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We are thrilled to share that on June 6, we met up with Friends of the Rappahannock at the marina, loaded up two boats, and headed to the restoration site in Meachim Creek to kick-off this reef project!

Summertime means outdoor brunches and brunches mean Bloody Marys.  Let’s combine the best of brunch for this month’s recipe: Bloody Mary Oyster Shooters.

We all know that the flavor of an oyster is impacted by where it is raised. But did you know that an oyster can sometimes be a different color based on where it is raised? This isn’t very common, but there are some areas where oysters will regularly take on some coloration because of the cycle of local algae. North Carolina and France both have areas where an oyster’s gills will turn green over winter because of the presence of a blue-green algae called Halsea Ostrearia. This ecological event is celebrated in France, but North Carolina is still coming to terms with it. These oysters used to be sold at a discount because people did not like the color and...

So what is an oyster nursery? It will look a bit different depending on the farm, but generally a nursery is a collection of equipment designed to make it easy to grow and manage a very large number of very small oysters in a relatively small space. In one part of our nursery, we have as many as 500,000 oysters in a land-based tank that is 10’x4’x3’ — basically the same volume of water as a large hot tub.  Having so many oysters in a relatively small space makes taking care of them easier as there all easily accessibly so can quickly clean their temporary and make sure they’re not too crowded. As Taryn likes to say, it’s like running a hostel...

This month we are sharing a recipe we tested out a few weeks ago with an ingredient we got from our friends at The Fermented Pig. It uses Finocchiona, which is a fennel salami. If you don’t have fennel salami, just pick a salami or other cured meat you like and go with it! Ingredients Oysters Salami — preferably Finocchiona, a fennel salami Extra Virgin Olive Oil Parmesan (optional) Directions Preheat oven to 400, or set your grill to high Shuck the oysters, pour out the liquor Pour a little olive oil in the oyster. Remember the oyster will put out more liquid as it cooks, so leave some room for that. Chop salami and add to the oyster Bake/grill...