Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm

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The Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm (PMCSF), operating since 2010, is located on the pristine Bloedel Reserve tidelands on Bainbridge Island. As a small, volunteer-supported farm, the PMCSF seeks to directly connect locals to the benefits of a healthy watershed through its CSA (community supported aquaculture) program. This is achieved by community members growing, tending, harvesting and eating oysters right from our own beaches.

Oysters are a tasty and festive way to eat healthy: loaded with zinc, calcium, iron and also a super source for protein and omega-3 fatty acids. More important though, growing these bivalve shellfish has many environmental benefits, including improved water quality, increased species diversity and eelgrass growth. Vigorously feeding on microalgae in the water column, a single oyster can filter 20 gallons of seawater a day removing excess nitrogen and improving clarity and light penetration. Oysters provide benthic stabilization for seagrasses and habitat structure for refuge and a place to feed for juvenile fish, crabs and other invertebrates. Shellfish can be part of the solution to restoring Puget Sound. We believe this positive connection between you, your environment and your dinner plate is the key to active and enjoyable shoreline stewardship.

Since the inaugural 2010 season, CSA membership to the PMCSF has increased every year as more Bainbridge Island residents are building a connection to their marine resources and renewing their commitment to clean water and healthy shorelines. During the 2017 season we harvested nearly 1400 dozen oysters for 70 loyal CSA members and other local events. Volunteers certainly had their work cut out for them in 2017 contributing 234 total work hours to the farm tending, sorting, bagging and hauling oysters. We aim to enroll 80 CSA members in 2018!

Thank you to all who have supported the farm by purchasing memberships, volunteering during farm seeding and harvests, and slurping the delicious oysters that are the result of our efforts to protect and maintain great water quality and healthy beaches surrounding Port Madison and Bainbridge Island. All farm proceeds go back into local water quality and habitat improvement projects!

The Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm crew is looking forward to the 2018 harvest season with anticipation; mouths are watering for more of the sweet and delicate, tasty bounty of oysters. As a CSA member of the PMCSF, you can choose from three different membership levels described below. CSA members will be provided with five oyster orders throughout the season ready for pick up at the Puget Sound Restoration Fund office. As a member you are invited and encouraged to volunteer for at least one harvest per year. This includes visiting the farm, collecting, sorting and bagging oysters and partaking in the fun of growing and eating local shellfish! Regular emails will be sent from the farm manager throughout the season with updates and announcements on harvests and other work parties.

Memberships for our CSA program at the Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm in 2018 are now sold out! Please contact josh@restorationfund.org for more information. We look forward to sharing the “Port Madison Petites” with you this year!

Membership Details

Membership Level	Dozen/Harvest	Cost/Dozen	# of Pick Ups	Membership Cost	Oysters/Year
1	2	$10	5	$100	120
2	4	$10	5	$200	240
3	6	$10	5	$300	360

Event	Date (Fridays)	Harvest Time	Oyster Pick Up Time	Collection Location (PSRF Office)
CSA Harvest	March 23, 2018	3:00pm - 5:30pm	After 6:00pm	382 Wyatt Way NE, Bainbridge
CSA Harvest	April 20, 2018	1:00pm - 4:30pm	After 5:00pm	382 Wyatt Way NE, Bainbridge
CSA Harvest	May 18, 2018	Noon - 3:30pm	After 4:00pm	382 Wyatt Way NE, Bainbridge
CSA Harvest	June 15, 2018	10:30am - 3:00pm	After 4:00pm	382 Wyatt Way NE, Bainbridge
CSA Harvest	July 13, 2018	9:30am - 1:30pm	After 3:00pm	382 Wyatt Way NE, Bainbridge

For more information about PMCSF and related projects or to get involved, please contact josh@restorationfund.org>

Oyster-Give-Away Program

Our Oyster-Give-Away Program is a related project aimed to address pollution that affects local harvest. Step up to get your septic systems inspected and maintained and we will salute you with FREE OYSTERS for helping to improve water quality conditions in the Sound. More information about the program HERE.

The oysters will be distributed come spring, but don’t hesitate to schedule the inspection now. Time has a way of getting away from us. The Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm is alive and well thanks to continued awareness and actions people are taking to maintain and improve local waters. This program is intended to provide tasty incentives for addressing water quality issues. Contact josh@restorationfund.org for more information. Please join us!

Thanks to Kitsap Public Health District, the Bloedel Reserve, and PMCSF CSA members for making the Oyster-Give-Away Program possible.

Where to find Port Madison Petites

Harbour Public House Friday evening oyster bars
Bainbridge Island Town and County Market on occasion
Local events: Vodka & Oysters, Whiskies for Wildlife, Bloedel Garden Party and more
Become a CSA member and receive regular deliveries!

Highlights & Completed Projects

Thanks to the help and support of our community, project partners, volunteers and farm members, we have accomplished the following PMCSF related milestones between 2010-2015:

Received the first farm permit under the Army Corp’s new national aquaculture regulations.
Increased the number of Community Supported Aquaculture (CSA) farm members from 6 in 2010 to 74 in 2015.
Harvested 5392 dozen oysters between 2010 and 2015. This supplied our CSA members, the Bainbridge Island Farmer’s Market, special events, local restaurants and the Town and Country and Central Market grocery stores.
Involved 540 volunteers who spent nearly 1500 hours seeding, harvesting, sorting, and hauling oysters.
Restocked the PMCSF with as many as 35,000 new ½ inch oyster seed each year during our “Planting the Seed; Sowing and Celebrating Local Shellfish” volunteer events.
Prevented nearly 1500 gallons of sewage from potentially entering Port Madison as a result of a free mobile pump-out service PSRF provided in Port Madison Bay in 2010 and 2011.
Launched a new program to provide free oysters to homeowners who have their septic tanks inspected or pumped.
Installed many new shellfish gardens around Bainbridge Island, Suquamish and Indianola, bringing the total number of personal shellfish gardens supported by PSRF to more than 200.
Hosted shellfish seed sales in 2010-2015 distributing over 300,000 oyster, mussel, and clam seed to individuals for their own shellfish gardens

An Interview with Betsy Peabody

Click the play button below to listen to a podcast Betsy Peabody did on the PMCSF with BCB (Bainbridge Community Broadcasting).

Watch an excerpt of Gardening with Ciscoe Morris, featuring the PMCSF

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Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm

Oyster-Give-Away Program

Where to find Port Madison Petites

Highlights & Completed Projects

Project Partners

An Interview with Betsy Peabody