How is the water harvested?

These salt crystals, rich in beneficial minerals, are harvested by hand from the pristine waters of Bulls Bay, South Carolina. Located just minutes up the coast from Charleston, buffered by the Francis Marion National Forest and within the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge; this Class I Wilderness Area offers quite possibly the cleanest sea water on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. 

Bulls Bay is renowned for its shellfish which are fantastic indicators of the health of an ecosystem. We harvest our seawater adjacent to Shellfish Harvesting Area 7A (exact coordinates: 032-58'31"N 079-33'29"W), which is routinely tested and monitored by DHEC for the shellfish industry. 

We access the bay from the shoreline of over eighty acres of preserved, private waterfront property called Lofton's Landing. This was the original boat launch to head out to the famous Bull Island. (Coastal Expeditions takes tours there now from Garris Landing in Awendaw.) Five miles south on the SweetGrass Basket Highway from our Saltworks in McClellanville, we drive down the long lane lined with large water oaks dripping Spanish moss, to the original boat landing for vessels bound to Bull Island. 

We prefer to collect water during a high tide when the flow of water reaches the shores, heavy with the extra salt the tide absorbs while pushing through Spartina Grass. This flat bladed grass actually secretes salt from its leaves, it's beautiful to see shining in the morning sun. Giving a wide berth to the occasional alligator or pausing to watch a pod of dolphins swim by, we pull up to 1,000 gallons of water at a time. With salt water weighing over eight pounds per gallon, we'd have to have a barge to get it by boat; so we haul it with four large water tanks on our trailer. 

We utilize the sun to evaporate the seawater in our greenhouses and solar panels for fans to remove the humidity. Much like farmers, we grow our product, relying on environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall, dry periods, cloudy and sunny days. We can grow salt faster during a dry winter than a hot steamy summer! Throughout the year, we store up 4,000 gallons of sea water as insurance against heavy rains that can significantly lower the salinity.

We usually harvest about three ounces of salt for every gallon of seawater. This can take anywhere from a few weeks to over a month, depending on conditions. We harvest in succession, meaning we plan for regular interval harvests (sometimes weekly), and tend to water levels as the environment requires. 

Our salt has no anti-caking agents or bleaching. Feel great about the salt you feed to your family knowing it's most likely the cleanest you'll find. 

What makes a great salt?

Not all salt is created equal. That said, there’s a lot of good ones out there! Here’s what to look out for:

Transparency is key. With government regulations relaxing, it’s important to do your homework. Is it abundantly clear exactly where the water or salt is sourced? Are Third Party Tests claims backed up by naming the testing company or just declared?

Location is meaningful, salt won’t allow the growth of bacteria but it can lock in containiments such as mercury, lead and arsenic. Avoiding populated areas, places known for recreational usage and monitoring environmental quality is essential to collecting safe, pure sea salt.

Third Party testing is always a bonus but remember that these tests only provide a snapshot of the health of a business and their products. A more holistic approach is to value the entirety of the business ecosystem as it intertwines with nature. We monitor on an almost tidal basis, the health of not only Bulls Bay, but our entire relationship with it.

Salts collected worldwide vary in minerality, color, taste, texture, etc. As the oldest seasoning and preservative, we encourage you to seek and cook with an array of your favorite salts!

What makes a great salt is the care that is taken by the people who harvest or purvey it. Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food.

What color is the salt?

Natural salt can be almost any color from pink to black and of course white. Our filtering system takes out any of the sediments found in the seawater. We also wash the salt in a brine solution before we dry it. That leaves us with a pure and perfectly white salt crystal.