The beach roses are turning color but still no frost yet. Last night we were coming off the flats at sunset and the western sky was firey and the moon sat like a big orange ball on the eastern horizon.

Planting Seed Clams

The nursery trays are popping with clam seed. The clams are large enough to be spread out in the sand in rows and covered with nets for the next several years until harvest. As the tide recedes we shake all the sand out of the nursery trays leaving just the clam seed. The trays are brought back to the shop where we can sieve the clams into large and small grades.

Barb and Sara are weighing clams to estimate numbers to control planting density. The following day clams are spread in the sand and covered with netting to protect them from predators. The clams will grow from the thumbnail sized seed to littleneck size over the next two years. The planting process will continue during the extreme tides through September and into October if necessary.

Wellfleet Oyster Tasting Notes- August

Barb and I had Katie and Jim over for an oyster tasting to compare the three Wellfleet oyster varieties that we carry. We all eat lots of oysters, but I thought it might be a good idea to do it together more regularly, so we can try to get a handle on the seasonal and micro-terroir/'merroir' variations among Wellfleet oysters. Jim brought a bottle of Polish Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka which we had shaken (not stirred) with ice- Good Start! It is very smooth and earthy flavored with a blend of the bison grass and potato and a nice accompaniment to oysters. We also sipped prosecco which is so crisp, light and refreshing that it is also a great compliment to oysters on the half shell in summer.

The shell characteristics, shape, color and of course taste of oysters grown in different areas within Wellfleet are remarkably different. Even oysters within a specific growing area vary in flavor with changes in season. Superimposed on these variations are genetic differences between seed that are started in a hatchery and seed collected from spawning in the wild. As a consequence, there is an overall flavor character for oysters from a particular growing bed but there are subtle variations with season and genetic variations.

Here are some general tasting notes.

Indian Neck- The Indian Neck oysters are rack cultivated from hatchery seed and exposed to currents from the open bay. They are very uniform, slightly oblong and deep cupped, relatively small and because they are so fast growing, quite thin shelled. As a consequence, they are a little harder to open but their flavor is superb. They were briny with a hint of sweet finish.

Lieutenant Island- These oysters are grown from naturally occurring seed in trays in an inlet near Lieutenant Island. They are heavy-shelled, oval to round, relatively large and have an excellent mild, creamy flavor with a salty liquor. The last time I had them, there was a very little hint of brine.

Old Wharf Point- Grown from natural seed, these oysters have irregular relatively heavy shells and a sweet, full flavor and a light briny finish.

There was some variation among individuals within growing areas due to spawning in the past month. Before the oysters have spawned they tend to be high in fat and very creamy flavored. As they spawn, some may have smaller meats, but are still very flavorful.

We are starting to clear areas that we will use in the late Summer and Fall for planting our baby clams. These are older clam rows that have already been harvested, but still contain a few bushels of clams that we missed. We'll go through them with bullrakes and remove the clams and shell material. Each row is about 12 feet wide by 100 feet long and will be stocked with about 80,000 seed clams. Meanwhile, the seed are growing in their nursery trays, protected from crabs and birds, bathed by the tides, until we are ready to plant them out in the sand.

After blowing a northeast gale for two days straight, it was calm with a misty drizzle, but still cool this AM. It has been a cold Spring with rain, rain, rain. At 8:30 the sun glowed through the mist and all of a sudden it felt hot and without a puff of wind, the no-see-'ems started up...SUMMER!

Bucket-of-Clams

We have just gotten our seed clams from the hatchery. This bucket contains 200,000 babies. The seed will spend the summer in the nursery trays to protect them from predators like crabs, fish and birds. This is the first step in our process (see items 2 and 3 below in my post about shellfish farming and sustainability).

We stock them at a density of about 3000 animals/tray and by the fall they will be about thumbnail sized.

Counting Clams

We're packing orders today and listening to Mike S.'s show on WOMR, it's a beat channeling of sixties B sides. Nick thought we should request In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Before we knew it, Jim got this CD from his truck (recorded from his original vinyl copy, of course). It's clam counting music to be sure.

Shellfish and the impacts of global warming

Thirty percent of all carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels is absorbed by the ocean.  As a result,  seawater becomes more acidic reducing the amount of carbonate, a component of the shells of oysters, clams and other shelled marine life.   A recent study found that shell formation of larval oysters was significantly impacted when they were subjected to acid levels expected in seawater in the year 2100 when compared with those levels found in the oceans before the industrial revolution.    Ultimately high concentrations of carbon dioxide in seawater could effect growth, distributioin and survival of larval oysters and other molluscs.

In which we deploy nursery trays                                                                                                     

The boys are back in town.  They jumped right in and together with S. are helping gear up for the baby clams.  We’re putting out our nursery trays.   Before we can take this years’ crop of clam seed from the hatchery, we need to put our nursery trays out on the bed.                   

We string the mesh cages along a length of rope to hold them down, then fill them with native

sand.  The trays protect the little seed, keeping the crabs and fish predators at bay (n.p.i.) while the seed are small. 

Forty trays down, two hundred to go…

Eastern Mud Snail Mosh Pit

The mud snails are running late this year or maybe there just aren’t as many.  In the beginning of May,they come in droves to the  sandy flats here on the Cape.   Small pieces of shell or rock, the netting that we use to protect our clams and even little strands of algae are like islands for the breeding snails, since they need to lay their eggs on something solid.   The snails mate then mosh by the thousands on the hard substrates, deposit their eggs and then disperse.  Each case has about a hundred eggs, which develop into planktonic larvae called veligers in about a week.   The tiny veligers bust out of the case and swim in the water for two weeks being washed to and fro by the tides.  Then, they grow a shell, transform into little snails and sink to the bottom to take up their glamorous benthic, lifestyle as detritus-eaters.   You will begin to see the little mud snails scavenging individually or in small groups during the end of May and June.  

Scientific Name:  Nassarius obsoletus

Classification:  gastropod molluscs

Habitat and Range:  Tidal flats from Nova Scotia to Georgia 

New Growth

The clean white ring of new growth on the edge of the clam shells is always a welcome site in spring.  The clams feed and begin growing as the water warms and the food supply (microscopic phytoplankton) flourishes.  The rings that you see on a mollusc shell are analogous to tree rings, except they radiate out from the hinge area in a geometric spiral.  Calcium is slowly added to the lip of the shell as the animal grows.   The growth rate decreases in late fall so the lines are bunched together forming a distinct annual growth ring.

Delivering in Boston

An amazing lemon tart from the folks at Rialto-a meringuey top and a tart lemon filling on a shell- OMG!

Rt 3 S. heading for the Cape-  I strayed....

Bullraking at 7:30,  I'm attached to the other end of the rope.

Chip Chip

Ever since I became a loco-vore I only eat potato chips that are fresh, locally grown and sustainable PERIOD.

The Blue Revolution will be televised

I will be having an ongoing discussion of shellfish farming and sustainability.  I hope to tackle issues like recycling, green packaging, minimizing waste and energy consumption and I will also explore the actual carbon impact of our kind of shellfish farming.  In addition, I would like to discuss the environmental costs and benefits of cultivating naturally occuring species in coastal embayments. For now here are….

10 reasons why farming shellfish is a sustainable way to produce wholesome seafood

Sustainability has become a mantra for thoughtful consumers and food producers, but what does it mean in the context of shellfish farming?   Sustainability is the capacity to maintain a certain process or state indefinitely.  Of course, with the laws of thermodynamics and the tendency for systems to increase in disorder, ultimately,  there are no truly sustainable processes. And while people are looking for absolutes or quick fixes, in the real world, it comes down to being practical.   For producers, the goal should be to develop growing processes that can consistently generate a wholesome real food with a minimal impact on the environment and the most efficient use of resources.  

We have been farming clams and oysters in Wellfleet and I believe that shellfish farming, as we practice it, is a sustainable and green (blue) form of food production.  Since we started, we have been dealing with customers who value local, artisinally grown fresh clams.

What does sustainability mean to us?  Here are the key components of our methods for shellfish production and distribution that are consistent with the overall objective of being sustainable. 

1. We grow our shellfish in a healthy tidal sand flat that is the natural habitat for clams and oysters.
2. All the shellfish that we farm are spawned in a hatchery or in the case of some oyster seed induced to naturally settle on substrates provided.
3. Each year the beds are seeded with a new “crop” of shellfish.
4. Our shellfish feed on naturally occurring phytoplankton.
5.  We do not give our shellfish any kinds of artificial feeds, fertilizers or drugs.
6.  We only harvest what we have planted.
7. We hand-rake our shellfish instead  of using mechanical dredges to minimize environmental disturbance and damage to the product.
8.  We’re fresh and local, distributing  the majority of our catch within 150 miles of where we produce them.
9.  We are constantly thinking of ways to reduce waste, minimize energy consumption and recycle in our work.
10. Growing shellfish for local consumption reduces our dependence on imported seafood and over-utilized  wild populations of fish.

For these reasons I believe that shellfish farming is a very efficient way of producing a natural whole food with a minimal impact on the environment.  Farmed clams and oysters get a “best choice” designation by Seafood Watch from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and from the Shedd Aquarium because their cultivation has a minimal impact on the environment.

Harvesting clams at 5:45, raining like the devil.

Cold and rainy May.