On Saturday, June 2, we helped Doug and Nancy pick up their oyster seedlings to put out on their beach. There is a program on Bainbridge Island that will sell you oyster seedlings and all of the equipment necessary so you can 'grow' them on your beach. The Puget Sound Restoration Fund is a non-profit organization helping to restore the eco-system of Puget Sound. One of their programs is to restore the nitrogen balance in the Sound by having people raise oysters on their beach. So since Doug likes oysters, and this is a good cause, he decided to become a shellfish gardener.
Along with 500 little oyster seedlings, we picked up two mesh bags with wire ties to contain the seedlings while they grow and discourage starfish and other predators, plus two rebar stakes and some line to stake down the mesh bags.
On Sunday we set about planting the oysters. With 250 seedlings per bag, we used wire ties to seal the bags and prevent starfish from getting inside. Two stakes are stuck into the sand and the rope is tied from one stake to the other. We then wire tied one end of the bag to the rope so that the bags would lie flat.
The oysters are ready
Now you do this and ....
Doug choose to plant Pacific oysters which will take about a year before they are large enough to eat. In the meantime he will watch them grow and flip over the bag once a month, per the instructions.
You may recognize the title of this post. It is from the poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter" from Lewis Carroll's book, "Through the Looking Glass".
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