Summer 2022 - Harvest and Processing trials

Well, again it's been a while since we updated this News page, and as usual much has happened.  Through May we completed our harvesting of Winged kelp and Sugar kelp for this season, with procedures refined but not significantly altered from last year, with Ailsa continuing to provide a reliable and comfortable working platform.  Experience made for an easier harvesting process, and the new barge (see below) made transport of kelp back to landing far more streamlined and stress-free than last year. 

Last year we were not directly involved in the processing of our harvest once landed, so this was a new area for us to explore this season.  As a result, this years’ harvest was conservative; we deployed just 12 of our available 40 growing lines on our Pabay farm with a view to learning and exploring procedures for first and second stage processing on shore without the stress of huge volumes.  We ended up processing around 7 tons of sugar kelp and winged kelp, and learned a great deal, solving issues but also opening up new ideas and questions.  

The first stage processing was undertaken in a chilled, food grade environment close to the landing site and the majority of the harvest was put in cold storage. This bought us time to undertake second stage processing at our own pace through the summer, when we trialed various drying methods, which allowed us to learn a great deal, and evaluate the energy costs of drying. A central company aim is to work to minimise our energy footprint by using sustainable drying processes as far as possible. We also cold-pressed some of our kelp, producing a liquid seaweed extract, which has interesting prospects as a bio-stimulant as well as for use in the cosmetics industry.

We continue to analyse, process and experiment with these products, and are in discussion with potential buyers and research centres for continuing investigation.  In the meantime, we are drawing breath ready to reseed our farm for the 2023 kelp crop…  Onwards!