For salads, blanch kelp in salted boiling water until it turns bright green (should take less than 3 seconds!). After 3 seconds immediately place in cold water to stop it from continuing to cook. Toss with mixed salad greens and dress as usually. Very good with a salty and sweet combination (for example, raisins and a tahini-miso dressing).

For kelp chips, toss strips of kelp with a little oil and maple syrup, bake in a 300 degree oven for 5-7 minutes.

For kelp butter or powder, bake kelp in oven until crispy. Using a spice grinder or blender, process dry kelp into a fine powder. You can mix this with soft butter and sea salt to make kelp butter, or you can add the powder, sea salt, and toasted sesame seeds to brown rice or fish as a topping.

Saute 1-2 cups of raw kelp over high heat with 1 tbsp tamari and 1 tbsp agave nectar. This will make a delectable sweet and salty seafood topping.

Quick pickle the stalks with a mixture of vinegar, water, and sugar. Heat until liquid just comes to a boil, and then pour over stalks.

For beans, chop up a few stalks of kelp and add to pot to cook with dried beans. This will make the beans far more tender and digestible, and will add a unique edge to the flavor.

Bren wasn’t kidding when he said he never learned to swim. Raised along the shores of Newfoundland, the short summers and biting temperatures of the Labrador Current didn’t provide many swimming opportunities. A rugged coastline with a strong maritime tradition, the connection to the sea there is mostly through labor, not recreation. How ironic I thought, for him to now be in Long Island Sound where the reverse equation often exists today.

A man of many hats, Bren worked a variety of jobs including longlining in the Bering Sea, ‘sliming’ in the canneries of Alaska, and lobstering north of Boston. When the crooked road of life brought him to Connecticut, he drove a lumber truck while also partnering with his girlfriend in a woodcrafting business which uses reclaimed materials*. About seven years ago, the Branford waters were reopened to commercial shellfishing, and he jumped at the chance to return to the sea.

His Thimble Island Oyster Company grows and harvests oysters along with some clams, on 60 aquatic acres leased from the state. The numbers fluctuate from year-to-year, but his annual harvest averages around 100,000 shellfish. While that may appear to be a large number, it is a relatively small amount when compared to other shellfish companies on the Sound. Bren estimates that his annual harvest is less than what Norwalk’s Bloom Shellfish Company may harvest in a month.

Though a small operation, he is able to earn a living so long as he keeps his overhead costs low: no secretary or pricey boat…. no hired help to do the heavy lifting. Most important, he is doing what he loves – and that’s not too shabby for a Newfie who can’t swim.

Stony Creek is an attractive harbor with the Thimble Islands scattered just beyond its entrance. In the village however, most of them are obscured from view, as only two or three poke out from beyond the point. But as our loaded down skiff cleared the town dock, the full expanse of the granite island chain came into view.

I wasn’t the only guest aboard for the day;  Helen Bennett and Peter Hvizdak of the New Haven Register were on hand as well. This was the first time I had met Peter, and prior to this, I had only “known” Helen and Bren through our communications on Twitter. I always have some apprehension meeting online acquaintances because they often are not the same person you thought they would be. Within minutes however, it was clear this would not be the case today. Both Bren and Helen are every bit as nice in the real world as they are in the virtual world. These characteristics are important aboard a small boat.

The four of us motored through the maze of moorings until the red hull of a 22-foot workboat appeared over my right shoulder. Gliding alongside her, I grabbed a bow-line and fastened it to a cleat at mid-ship. It was about this time that Bren said something very bizarre.
“I don’t know how to swim!” He said.
He had to be joking, I thought…………right?

Our first pickup day was last Saturday, June 25th. They have it so you can pick up either in downtown New Haven at Miya’s sushi restaurant or at the dock by the Thimble Islands (about 15 miles and a 25-30 minute drive from my house). I decided I would pick up my shares downtown, but didn’t realize there would be specific pickup times. It ended up that the morning pickup at the dock worked better for me, so I decided to drive over and see where these shellfish were coming from.