After some initial delays, boat troubles, and looming deadlines I decided to get the farm in the water by any means necessary.
On July 21st, with much help from my parents and Kat, my first crop of 35,000 oysters hit the water.
![]() |
After 9 days of growth (nearly doubled in size!) |
With the Muffin II again operational, I've been able to get out a couple of times a week to check on the farm. Each week, my equipment picks up a coating of new and interesting sea life, ranging from barnacles, to tunicates, to amphipods that look like the floppy inflatable characters you see at used car lots (apparently known as skeleton shrimp). Baby lumpfish have even been using my cages as shelter. Each week I wash off a thick coating of filamentous red algae to give the oysters enough water flow to feed.
![]() |
After 5 weeks |
It is amazing how fast the oysters are growing. When I started out, most of the oysters were close to pea-sized. Five weeks later, most are larger than a quarter and many are twice that big. Things are going great so far!