Sea beans, otherwise known as sea asparagus and pickleweed, belong to the genus Salicornia, marsh plants that thrive in salty soils. Last November, Norton realized his vision when he delivered his first harvest of sea beans to local restaurants and produce distributors and opened up direct online sales. The beans, which Norton packages in 30-gram plastic containers, come from Heron Farms, his nontraditional agricultural venture located in one of Charleston’s industrial neighborhoods. Instead of growing the beans in the mud, Norton cultivates them inside a 90-square-meter room in a warehouse, in what might be the world’s first indoor saltwater farm.
It’s a test case for saltwater agriculture, which Norton believes has the power to make coastal ecosystems more resilient and productive in the face of climate change and rising sea levels.
Yet until recently, sea beans, which belong to the genus Salicornia and are also known as samphire, glasswort, pickleweed, and sea asparagus, had never figured prominently in Charleston’s storied culinary traditions. “Historians know almost nothing about the foodways of the native Cusabo tribes, who might have put the Salicornia to use in the Charleston area over the previous 1,000-plus years,” says Matt Lee, a journalist and cookbook author, who grew up in Charleston. “But in modern times, we definitely have not seen any citation in old cookbooks or oral histories—or anything—that would indicate awareness or use of Salicornia.”
“When I taste that sea bean, I taste Charleston water. It’s the perfect amount of salinity,” says James London, the chef-owner of Chubby Fish, a seafood restaurant in downtown Charleston. “I got one of Sam’s first batches, and it was breathtaking.”
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