Seaweed and compost.

I'm lucky living near the sea and this time of year we get loads of seaweed washed up (mainly kelp but other stuff too)

What's the best way to compost it? Just throw it in the heap or does ir really need chopping up or shredding first. Also, does any salt need to be washed off?

Potentially I could fill a large builder's bag in about 15 mins!

 

Try Googling Vraic
http://planefacts.co.uk/nav/jersey_scenes/pages/seaweed2_jpg.htm
http://www.jersey.com/content_page.asp?id=199 - very bottom
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/code/showfeaturesarticle.pl?ArticleID=000229

You can also make buns out of it.

 

I live just a few hundred yards up from the beach and try to go and collect a few bin liners-ful at this time of year. It's mainly bladder-wrack here with kelp only appearing in large quantities after a storm. I tend to pile it straight onto the border and let it gradually disappear into the soil. I don't bother to cut or shred - it degrades quickly enough. I don't worry about rinsing either. My soil is exceptionally free-draining and salt washes straight through during winter rains. If I were gardening on heavy clay hwoever, I might be inclined to hose the weed down before adding it to the border.

 

Thanks for the replies

Interesting to read about harvesting vraic in the Channel Islands PeterS. I've seen it being collected in Brittany but not in the UK.

Also, usefull info about using it yourself DaveP.

I'll try a bagload and see how it goes!

 

I might add that if you work on clay soil the salt will harm your soil structure, while the benefits from the alginates in it are unnecessary, so possibly best avoided. It is a matter of balancing the need for organic matter with the need to keep sodium out of the soil profile which tips in favour only on light sandy 'hungry' soils.