Blue community gardens – cultivation below the surface
A blue community garden is a cultivation platform in the sea for cultivation and storage. It can be compared to an allotment on land, but instead of potatoes and carrots, algae and mussels are grown.
What is a blue community garden?
A blue community garden is a small-scale growing space in the sea, where you can grow and keep seafood for your own household. Think of it as the ocean equivalent of a greenhouse, herb garden or vegetable patch.
Unlike growing food on land, there is no need to add water or fertiliser. The sea already contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that help the species grow naturally.
What species can you grow?
Blue mussels, oysters and sugar kelp are just a few examples of species that can be grown in a marine allotment. What you can grow depends largely on the salinity of the water – similar to how different plants thrive in different growing zones on land.
In the Baltic Sea, for example, you can grow blue mussels and seaweeds such as sea lettuce and gutweed. An important rule is to only grow species that naturally occur in the local marine environment.
What is regenerative ocean farming?
Regenerative ocean farming is about growing food in a way that puts healthy ecosystems, biodiversity, the environment and the climate first. Every decision – from what we grow to how we grow it – is made with the health of the ocean in mind.
Regenerative means restoring and renewing. By farming the ocean regeneratively, we can produce healthy, nutritious food while helping marine ecosystems thrive.
More about blue community gardens
Projects
Blue community gardens in Sweden
Blue community gardens and small-scale ocean farms can be found in many places along our coasts. Here you can meet some of the people behind these initiatives.
