From sea to soil

It’s generally known that seaweed enhances human health. For millennia, it has been part of the diet of many societies. According to the Journal of Applied Phycology (January 2018), Australian Aborigines have used seaweed as food and medicine, as well as for fishing and ceremonial purposes, for at least 65,000 years. Similarly, many European cultures continue traditional practices of using seaweed as food and medicine.

These days, seaweed is farmed in many countries, more often using sustainable practices such as floating lines or by harvesting only the fronds from naturally occurring stands of weed.

The seaweed industry has an annual turnover of US $6 billion, but less than $1 billion of the revenue relates to the horticultural industry (FAO). Most of the seaweed harvest is used in the medical, food and cosmetics industries, but our interest is in why both seaweed and fish emulsion are so beneficial to our gardens.

GOOD FOR THE GARDEN

The main compound extracted from seaweeds is phycocolloids (natural polysaccharide thickening agents found in many algae) in the form of alginate. Algenic