THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996 TAG: 9608290315
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Diversions
SOURCE: BY JEWEL BOND, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HATTERAS VILLAGE LENGTH: 76 lines
In hushed tones, as though anything above a whisper would disrupt the beds of sleeping clams, we wander as quietly as workers in a rice paddy.
Littleneck, cherrystone and topnecks all lie waiting to be discovered beneath an inch of black-gray silt on Kevin Midgett's dig-it-yourself clam farm.
And we mean to claim our supper.
Muffled scrapes of metal on shell signals a contact. With prior instruction, it still takes a little practice to position our rakes under these most-desired objects and bring up a catch without the shellfish falling through the wide, metal tines.
The younger member of our digging expedition sees this only as a wondrous adventure.
``I knew this clammin' would be fun,'' 5-year-old Walt Porter says as he drags the just-right-for-his-size rake through the sandy bottom of the sound.
Defying all odds for one so young, up come three, inch-thick clams nestled in prongs of seaweed.
``I found a whole family,'' Walt says with a big grin.
Followed with excited chants of, ``I'm first! I'm first!'' the wee clammer issues a challenge to anyone within hearing distance to fill the mesh carrying bag before he does and win at this new game he has invented.
We were told by our guide, graduate student Harrison P. Bressee III, who is helping Midgett run the clam farm this summer, that people usually find their limit of 100 clams in less than an hour.
It took us a little longer. But with Walt's enthusiasm for motivation, we keep raking. And counting.
Time passes quickly as you bag at least one of the three-inch long keepable mollusks each time you comb the beds. The smaller ones conveniently drop through the forks.
As the bag gets heavier, it's puzzling what to do with it. When empty, it hangs lightly around the wrist. But placing it in the water poses a problem since the now added weight anchors it to the sandy bottom and tangles it among the sea foliage. Also, the bag never seems to be where you left it.
Millions of seedlings planted in the spring on this 17-acre site on the sound are about the size of nickels by now. Netting covers the baby clams to keep the crabs from eating them until they are ready to harvest. Steel rods that protrude about five inches above the water's surface secure the netting below - and makes the perfect containment for wayward mesh bags.
Reaching the raking grounds requires about a 10-minute walk from shore in thigh-high water. Wading over a cobblestoned floor of chowder clams, you realize why shoes are a necessary requirement for this activity. Open shells can be hazardous to the feet and irate crabs can pinch toes when their territory is invaded.
The water is clear enough to see the crabs glide across your feet and tiny fish flit about like butterflies. Our young clammer keeps an eagle-eye out for the elusive crabs as he carefully singles out the largest of the chowder clams - which quickly becomes his ``best friend for today'' - at least until it's time to eat his newfound buddy.
Midgett has had an average of 50 to 60 customers a day since he opened his raking farm in May. And children are a big part of the business. His youngest clammer was only 18 months old.
``His mother had to help him, of course,'' Midgett said from the bustling seafood shop beside his hatchery. ``He was really having fun. You could hear his cackling laughter all the way to the shop.''
Older children, as well as adults, who go to the farm only for the recreation of the dig are sometimes unaware of the educational aspects of clamming they receive. They not only learn to catch their own seafood - but also how the tasty bivalves hatch and mature.
For a business that started with a bang in the spring and continues to boom, the owner said he may have to postpone closing the clamming grounds Oct. 1 as planned.
``As long as the customers keep coming, I'll let them rake,'' Midgett said.
Making our way back to shore with our sacks full of goodies, we hear new arrivals ask, ``How was it?'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Jewel Bond
[Walt Porter, 5, of Richmond, Va....] by CNB