Although I live in Norfolk and relatively near to the East Coast, I
cannot find a beach where I can collect seaweed for a mulch. The
beaches of Gt. Yarmouth and Gorleston are seaweed free. Does anyone
know of a beach in North Norfolk, where I could collect seaweed?

"judith lea" wrote in message
ups.com...
Although I live in Norfolk and relatively near to the East Coast, I
cannot find a beach where I can collect seaweed for a mulch. The
beaches of Gt. Yarmouth and Gorleston are seaweed free. Does anyone
know of a beach in North Norfolk, where I could collect seaweed?


Presumably your beaches are sandy/pebbly. Seaweed is found on rocky shores,
it likes to cling to rocks and gets torn off in storms, then ends up on the
beach. Is there any rocky shoreline near you?

Steve

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...
:
: "judith lea" wrote in message
: ups.com...
: Although I live in Norfolk and relatively near to the East Coast, I
: cannot find a beach where I can collect seaweed for a mulch. The
: beaches of Gt. Yarmouth and Gorleston are seaweed free. Does anyone
: know of a beach in North Norfolk, where I could collect seaweed?
:
:
: Presumably your beaches are sandy/pebbly. Seaweed is found on rocky
shores,
: it likes to cling to rocks and gets torn off in storms, then ends up on
the
: beach. Is there any rocky shoreline near you?
:
: Steve
:
Call me a spoilsport but imo seaweed is not the best mulching material as it
'dissolves' away to very little, when rain gets on it. It's certainly very
good for nutrients though

shazzbat wrote:

Presumably your beaches are sandy/pebbly. Seaweed is found on rocky shores,
it likes to cling to rocks and gets torn off in storms, then ends up on the
beach. Is there any rocky shoreline near you?

Steve

Hi Steve, sandy at Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and Cromer. North Norfolk
has quite a wild coast, i.e. Blakeney and Cley, we will take a drive
up there next week to take a look. Thank you.

Call me a spoilsport but imo seaweed is not the best mulching material as it
'dissolves' away to very little, when rain gets on it. It's certainly very
good for nutrients though

I know an urgler who uses it extensively on her garden and the results
speak for themselves. She has the most beautiful, well nourished
garden and I was lucky enough to see a new bed that she had created and
mulched with cardboard and seaweed, a lot of seaweed!

I'm no expert gardener but I am hoping, that, not only will it add
nutrients but that it will improve my heavy clay soil

Hi Judith,



We live a few hundred yards from 'tons' of seaweed.. but I wouldn't want it
on my veg. plot. however good it might be! Nasty, pooey, slimy stuff.



Be careful because I believe some seaweeds are protected species. I guess
it's OK to take off dead 'flotsam' from the inter-tidal range though .
However you could get reported or moved on if someone gets the wrong idea.



Collecting or removing anything from a beach nowadays can be problematical -
certainly pebbles from the Chesil Beach down here in Dorset.. (about a mile
from home) which an awful lot of holidaymakers try to do albeit rather
sneakily. It's almost a hanging offence. Quite righthly so...

Cley and Blakeney are a bit bleak at this time of year as I remember, and
the seashore is mostly mud. The beautiful sandy beaches you have would
surely be a better bet (at the high tide line).

Good luck,

Keith


"judith lea" wrote in message
ups.com...
Although I live in Norfolk and relatively near to the East Coast, I
cannot find a beach where I can collect seaweed for a mulch. The
beaches of Gt. Yarmouth and Gorleston are seaweed free. Does anyone
know of a beach in North Norfolk, where I could collect seaweed?

"judith lea" wrote in message
oups.com...

shazzbat wrote:

Presumably your beaches are sandy/pebbly. Seaweed is found on rocky
shores,
it likes to cling to rocks and gets torn off in storms, then ends up on
the
beach. Is there any rocky shoreline near you?

Steve

Hi Steve, sandy at Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and Cromer. North Norfolk
has quite a wild coast, i.e. Blakeney and Cley, we will take a drive
up there next week to take a look. Thank you.


The only vaguely rocky beach on the Norfolk coast is at North Runcton, chalk
with embedded flint. There is usually some bladder-wrack, but I doubt the
lacal fauna would appreciate its removal and it may be some kind of reserve
in any case.

On 29/11/06 18:42, in article , "Keith
(Dorset)" wrote:

Hi Judith,



We live a few hundred yards from 'tons' of seaweed.. but I wouldn't want it
on my veg. plot. however good it might be! Nasty, pooey, slimy stuff.


Jersey farmers have used bladder wrack (vraic in Jersey) on their fields for
generations. Only in more recent years have they used the ghastly nitrates.
The potatoes grown in land fed with vraic laid on them straight from the
beach are sublime in flavour and the soil they grow in is wonderful.
In California, I've heard of people who actually pay others to go and
collect seaweed and sell it to them! If you have bladder wrack at hand and
don't use it, you're really missing out.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Robert
I half agree with you.
I accept that the seaweed has good nutritients and mulch wise it is not
great.
However I do think its value as a soil conditioner is invaluable. I
believe the alginates within the seaweed help to reduce the leaching of
nutrients within the soil. This makes sandy soils more retentive and
helps to open up clay soils.
I saw an exhibitor at a green keepers exhibition in Harrogate a couple
of years back, where dried, flaked seaweed had been used on golf
courses to reduce their chemical inputs - to the point where some had
gone organic - very unusual for a golf course.
http://www.hmproducts.co.uk/ Only wish it was available retail.
I have used seaweed meal from the Chase orgainics / HDRA catalogue and
on a couple of alotments and felt it did improve things for me.
Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorks

On 29/11/06 21:48, in article , "Russel
Sprout" wrote:


"judith lea" wrote in message
oups.com...

shazzbat wrote:

Presumably your beaches are sandy/pebbly. Seaweed is found on rocky
shores,
it likes to cling to rocks and gets torn off in storms, then ends up on
the
beach. Is there any rocky shoreline near you?

Steve

Hi Steve, sandy at Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and Cromer. North Norfolk
has quite a wild coast, i.e. Blakeney and Cley, we will take a drive
up there next week to take a look. Thank you.


The only vaguely rocky beach on the Norfolk coast is at North Runcton, chalk
with embedded flint. There is usually some bladder-wrack, but I doubt the
lacal fauna would appreciate its removal and it may be some kind of reserve
in any case.

Collecting seaweed to use as garden fertiliser means collecting sea weed
that has been torn from its rocky bed and chucked onto the beach by winter
storms. If left there, it will simply rot away, just as it would on your
flower or veg beds but probably to less benefit. Or it will be washed out to
sea again by the next high tide. I doubt Judith is going to wade out
wearing her golden jellies to tear it from the sea bed. ;-) It's flotsam.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

In message , Sacha
writes
On 29/11/06 18:42, in article , "Keith
(Dorset)" wrote:

We live a few hundred yards from 'tons' of seaweed.. but I wouldn't want it
on my veg. plot. however good it might be! Nasty, pooey, slimy stuff.


Jersey farmers have used bladder wrack (vraic in Jersey) on their fields for
generations. Only in more recent years have they used the ghastly nitrates.
The potatoes grown in land fed with vraic laid on them straight from the
beach are sublime in flavour and the soil they grow in is wonderful.
In California, I've heard of people who actually pay others to go and
collect seaweed and sell it to them! If you have bladder wrack at hand and
don't use it, you're really missing out.

Collect your seaweed from the strand line after a storm. A shingle or
sand beach is more likely to have storm debris than a mud one. They're
expecting a storm tonight so good luck.

If your beach belongs to a holiday park, town council etc they may
remove the seaweed every morning, at least in summer. I saw a machine
doing this in Devon - then you'd have to get there first.

If your soil has an appreciable clay content try to get the seaweed
rained free of salt before you use it.

--
Sue ]

On 2/12/06 21:49, in article , "MadCow"
wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 29/11/06 18:42, in article , "Keith
(Dorset)" wrote:

We live a few hundred yards from 'tons' of seaweed.. but I wouldn't want it
on my veg. plot. however good it might be! Nasty, pooey, slimy stuff.


Jersey farmers have used bladder wrack (vraic in Jersey) on their fields for
generations. Only in more recent years have they used the ghastly nitrates.
The potatoes grown in land fed with vraic laid on them straight from the
beach are sublime in flavour and the soil they grow in is wonderful.
In California, I've heard of people who actually pay others to go and
collect seaweed and sell it to them! If you have bladder wrack at hand and
don't use it, you're really missing out.

Collect your seaweed from the strand line after a storm. A shingle or
sand beach is more likely to have storm debris than a mud one. They're
expecting a storm tonight so good luck.


It's blowing now and the glass is dropping by the minute. Very, very nasty
weather coming our way.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/