DIY Seaweed Farming

‘DIY Seaweed Farming: a ‘how to do it at home’ guide’ is the result of an experimental research project, where we attempted to create a sea-like environment in our kitchen with the intention of nurturing seaweed to for human consumption. In essence we were trying to create a micro seaweed farm in our home, hoping to create the perfect environment for what is being hailed as a miracle crop capable to of solving climate, plastic and even fuel issues. As a project it was interesting for us to explore what it meant to try to replicate the sea in a confined environment, to live together with seaweed in captivity, and the daily labour of caring for something that was in many ways like a houseplant. For us, the use of technology to try to maintain an isolated ecosystem was interesting as a metaphor for how we as humans try to ‘conserve’ a version of nature that we can never know truly existed.

The booklet features a written introduction by Kate Price, a fellow farmer, artist and researcher based in Rotterdam; instructions to assemble a basic domestic micro-farm for sea lettuce; information on seaweed growth and decay; tips on sourcing equipment; and a text expanding on our findings, photos, and scans from notebooks. The guide is designed in line with the kinds of guide you receive for flat-pack furniture, for cameras, for freezers – a black-and-white booklet, glue bound, printed on thin paper.