I was standing on the edge of a rock pool at low tide.
Waves crashing all around.
In front of me were swathes of seaweed.
I thought it was edible.
I just didn’t have a clue which seaweed, or what parts to gather.
Was it even safe to eat?
Following the tide back, I walked past even more of the stuff.
Brown seaweeds. Red seaweeds. Green seaweeds.
I knew that much about them.
That seaweeds came in three different groups.
Confused I scratched my head.
Now I was out on the rocks, everything looked the same.
It looked so easy when I was back home, staring at the pictures in a book.
I felt very frustrated that I couldn’t “see” the difference between one seaweed and another.
Yet I knew right in front of me…
… right under my feet was food.
Superfood in fact, if the health magazines and newspapers were correct.
I wanted to gather my own seaweed…
… because the last time I went into my local health shop I nearly choked…
… the prices were ridiculous!
Frustrated didn’t even come close to describing how I was feeling.
And worse, I couldn’t find anyone to help me.
That was 15 years ago…