Green chlorella and magic blue prints. The Seaweed Adventure in Klötze.
The Kreis family and Jörg Ullmann in front of the Seaweed Adventure van. Chlorella glass tubes in the greenhouse.
The official inauguration of the seaweed adventure took place in Klötze with Jörg Ullmann from Algomed and Kiristin Knufmann from PureRaw. Jörg took the time to show our kids and the Altmark press the magic of the blue prints, a pioneering photograph technique developed in the Victorian age of learning and discovery by Anna Atkins in England.
In memory of her 150th anniversary of death we used the same blue print technique she first developed for her scientific book illustrated with Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype impressions. We used some local leaves from our surroundings, but took the magic liquids and salts with us on the adventure trip to do it again with seaweeds and objects found by the sea. This technique naturally demonstrates the simple beauty and shape of algae in fascinating shades of white and blue.
Jörg applies the iron solution and shows the kids how to prepare the paper.
Our kids also apply the liquid on the paper.
And the sunlight does the magic. Here with a leaf from the local vinegar tree (Rhus typhina).
And this beautiful print is now decorating our seaweed adventure van.
And we take a glimpse through the microscope.
Julie takes a glimpse through the microscope.
Since we have been with a biologist we also took the chance to take a glimpse though the microscope and saw the difference between between the micro algae chlorella and cyano bacterium spiralina with our own eyes. Chlorella is not much larger than a red blood cell and has a round shape; Spirulina on the other hand and as the name also indicates forms a three-dimensional helical microstructure.
Jörg has been fascinated by Chlorella from the first moment. At that time he only knew Chlorella as the commonly used algae for experiments in the laboratory, but when he saw in the year 2000 that the photobioreactors in Klötze were looking for a new managing director he took the chance and has been working and researching with chlorella ever since. This year the first chlorella conference is planned in autumn.
Those vibrant green tubes are almost ready to be harvested.
“Thanks to our unique and patented cultivation method in a system of 500 kilometers of glass tubing, we can make sure that the algae gets the optimum amount of sunlight. Potential external contaminants can’t get into contact with the algae culture.”
The way chlorella is farmed here in Klötze is a very unique and patented cultivation method in glass tubes that are about 500km long. This system makes sure that the algae gets enough sunlight and potential contaminats can’t get into the system. The water source is an own artisanal well and the entire cultivation is checked regularly in the in-house laboratory. This all guantees an exceptional level of quality and we as a family feel save to give it to our kids, because we believe in the nutrient power of this chlorophyll dense microalgae and want diversity on our plates for a strong microbiome.
And chlorella can well be called a superfood because of its unique nutrient composition. It is one of the very few plant based sources of proven and bio available vitamin B12, which usually only occurs in animal sources. Only 3g of Algomed’s chlorella (which is about a teaspoon) meet 120% of your daily needed Vitamin B12 intake. And there is more to explore as we continue this journey not only in regards to nutrition, but also here in Klötze: in spring 2022 the „Algae Discovery World“ will open.
Jörg and Julie in the greenhouse.
Next I was lucky to share the kitchen with Kirstin Knufmann and we prepared a wonderful micro algae dinner for our families together.
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