glasswort

giant claw + isabel watson

Glasswort is and acts as a medium. A means of transmission, a channel, a liminal state, a container, an environment. A sympathetic vessel, a palette, a mirror - it centers itself in giving and receiving. In this it is both lost and found. Here it finds purpose, but not meaning. It transcribes and is transcribed in the process. As a lens, it brings those around it into focus yet cannot see itself. The soda ash from incinerated glasswort is used to make glass, valued for its crystal clear color. Sympathetic to the season, their stems take on rich purples, reds and pinks moving into leaf season - dappling the marshes like mome raths. You may also know it as swampfire, sea bean, samphire or pickleweed.

Latin: Salicornia depressa, roughly meaning depressed salt horn/branch

Properties: A member of the goosefoot clade, Glasswort is equal parts vegetable, herb and spice. Much like oysters, kelp and other aquacultures - seabeans are a purifying force both within and without. As a halophytic plant (salt-tolerant) that can thrive in saline wastewater, it has the dual value of being a nutritious, commercially-valued vegetables and also treating wastewater from commercial fishing or shrimp operations. Glasswort is a vitamin and ionic mineral powerhouse; it is rich in calcium, iron, iodine, magnesium, copper, potassium, fiber and Vitamins, A, B, C + D. It is also very high in protein for a vegetable. You can find this small, bush-like succulent in the middle + lower levels of salt marshes in May-August in New England. Virginia Glasswort is widely distributed, from the coasts of FL to PEI in the Atlantic and from CA to BC in the Pacific. It is lovely raw, pickled, as a seasoning or cooked as a vegetable.

Companions: Glasswort seeds are a vital food source for passerine birds and geese. It also provides a safe-haven for insects and snails, such as the marsh periwinkle and western pygmy blue, during high tides.The endangered salt marsh harvest mouse relies exclusively on Glasswort for its habitat and primary food source. They eat pickleweed and climb on top if its sturdy leaves to forage more efficiently.

Recipe: Sea Bean Salad

Sound Design: Giant Claw