9/28/26

fall is a mad dash! i've got hard dates in sight on my calendar now of the lowest tides this month and next during which i'll be aiming to start sinking the farm to keep it safe for the winter months, and it feels like there's still a million things to do before then. because i harvest all winter, there's a lottttt of grading and sorting to do now in order to put aside all of the many oysters that are big enough and ready to go to market over the winter. sorting those out and sinking them in such a way that they're easy to access down the road is key to making the winter harvest manageable for me, by myself in my little boat. 

aside from all that sorting, i'm also trying to cycle as much of the crop as i can into relatively clean, dry gear that's free of pesky fouling organisms (primarily mussels) so that i

don't leave myself with a super messy, heavy jumble to haul back up in the spring. this effort also ensures that the oysters stocked at a proper density (not too many per bag) so they have as much access to water cycling through the gear while they sit on the bottom as possible. we don't want any of them to suffocate down there! october weather can vary widely in terms of temperature and wind conditions, which will dictate how hard or easy this work is for me to complete - keep your fingers crossed for favorable and relatively comfortable weeks ahead!

8/10/26

we're getting into the more grueling, fast-paced part of the oyster season now that it's august. this is the time of year where the biofouling that grows on my gear really starts to ramp up it's growth rates (that's all the different kinds fo algae and tunicates, baby mussels and other slime), which left unchecked, starts to crowd out and suffocate the oysters. things are about to get heavy, and i will be spending lots of time air-drying gear and trying to stay of top of it.

the baby oysters are also really staring to take off in their first season on the farm, and i will be spending more and more time in the coming months grading them by size, periodically pulling the biggest of them out and moving them into floating bags with bigger mesh to allow them continual access to as much water (and food) as possible. and of course, it's still summer

in maine, so the harvesting demands remain sky-high thanks to busy farmer's markets and restaurants, so the harvest days are still backbreakers! which, of course, is what it's all for in the end - bringing those oysters in from the farm so they can land on your plate. :)

(all photos in this post taken by Kirby Gamel for Modern Pioneering, PBS)

7/9/26

nothing like the fourth of july to bring on the realization that it is, indeed, summer once more 😅 markets are busy, restaurants are busy, the oysters are GROWING like crazy once more, and my 2026 seed (baby oysters!) has arrived and taken to the farm quite nicely. 

all of this is to say, i'm back in the blurry haze of harvesting, delivering, and tending to the oysters every second in between. not only do the oysters grow like crazy when summer really heats up, but all the many other fouling organisms (algae and tunicates, barnacles and mussels...) also go into growth overdrive. this means lots of cycles of air-drying the gear the oysters grow in to try to keep the mesh as free and clear as possible to allow ample water (and thus,

food) to the oysters inside. i'm also paying lots of attention to the densities the oysters are stocked at in each bag, spreading them out into more cages as they grow to prevent overcrowding and allowing them to grow up nice and big and round. 

and lastly, of course, the little baby oysters get the MOST attention in their first season. they've gone from 3mm in diameter, one month ago, to many above and beyond the 1/2" mark already. i grade them frequently, sorting out the biggest and moving them out of their nursery boxes and into grow out bags as soon as they are big enough. its a wild ride from here on out! if i look a little sleepy at market now you know why 😉