Hello, 2023 Seaweed Harvesting Season!

Nori is the first harvest of the season. Nori, also known as Porphyra perforate or lanceolata, is a RED seaweed and only one cell wall thick! This means you get LOTS of nutrients riding on this wonderful seaweed… Nori is the highest of all seaweeds in protein (50% by weight) and high in iron and Vit. B12. Think about this…, since Nori is only one cell wall thick, you don’t want to wash the nutrients off of it- like you see in all the neatly packaged small nori snacks in the grocery store.

Red Seaweeds for February!

I’ve been busy planning the 2023 harvest cycle after I picked up my tide book. Did you know we can only harvest seaweed a maximum of 40 days a year? Those days are all between April and the end of July. We work with the moon phases (new and full moon) because these are the times during the summer when there are negative tides. This means we can get to the seaweed-filled rock areas in the ocean for about 1-2 hours each day (4-5 days in a row) to harvest as quickly as possible before the sea covers the rocks and seaweeds over again. It is vital to work! It is also very cyclical, like a woman’s monthly moon cycle.
This month, I want to introduce you to RED seaweeds. Three classifications of seaweeds are identified by color: red, brown, and green.

Ocean Ribbons!

Hello Dear Seaweed Blog Subscribers! I took some time off from blogging this past summer to complete the years seaweed harvest, and I am back with a great recipe for you! Ocean Ribbons or Lessionopsis littoralis are beautiful flowing ribbons of brown seaweed that grow on the outermost rocks of the intertidal zone. We harvestContinue reading “Ocean Ribbons!”

2022 Seaweed foraging opportunities!

Seaweed foraging classes are right around the corner and we want to invite folks to come out and harvest with Ocean Harvest in a different way this year. Since our foraging classes are always in high demand, we want to offer more opportunities in a low-key fashion this year at a lower price.

Sea cabbage makes great vegan jerky!

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,Continue reading “Sea cabbage makes great vegan jerky!”

Wakame – the Women’s Seaweed

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 andContinue reading “Wakame – the Women’s Seaweed”

Seaweed foraging this Summer!

Dear Seaweed Lovers: we’re excited to have you join us for a seaweed foraging adventure on the Mendocino coast. Our foraging adventure is limited to 15 people. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to reserve your spot. On our trips we learn, discover, enjoy, and engage in: Identifying different edible sea vegetables andContinue reading “Seaweed foraging this Summer!”

We love sea palm!

Postelsia palmaeformis – commonly known as “sea palm,” is an edible brown seaweed found on rocky shores with constant waves. It certainly resembles a tiny palm tree, and the resiliency of its cylindrical stipe and small holdfast are remarkable, enabling it to hold on to those rocks through wave after wave. In order to harvestContinue reading “We love sea palm!”

A recipe using wild nori

The first recipe we’d like to share is a much beloved snack by long-time Pacific coast residents, including many tribes and tribal communities whose ancestral territory stretches along the entire California coastline. Traditionally, wild-gathered nori was gathered and hand-formed into round “patties” (they look like palm-sized nests) and sun-dried outside on the ground. The thoroughlyContinue reading “A recipe using wild nori”