The Seaweed Days of Summer

(originally published in the Juneau Empire, June 2010)

The transformation from spring to summer is beautiful in Southeast Alaska. Our springs may be heavy on showers and light on flowers, but April and May in Juneau are the kind of fresh and clean that detergent marketers ache for. And we can get outside and experience nature with fewer layers between us and the cool air as we put in gardens, anticipating July and August harvests.

Then June arrives. Ho hum. Nothing to harvest, not much watering to do, just tedious weeding to keep dandelions, knot weed, and horsetails at bay. What’s a locavore to do? Well, it turns out that between sowing seeds and harvesting veggies is the best time to get out of the garden and collect Mother Nature’s free food! Imagine that. She teaches us, yet again, to stop moping around and go outside and play.

So I’ve heard recent talk of fiddleheads, nettles, twisted stalk, and Devil’s Club shoots. Recipes are circulating. It fits the verdant image of summer, doesn’t it, to frolic through the lush green fronds with a woven basket. Maybe a flowing skirt and a choice pair of shoes from Shoefly to finish the picture.

But are the members of my little homestead preparing to enter the woodland realm? Of course not. My family has chosen slogging instead of frolicking, an A&P bag instead of a basket, and Xtra-Tufs instead of those really cute Naot shoes I covet. This year the greens we’re harvesting are seaweed. My small, info-packed library of wild harvest references has been hanging around the house for weeks, awaiting their time in the sun… or, well, you know what I mean.

Though Alaskan, born and raised, it took the Becoming an Outdoor Woman program to finally introduce me to wonderful seaweeds – or I never would have combined these three words: seaweed tastes good! It has become un-American not to like seaweed-wrapped sushi; you can practically get the stuff in vending machines (with a side of antibiotics, please). But I don’t like food that tastes like the briny, microscopic-life-filled ocean. And it seemed a safe assumption that seaweed would taste like sea water. But then, lettuce doesn’t taste like dirt! So I feel kind of silly now.

This year, my 10-year-old daughter beat me to the first harvest on a recent sunny day at the beach. She brought back several types and it took less than an hour for it all to dry and be crumbled into jars for adding to soups and her favorite meal, Top Ramen. Later this month we’ll head to the beach again with the goal of harvesting pop weed for bullion, dulse for chips, sea lettuce for seasoning, and wakame for stir-frying.

Harvesting Seaweed in Southeast Alaska

There are some real upsides to harvesting seaweed:

• Though some are unappetizing, none in northern waters are poisonous and there are no “look alikes” to fear.
• Most seaweeds are rich in iron, protein, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins.
• They can be found on almost every beach in Southeast Alaska. No secret spots.
• My favorite: on an open beach you’re less likely to surprise a bear.
• Supplies are few and simple: rubber boots, typical Southeast clothes (i.e. layers and rain gear), small scissors or knife, and several food-grade plastic bags or containers, or mesh bags.
• Most are good raw or cooked and can be refrigerated for a short time or dried for long term storage. Best if dried quickly in the sun, to keep flavor, and stored in air tight containers in a cool place.

But there are precautions and considerations:

• Make sure you’re not near a sewage outfall or below housing.
• As with any wilderness activity, bring survival gear should you get stranded on a rock or become wet and chilled: drinking water, a snack, a large plastic garbage bag (or sturdy emergency blanket) and multiple signals (a flare, a phone, a VHF radio, a mirror).
• Never harvest a whole area of one seaweed type. Harvest selectively and always cut above the holdfast (the part attached to the rock), or leave the reproductive blades, so the seaweed can re-grow.
• Almost all seaweeds are best when harvested in spring and early summer, and dried in the sun, eaten, or otherwise processed quickly.
• Rinsing seaweed in fresh water will speed deterioration. Only do this right before eating, if desired, and not if planning to dry.

In June, head to a beach an hour before low tide and look for these common seaweeds on rocks in the intertidal zone:

Pop weed (Fucus species) –Harvest when young and olive green. Inflated tips and tender frond ends can be eaten raw, stir-fried, in soups and sauces, or used as a cooking bed for fish over campfire coals. Dry it for broth and soups.

Dulse (Palmaria mollis) –Several reddish-brown, thick blades on single holdfast. Cut fronds an inch above holdfast. Very nutritious. Eaten raw or stir-fried. Dried dulse is good with cheeses, as a bacon substitute in sandwiches, shredded and tossed with buttered popcorn, added to soups and casseroles, and fried in oil like potato chips.

Wakame (Alaria species) – Single, long, olive brown frond with thick midrib and several small reproductive blades at base near holdfast. Harvest only the main frond, leave small blades. Center rib is crisp and good raw or stir-fried. Frond good with bacon, cabbage, rice, and miso soups. Very nutritious and nearly 25% protein. When dried, powder can be added to breads to increase nutritional content.

Sea Lettuce (Ulva species) – Long, vivid green, leaf-like blade is so thin it is almost see-through. Gather before they turn whitish and tough by mid summer. Add fresh to salads and soups or blanch leaves in boiling water for two minutes and serve with butter or vinegar. Dried leaves can be powdered for a salt substitute.

Books to Read

Common Edible Seaweeds in the Gulf of Alaska, by Dolly Garza

Discovering Wild Plants: Alaska, Western Canada, The Northwest, by Janice Schofield

Edible? Incredible, by Marjorie Furlong and Virginia Pill