When I get a sense that I am not doing things the way most people are, I wonder, is this ok? There are series of days where it feels okay to be doing things differently. I spend a lot of time cooking. Sometimes all morning while other people are at work I am fermenting, reconstituting, baking and savoring. Then there comes the evening when I make something that is so delicious that I want to share it on my blog even though there was no seaweed involved. Well, I received a seaweed themed email tonight just before eating my fantastic meal that I believed helped with the enjoyment of my meal, and I thought about seaweed throughout the meal. So I guess it was involved.

 
After landscaping this afternoon and building a bed for the back of my pickup truck I stopped at the grocery store and got a 6oz piece of Atlantic Salmon on sale and some yogurt. This meal was inspired by my mom, and Larch my seaweed harvesting mentor. My mom always serves salmon with yogurt and dill. Larch taught me to cook with lots of onions and the marinades tamari and mirin (fermented rice wine.)

Roast-
Red potatoes cut into squares
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
at 350 degrees until tender

Sauté-
Onions
Coriander seeds crushed in mortar and pestle
Shiitake mushrooms
Splashes of mirin and tamari
Grated ginger root- Add after about 10-15 min. Keep stirring.
Dandelion greens – 5 min later
Chickpea miso paste- rub top of salmon with miso paste and some pepper
Salmon- finally add salmon and a bit of water to pan and cover. Cook for 10 minutes.
Please don’t overcook salmon. Check after 5 minutes and cook until center is cooked through but tender. Add more water if needed.

Combine-
Half cup plain yogurt
Juice from ¼- ½ lemon
Three or four pinches of dry dill
Dress salmon with yogurt sauce

Stop for a moment and take a few deep breaths before you enjoy your meal.

I am not making a ton of money nor am I doing things the way many other people are but I am being guided by what inspires me. A friend of mine is teaching me a type of massage called shiatsu. I am entirely grateful to learn this art form. I am bartering my labor landscaping for her with her gift of teaching me the technique of barefoot massage and acupressure. This is a craft she’s been developing over the past 25 years or so. Soon I will not only have seaweed to trade and sell but also an incredibly effective skill that I can carry with me wherever I go! When I was building the bed frame today with a contractor friend I noticed that as I screwed together pieces of lumber I was aware of my body in much the same way as I am when practicing shiatsu. When I practice shiatsu I notice that I allow the energy to flow through in much the same way as when practicing qigong.

I am grateful for all of the gifts I am receiving from many different directions. I am learning so much from so many different people near and far.

Over the next two months I plan to do more marketing and networking. As soon as I step into a crowd and begin talking about seaweed people are wide eyed and open eared.  The other night I attended a social gathering of local food entrepreneurs hosted by Dafna of INNA Jams. Laura, a woman who makes raw and vegan desserts, gasped as I whipped out a bag of sea whip (bullwhip kelp),  “Well look who just became the most popular person in the room”. Her business card reads:  “RAW   VEGAN   NOT GROSS”, as for seaweeds, I could claim the same.

I sit and wonder on what store shelves, in whose jars and behind whose labels are my seaweeds going to find their way in the next few months? Ideally I would be selling lots of Sea to Sea variety packs through my website and only sell a bit of it to the lucky few that catch on and find something creative to do with it in value added products. In the past two weeks I have only received two orders for the Sea to Sea Variety Pack- not great business seeing that I don’t have another job right now. But, on the bright side as I decide to put more energy into my pacific seaweeds business I am beginning to get orders for the Pacific seaweed vs. the Atlantic 1# Variety Pack which I will soon sell out of. I know it sounds superstitious but my orders always seem to follow depending on where I am physically and energetically with the seaweed business. When I left to harvest this past summer the orders stopped and when I moved back to the city I got a few. I want to get more than a few so I am going to focus on internet sales through marketing for the next few months before I hit the water again.

In a few weeks I am going to host a dinner and a potluck where I will educate about seaweed gathering, and cooking with seaweed. Until then I will be testing out recipes, bagging up seaweed, and returning emails to curious people who want me to introduce them to the wild plants. As always I encourage you to purchase seaweed, get cooking and share the enthusiasm. Know where your seaweed comes from (hopefully me) and then start munching.

I have been eating so much seaweed lately. The other day Liina and I got together and made spring rolls stuffed with sea palm and arugula from my garden, and wakame salad. Liina has recently begun a food blog, and I have been preparing for a demo at a local grocery. So it was perfect timing for us to get together in her cozy little apartment in the sunset (San Francisco neighborhood) to work out some recipes. It’s true cooking with seaweed is not a normal and everyday practice in our American kitchens. People hear that seaweed is good for you but are unsure how to cook with it and some even think it’s, yup, gross. So Lately I have been feeling inspired to teach people how to cook with seaweed and prove that seaweed is in fact pretty gourmet yet easy to prepare.

For my cooking demo at Monterey Market I sampled a Wakame salad and a Sea Palm and wild mushroom sauté. I believe that all nearly 100 customers that sampled were pleased with what they tasted. The customers really enjoyed the texture of the sea palm, it is firm and noodle like and I sautéd it in butter, white wine and light miso. The ginger tamari dressing on the wakame salad was a hit. People were surprised that both seaweeds had a mild taste. Monterey market is selling 1 oz. bags of my five pacific seaweeds.

Figuring out truly yummy seaweed recipes takes time. The old macrobiotic seaweed eaters and vegetarian recipes do not always excite me. It may take me time build up my recipe page. As I cook and enjoy the weeds I will add recipes. In the past month my friend Paba and I have been cooking together with my seaweeds we made egg rolls, and phyllo dough stuffed with sea palm and carrot sauté and another with dulse, apples and cheese. These recipes will be up on the website soon. In the meantime it’s winter and the best time to pull the kombu out from the back of the cupboard, dust it off and add it to soup stock and a hearty pot of beans. Let’s get inspired, let’s not let our seaweeds sit on the pantry shelve, but come to life in our most creative and nutritious recipes. Remember and honor how alive the seaweed once was twisting, bending and dancing with the ocean currents.

While jogging today this phrase came to mind “we don’t pray in small numbers” in thinking about the occupy movement. I grew up going to church where people pray “our father” behind four walls. I am inspired by occupy because there are no walls. We, out in the plaza, look into each other’s eyes not wondering “who is your god?” We look into each others eyes with compassion and determination because we know that being on planet earth is not about some being thirsty while others are full. We are here to eat together and to work together in order to realize our abundance. My friends in Maine call their home Zocalo, the plaza, where people gather together, not behind four walls praying to an ancient god to help us survive a harsh reality. The plaza is where we play and celebrate after working hard because that’s what our bodies and minds can do! We are many in this movement, ready to clear away the distractions and the apathy, ready to break down walls and remember what it means to be a human being on earth. Let’s keep asking ourselves if we are doing our part to create a healthy planet. We are here to take care of each other and share in the joys and sorrows of living on a dynamic planet. We have enough and it is the time to work together to make sure that our bellies are full and our voices are heard. There is nothing but the different shapes beauty can take that separate us from one another. Look into each others eyes!

Friday afternoon I am going to the ocean for the New Moon tide when the seaweeds are exposed. I want to express gratitude for the work I do, and for the vast ocean that reminds my heart to expand and stay open to all the gifts.

Join me if you desire to occupy the ocean on Friday afternoon between 3 pm and sunset/moon rise. I believe I will go to Bolinas. I will bring gratitude and the wish that every being can access the resources they need to enjoy a brief time on this living, breathing earth.

It’s the time of transitioning into fall, into winter. I sit by the window with the strong afternoon sun illuminating the autumn hues of my brunette head. I gather the warmth. The sun sets brilliantly these afternoons over the Pacific Ocean just a few miles from my door. I always feel this time of year in every cell of my body. Each afternoon I go to the park by the marina, ride my bike or truck over, and I visit the seaweeds that skirt the point. Kites fly and dance around with the cotton candy clouds, and I would think I was home on the east coast in Maine, Rhode Island or Cape Cod, if it weren’t for the lack of a frozen nose.  It is cool here this time of year, bundling up is necessary. Scarves and soups.

It is also time to dream. I am learning how to dream my passions into daily life. After seaweed harvesting season, it takes so long for me to exchange my sea legs for the legs of one who abides by the ways of the land. In a book I am reading the idea is that we first find a dance (job) of survival. Is this seaweed for me? Seaweed harvesting season is a dream time that is very hard for me to wake out of. I enjoy being one on one with nature so much. Now it’s time to work on selling the plants and this is the dance of survival, along with whatever other part time work I get. This is very hard for us whose souls are of the very wild variety. Like a chameleon I thrive in the presence of that which gives me life- nature walks, music session, dancing and other activities that connect me to the source. Not so much one on one with computers and dish sanitizers. So it is very important that in the survival work of marketing and pouring coffee I can somehow connect to my wild core. Is there a workshop in how to do this?!? The bromeliads (air plants- epiphytes) that float around the café help so much! And I am learning some new songs, Irish in origin, a Gaelic song about seaweed harvesting, that I can hum while on the job. Eventually the survival work ends up being like a skin that is shed, or a chrysalis that falls away. We learn how to share our highest gifts with our communities and survive on what gives us joy. This all takes time. and vision quests haha.

So in moving to a more urban place I expect that I might be able to tap into some resources to help me with the work that I am doing. Seaweed related and all that work we do in life in order to feel more connected. I am feeling ready to pick up where I left off in college with medicinal plants. I am going to look into herbal apprenticeships for next summer. When you purchase your own bit of the seaweed I harvested you’ll be surely supporting me on my journey deeper into the healing arts. I always want to be able to provide people with what nourishes and heals weather it is seaweed, other plants or a way of slowing the pace and listening. This is the perfect time of year to order seaweed for a simple nourishing broth or a hearty stock to warm the soul!

I’m so happy to have landed in what seems like the land of plenty Oakland, CA. Plenty of fresh food from farmer’s markets. Plenty of familiar faces. Plenty of events and workshops connected to food! Plenty of restaurants, markets and shops. Plenty of gardens and urban green projects. Plenty of opportunity to balance the urban feel with escape to the hills, the woods and the ocean. OH! Plenty of great music.

This weekend I will be checking out the EatReal festival in Jack London Square. I can’t wait to finger through recipes at food lit displays and talk to fermenting folks about krauting my weeds. I am in the process of sprucing up my business and am so happy to have lots of other food happy and creative spirits around me. New friends at work have been buying and trading for little bags of Sea Whip, Sea Palm, Nori, Wakame and Kombu. Mixing them into raw coconut soups and pairing them with local brews.

Need a little inspiration? If you are getting into the canning spirit try rinsing some seaweeds well and adding them to your jars or buy up a few bags to keep stored away for the winter months. Still got some fresh farmer’s market cukes around? Marinate wakame and toss with whatever’s crisp at the market. Growing some heirloom popping corn? Grind up sea whip (bull kelp) and toasted nori, mix with nutritional yeast and cayenne and store in a shaker for an easy and highly nutritious seasoning. Try sea palm as a gluten free noodle substitute. And you can never go wrong with a kombu dashi broth for a simple miso soup, or sautee fresh corn, potatoes, wakame and leeks from the market and stir into your kombu broth for a little more hearty soup.

Experiment! DIY with seaweeds.

“KRUU-LP 100.1 FM is a solar-powered, open source, independent, non commercial, listener-supported, grassroots community low power radio station, broadcasting 24 hours/day and 7 days/week since September 30th, 2006 from Fairfield, Iowa. 99.7% of the programs at KRUU are produced by some 100 volunteer hosts who create 80 shows a week. Only one program is not produced by KRUU hosts.”

Is there a place for the tastes of the sea on the pallet of these daring foodies in the Midwest??? Traditionally people living centrally, away from the coast, suffered from goiter and other sluggish thyroid conditions. On the coast we absorb iodine into our pores as the oceans mists bathe our lucky skin! Seaweed is an excellent way to get more iodine into our bodies. Eating iodized salt is boring. Complete sea salts provide our bodies with much more than sodium. Seaweed is strengthening to the body and softening to our tissues and arteries unlike plain old table salt. Learn more tonight on KRUU 100.1 FM

Check out the blurb

Soon I will be offering Sea Whip, Sea Palm, Pacific nori, kombu and wakame along with my Atlantic kelp, kombu, wakame (alaria), dulse and nori. I am currently harvesting seaweed off the coast of Mendocino California after dreaming up the opportunity for over a year. After harvesting seaweed in Maine for chunks of the past three summers I am happy to have the chilly experience of harvesting seaweed from the Pacific. When I got to California in late May I bought my own wet suit, gloves and booties- unfortunately I took advice from surfer dudes in Santa Cruz and they assured me that a 4/3 thickness would do for the waters off the coast of Mendocino. A warmer wetsuit with a hood was quickly slapped back onto the wish list. The sun doesn’t seem to hit the rocks until we are about finished harvesting seaweed for the morning in sunny California. One moment I am freezing and the next I am baking in the sun out in the meadow where we sort and hang the seaweeds to dry. I am intensely experiencing the elements. Before harvesting in California I had never even paddled a sea kayak. Today I noticed that my arms are getting stronger and I credit that to dragging the kayak across the beach and into the ocean to paddle out to each bountiful harvest location. A little sea kayaking and hauling bags of seaweed make a girl a little bit stronger each day. Now I’m wondering what sorting through wet nori for hours each day does for a girl.

Each time I move to a new place it is song and work that make me feel at home. There are a few women that help us dry our seaweed who also love to sing. You’ll be happy to know that your seaweed is serenaded as it is thoroughly inspected and hung to dry. I am relieved that I can pass the hours by sharing songs and stories with two of my new favorite ladies and with Andrew. Andrew has a seaweed business out here and he is the one who is teaching me the ways of the waters and seaweeds here on the west coast. Many people ask me why I want to learn from other people or work with other people who have seaweed companies. Rather than feeling that I want more independence I have a lot of gratitude for the people that I’ve found, who so generously share what they’ve learned in many years of exploring the waters and protecting the great resource that we gather. Some seaweed harvesters gather all their seaweeds from spots that are accessible from the shore at low tide or by hiring others to venture offshore. I have the experience of getting into the boat and exploring a bit further out. I am definitely experiencing my edge and I also enjoying watching other people doing the same. I watched Andrew and Tom land their kayaks on a rock that Andrew’s been eyeing for the whole season.

For those of you closer to the Atlantic please order my Atlantic seaweeds. My mom is ready to ship out from Rhode Island anytime an order comes in. For anyone who wants to wait for my Pacific seaweeds they should be available late August. I still have plenty of Atlantic seaweeds available and since I am not in New England to do farmer’s markets I ask that you support me by ordering my seaweed off the internet.

My dad's garden on Cape Cod last summer

I am in Maine getting ready to seaweed harvest. I am gearing up to harvest both in Maine and in Mendocino California this season. Lately, I’ve got greens on the mind. Food is such a significant part of my lifestyle. I know I have written about our green houses and garden here in Maine before but I must emphasize how amazing it is to have a constant source of greens out your back door. Tonight we are making Saag, an Indian dish with about a half pound of mustard greens simmered and blended with spices. A few weeks ago I made a chickweed pesto. Best of all it’s nice to take a break from tedious tasks such as scrubbing out 120 bushel baskets to munch on fresh kale. People who already eat lots of greens like kale, mustard greens, chard, collards and spinach to name a few, easily incorporate seaweed into their diets. Our bodies know that these are some of the best foods for us and then we crave them when we go without. When I moved out to California I had lot’s of seaweed with me. I was eating and sharing the seaweed that I got in Washington with Mr. Ryan drum, and once I had my own kitchen I began cooking more with my Maine harvested seaweed- it felt like home to do so.

In a month I will be back at making California home and I will be living among people that are sure to have gardens and enjoy cooking and eating meals together. Ginger, the other apprentice here in Maine, is an amazing cook. She makes Korean style spicy soups and she is always fermenting one vegetable, wild thing or another. It’s inspiring to live with her! We have batches of Sauer kraut and Kim chi nettles going. I made yogurt last night. Last week we made a batch of horseradish by pureeing the chopped root from the garden with salt and homemade pineapple vinegar. Ginger made the vinegar with the skins that we were about to toss into the compost. The book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz is getting good use here these days. Soon we will have kelp stipes (stems) to pickle. For lunch today Nina made a vegetable barley soup with a seaweed base, we ate it with dandelion buds sautéed with garlic- they were amazing! We collected the buds just as the sky opened up watering all of the little seeds we planted yesterday.

Out in California I will get a chance to harvest seaweed on a new terrain, with different style boats and on a different scale. I will be working with two different companies and I hope to do some foraging of other wild foods during my off weeks. It is great to have people in my life that are just as passionate about wild and garden grown foods. I am looking forward to branching out across the country and within the seaweed harvesting community. Some of us just have a real relationship with our food and where it comes from no matter what landscape we find ourselves- city included! I can’t leave all of this said without thinking about all of the people out there that cannot eat from their gardens or other local green places because they’re toxic. I have so much gratitude every day for what is still edible. I have to hope that people begin to realize how important it is to protect their local green spaces and the oceans because these places keep us alive!

Before I left California I sold a bunch of seaweed at a music event hosted by a friend of mine. I am happy to know that these new friends of mine can munch on a three inch strip of kombu each day and their bodies will be less likely to take in the radioactive iodine that is now traveling through the environment. Iodine- 131 has a half life of 100 days in your thyroid, I read on epa website, so it will hang out there and it will damage your thyroid at varying degrees during it’s life cycle. Thankfully by the time the radiation reaches California it is giving off much less radiation (halved every 8 days) than when it was first released in Japan.   The grass drinks the rain water, cows eat the grass and you drink their milk. All things connected.

On the milk topic, over the past week I have had a good welcome back to New England. I visited a friend on a farm in Maine for a few days where I harvested sap, drank raw milk and ate fresh eggs and we got snowed in! I didn’t miss the winter completely! I think I was the only one that was thrilled to see snow. Now I am at my home base in Maine where I am happy to find that there is another woman here that is also interested in fermenting foods and getting work done here at the homestead. So some of our plans over the next few months besides harvesting seaweed include- boat building, finishing my Windsor chairs to then sell, collecting kelp stipes to pickle, yogurt making and fermenting rice to make Indian dosas, wild crafting spring edibles, and visiting friends and attending community dinners.

If you enjoy seaweed please share my website with friends and family. There are many seaweed companies that are selling out of seaweed at the moment. Some are putting a limit on how much seaweed each family can order.

I will be shipping everyday and I have plenty of seaweed especially kombu and soup mix. Don’t wait to educate your friends about how great seaweed is! Order today.