Dakini Tidal Wilds is committed to providing its customers with the highest quality seaweeds, hand-harvested on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Dakini Tidal Wilds’ seaweeds are harvested sustainably with love and reverence for the local environment. Amanda harvests all of her seaweed by pruning, leaving the individual seaweeds attached and able to regenerate. Harvesting at the most ideal time of the season ensures a quality unique to Dakini Tidal Wilds’ products. The absolute joy of being immersed in the Pacific Northwest infuses these products with a spirit unique to her beloved island.
“This beautiful book will appeal to poets and photographers as surely as it will to scientists, dreamers, harvesters and beachwalkers – every page opening a little window to the soul of the sea and all that dwells within. A timely salute to the synergy between man, ocean, plant, animal, place, spirit and science.”
~Dr. Prannie Rhatigan, author of Irish Seaweed Kitchen and Irish Seaweed Christmas Kitchen, medical doctor, mother
Buy Amanda Swinimer’s book, The Science & Spirit of Seaweed, here: https://www.dakinitidalwilds.com/shop-online
Reviews of The Science & Spirit of Seaweed:
“This tour through Amanda Swinimer’s mermaid garden ebbs and flows through seaweed fact and the author’s fantasies and reminiscences, punctuated by Chris Adair’s surreal photos of Amanda suspended mid-water. Red, green and brown seaweeds are described with culinary, health and spa anecdotes. Thirty pages are dedicated to ‘Seaweed & Health’, where the promise of seaweed in the treatment and prevention of diseases, many associated with aging, is explored (this section is neatly referenced). Fitting to Amanda’s sprinkling of ecological concern throughout the book, is the section on ‘Algae: A Global Perspective.’ Here we glimpse the role of seaweeds in moderating our abused environment and being the prime producer energizing the coastal ecosystem. The recipes are a pleasure. They are original. Many are provided by featured chefs. Swinimer has created a delightful, readable, informative and richly illustrated resource on seaweeds that I highly recommend.”
~Louis Druehl, PhD, author of Pacific Seaweeds
This beautifully-written book is an irresistible and unique fusion of practical field guide, personal memoire and warm wisdom of how to live well in a home place. A wonderful ramble through the world of seaweeds from basic identification and natural science to culinary uses and medicine, Amanda’s creation brings us into her sphere by melding science, love and reverence in an inspiring ode to these humble but magnificent species.
~Fiona Hamersley-Chambers, MSc, author of Wild Berries of British Columbia and co-author of Edible & Medicinal Plants of Canada, ower at Metchosin Farm
A middle-grade and family-friendly introduction to the enchanting world of seaweed.
Young readers will be delighted to learn about the wonderful, watery world of seaweed, where emerald-green kelp forests grow as tall as trees and rainbow seaweeds shimmer like gemstones in the sunlight. Seaweed can be fun too, providing tasty snacks like nori crisps and cool things to do: hunt for dead man’s fingers to squeeze like a squirt gun, have a popping contest with rockweed or make seaweed art. Seaweeds are also critical to the health of the planet—they produce most of the oxygen we need to breathe, help to keep the earth cool and provide habitat for sea creatures. And they're full of healthy vitamins and have more minerals than any other food!
Our planet is a water world, cold and mysterious to land animals like us. Thanks to Amanda Swinimer‘s love story (her romance with kelp) we learn about a these diverse sea plants that comprise vast forests, feed and shelter many sea animals and even influence the climate. This book is a fascinating guide to one of the most important groups of species in the world.
~David Suzuki, grandfather and environmental activist
“Biggest takeaway: Get to know your local seaweed harvester. In Victoria, [Danny Smiles & Chuck Hughes] donned wet suits and dove into the deep with Amanda Swinimer from Dakini Tidal Wilds, who sustainably harvests, by hand, edible seaweeds and wild herbs. “When you’re harvesting seaweed in the ocean, it’s a scary, eerie, underwater jungle. Very humbling,” says [Chef Danny Smiles].”
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“Dakini Tidal Wilds’ first commitment is to sustainability. My seaweeds are harvested by pruning, ensuring healthy seaweed gardens for years to come. ”
