Occasionally
while on Crescent Beach I see folks collecting seaweed for their gardens. Often
they will be bundling their precious ocean booty into a small trailer or
plastic storage boxes which usually fit nicely into the trunk of the car. Today
I saw three lads with a truck collecting which was probably tons of the stuff.
This
got me thinking about the benefits of seaweed in the garden, so with thanks to
the inter-web here are six ~
1. Fertilizer ~seaweed has 60 trace minerals and
ready to use nutrients including nitrogen, potassium, phosphate, and magnesium.
It also contains hormones to encourage plant growth. Unlike other garden
amendments, such as manure, seaweed does not need to decompose before being a
benefit to your garden.
2. Acts as a mulch ~ like all mulches, seaweed
helps to keep soil moist thus reducing your need to water the garden. An
application of seaweed will reduce how often you need to weed. It contains no
seeds that could possibly turn into weeds.
3. Pest control ~ slugs especially hate seaweed
because of its sharp edges and salt. Birds and other garden pests dislike it
for the same reasons.
4. Improved aeration ~ seaweed helps aerate the
soil just like peat moss does, but it has the added benefit of delivering
nutrients and minerals.
5. Prevents fungus and disease ~ seaweed helps
you to grow strong healthy plants which will more readily resist fungus and
disease.
6. It doesn’t blow away ~ unlike other compost
and mulches, seaweed (especially when it is still wet) won’t blow away in a
stiff wind.
………… Very soon, I could soon be down the beach with my wellies,
a good garden fork and a means of carrying it home.
Also
today I got a little sunburnt while sitting on a rock in a lovely quiet corner
of George Island, I was disturbed only by the guys going out to check their
lobster traps.
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