To Utilise Seaweed As A Fertiliser And Animal Feed Is Not A Modern Belief

Shetland is a group of islands situated 60 degrees North, the same latitude as the tip of Greenland and Oslo in Norway. It lies about 200 miles north from Aberdeen in Scotland, and 200 miles west from Bergen in Norway. Shetland has around 100 small islands surrounding its main island, and has a population of about 23,000. Once owned by Denmark and Norway, Shetland, along with Orkney, were pledged as security by King Christian I, as a wedding dowry for the marriage of his daughter Margaret to the future James III of Scotland in the 15th century. The dowry itself was not paid and this is how the islands became a Scottish province.

The native language once Old Norse, now contains a mix of Scotch, Norse and English, but with so many incomers, and with the existing fashion with the young Shetlanders to be ‘cool’ in speaking English, a lot of the old dialect words are in jeopardy of being lost.

The Shetland people and its own breed of animals are very hardy, which was a must in being able to cope with the severe climate that Shetland endured. In recent years, the weather has changed, with the most recent winter not seeing the normal prevailing westerly winds with severe gales and rain, but from an easterly direction.

Crofting (farming) has always been a way of life in Shetland, although it is now feared that this way of life is slowly in decline, as the young people do not have the interest in this hard way of life. It is a pity, as it is a very gratifying way of being partly or fully self sufficient. There is not a lot of money to be made from crofting, but there is something to be said for growing your own food, and rearing your animals. Nothing is more pleasurable and satisfying than seeing a newly born calf and lamb coming into the world, especially if mother and her young requires a little helping hand to arrive safely!

As well as rearing and tending to the animals, there is the growing of crops, to feed the household, and to feed the animals during the winter. In centuries past, turnips and potatoes were grown, along with kale. Seaweed would have been taken up from the beach, mainly after a gale, and this would have then been spread onto the midden (where the muck was collected during the winter months). This would have given valuable natural nutrients to the muck, and this mix would have been spread onto the land as a natural fertiliser in the Spring. Today seaweed is being harvested from Shetland’s shores and processed into natural Seaweed Fertiliser, Seaweed Feeds, Seaweed Extract and Seaweed Plant Food. These are available ready to put on nutrients in their daily diet during the winter months. Animals in Shetland have and still do take there way to the beach to munch seaweed – they know what is good for them!

So, you see, the Shetland people and its animals were fully aware in years past that seaweed was full of organic goodness, but it is only now that people in the Western world are realising and appreciating the full benefits that seaweed can give.