Prawn tales

Credit: Carol Pope

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Nowadays, when my husband and daughter head out to “get dinner,” they are not driving to the local supermarket.

Since arranging to moor our small “tinny” at Hospital Bay, we are learning how to bring in some of the many prawns available in local waters.

Prawns are best found at a depth of about 400 feet, so by the time my daughter has pulled up the heavy trap, she has definitely earned her dinner!

On occasion, instead of a glistening pile of fresh prawns, we haul up a heap of empty prawn shells and one very happy octopus. Disappointing, but who can blame the octopus, which has found a feast? Naturally, any uninvited guests are released back into the sea.

As nice as it is to enjoy fresh seafood at dinnertime, my mind inevitably wanders to the possible benefits the prawn debris will have for our food garden. Certainly, it’s my chance to try out the suggestions of our organic-gardening wizard Sheena Adams, who has a waste-not, want-not attitude about all things good for the garden: Boost Garden Soil With Additives From the Sea