Read more
Wakame (Alaria marginata) on the west coast of California is a beautiful, magnificently abundant genus of marine algae. This nutritious, edible seaweed is considered a brown seaweed. The long, broad, gracefully flowing ribbons of Alaria cling to the rocks in the lower intertidal zones. The olive-green fronds grow to over 30 feet in length and … Read more
Turkish Towel for the Bath (Chondracanthus exasperates) is known for its healing properties for the skin. Our skin is an amazing organ, and can absorb the potassium, calcium, iodine, and magnesium found in seaweeds. This gorgeous red seaweed is unique in its appearance and its uses! It is widely known as the Turkish towel because … Read more
Hello from my cozy home in the redwoods. I love fall and the smells of scrumptious comfort foods, either cooking in the oven or simmering on the stovetop. One of my favorite dishes to make during the chilly season is beans! I love all kinds of beans (pinto, black, fava, black eyed peas, lima…). You … Read more
I have been sustainably hand-harvesting seaweed on the Mendocino coast from the same 10-12 locations since 1999. Lucky me! In those years, I have come to know these seaweed harvesting spots intimately, and have been there to see the ebb and flow of more than the 11 varieties of (kelp, seaweed, sea vegetables) that I … Read more
Nereocyctis luetkeana When we think of “forests” there’s one we often overlook — the offshore kelp forest, largely made up of Bullwhip Kelp or Nereocystis luetkeana. Nereocystis (Greek for “mermaid’s bladder”) is the largest in the family of brown algae, and found along the coast of California to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The fastest-growing … Read more
July brings with it the boom of the seaweed harvest cycle for Ocean Harvest, as well as the finish of harvesting towards the end. At the end of this month, I will have spent 35+ days in the rocky intertidal seaweed beds at the lowest tides of the year. These days of harvesting are compacted … Read more
As the heat rolls in this month, we’re thinking cool recipes. Raw recipes. And vegan! We’d like to share with you one of our easiest seaweed recipes, featuring the wonderful, the inimitable, the super-tasty sea palm. Sea Palm Pickles 1 cucumber cut into rounds 1 handful of sea palm, cut into small pieces 1/4 cup … Read more