I also don’t carry flares but I do always have a first aid kit in my car and some basics in my pocket, and some first aid training! I also recommend a loud whistle. Personally I find a lifejacket gets in the way too much when I’m harvesting so I don’t. Some people like to wear lifejackets and carry flares. Make sure your phone is fully charged and that you have a signal. A simple precaution could be the difference between life and death. Tell people where you are going and when you will call them to let them know you’re back.
If you slip on a wet, seaweed covered rock, you could bang your head and knock yourself out. Set an alarm on your phone for when the tide turns so you allow enough time to get back.Īlways go out with a friend. Always look up the tide either online or buy some tide tables. One of the most basic rules of foraging is “don’t be selfish”.ĭon’t be blasé about the tide and the tidal zone.
Picking clean is good for you and good for the seaweed.Īlways spread your harvesting around, taking a little here and a little there. Cut the blades off above the stipe, leaving a little of the blade so that it can grow again. You’ll not only kill the seaweed and prevent it from growing again next year, but you’re also going to end up with sand and flakes of rock in your harvesting basket. Check the tides and go out when the tide is out so you can harvest from the living plants. It’s like picking your salad off the floor of a supermarket when everyone else has driven their trolley over it. But there are many that have exquisite tastes and you’ll be surprised at the variety of flavours.Īlso, don’t pick dead seaweed from the splash zone. Some taste like fish food or have the texture of hair. Just because it isn’t poisonous doesn’t make it a choice edible. Check with the Clean Beach websites as bathing water quality is monitored and the results published every year. Avoid beaches near towns, sewage pipes, run-off and industry. Do make sure that you’re collecting from an unpolluted source. So its far less complicated than trying to identify edible fungi! Learn what a featherweed looks like, and then you can gaily wander the shore nibbling and tasting.Ī couple of caveats. They have mastered the knack of producing a little sulphuric acid to put off predators. Luckily for us here in the British Isles there aren’t any poisonous species… well… the only one to watch out for is featherweed – 4 species of Desmarestia that grow mainly in deep water. The red seaweeds are the tricky ones as they can look brown, red, pink or green! There are three colours that divide the seaweed families. I personally start picking in February and they taste amazing. Once the sea temperature start to cool in the autumn, the growth rate starts to pick up again, particularly after November. Their growth rate slows down as the water temperatures rise from June to September, the slowest growth rate being in August. Most seaweed species grow fastest from January to May and are at their tastiest and most productive during the Spring – from February, through March, April, May and early June. By high summer they’ve released their eggs and antherozoids and are settling into old age. Higher water temperatures tend to slow down the growth of seaweeds.
Sadly many people’s view of seaweed has been coloured by their childhood trips to the seaside at the end of July or in August when temperatures are high, and the beach strewn with washed up, smelly, slowly-rotting seaweed. I’m often asked when the best time to harvest seaweed is.