So what makes these tasty bivalves so unique to the Chesapeake Bay you might ask? “Attaching them to a line also it makes them easier to retrieve, meanwhile maintaining a habitat for other species. The oyster is not fed anything because they feed off of the things in the water. They don’t require any hormones or harmful chemicals. By feeding off of the algae and absorbing the excess nutrients, they allow sunlight to reach the bottom of the bay, helping the life cycles of many other native species such as the Blue Crab and Striped Bass,” Budden expressed.
Last June was Orchard Point Oyster Company’s first crop planting of oysters and with a successful relationship with mother nature, Budden will be able to finally take his oysters to market this year offering his oysters to his enormous hungry following. “As a start-up farmer, you take the risk of taking on several years of expenditures with no incoming revenue. You incur your normal living expenses, work for free each day when off and on your boat, but at the end of the day you do it to not only to make a living, but also to be responsible for the little change you can for to make the Chesapeake Bay more sustainable.” Looking to automate his farming practices in the coming years, Budden is excited for the many opportunities ahead with working with other farmers raising oysters and creating a more sustainable bay.
Interested in becoming an oyster farmer similar to Scott Budden? Budden recommended the following pearls of wisdom he would pass along to prospective farmers:
-Be prepared to raise money if you want to own your farm.
-Be prepared to work, tirelessly, everyday atop of additional part-time work to pay for expenses.
-Do your homework and take everyday as a learning opportunity.
-Don’t squander your waiting time for your permit to come through, use this time to learn, a lot.
-Remember to listen to your oysters, and to have fun with farming.
The Chesapeake Bay, with its return back to its humble beginnings with the product that once thrived in its waters, is at an exciting part of its history because farmers like Scott Budden from Orchard Point Oyster Co. With a start-up cost similar to that of a food truck here in Washington, D.C., beginning to save one of the world’s precious resources can come from any spark to your imagination. Whether it is from an underlying passion of growing up next to the Bay, or finding it within a news article, sustainable farming is a chance to secure the future of our many meals together on our planet.
Michał Matejczuk is a Washington, D.C. based writer to SEVENSEAS Travel Magazine and Feed, Nourish, Thrive. Outside of his writing, he works as a culinary & agricultural consultant soon to be departing for his Peace Corps service to Uganda in June 2016. You can follow his "Agricultural Journeys of a Chef" in Uganda here feednourishthrive.org
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