Museumsgården, Læsø

Facts

Organic farm with seaweed thatch

By Per Grau Møller, Lektor, lic. phil. Syddansk Universitet (8 stories)

From a distance, the isolated Museumsgården on Læsø appears to be a shoddily built, half-timbered house with a shaggy grass roof that dangles down over the windows. But, in fact, the thinking behind its construction would make it a sustainable home by modern standards. The beams were salvaged from the sea. The roof is actually seaweed that was gathered along the shore. Læsø has no forests, and this way of building homes was common for centuries. Museumsgården was built in the 17th century and renamed when it was converted to a museum. Until just 50 years ago, scores of seaweed-thatched houses existed across the island.

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Fertilising with seaweed

Story written by Per Grau Møller

Time / Periode 1600

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Seaweed was used for more than just roofs on Læsø. Early peasant societies piled seaweed into berms around their fields, and it was also mixed with peat for a type of fertiliser nicknamed hoe manure. This method of fertilising required squares of peat too be dug up and placed on the farm's trash heap. For the next year or so, manure and seaweed were constantly piled on it until it became compost. It was then hacked up with a hoe and spread on the fields in the spring. The mixture added nutrients to the small fields known to islanders as gardens". "