Salt pond

[mindehankins]

I was hoping someone else would ask this question, but I guess I'll be the one. I read in one of the two books, that you can actually harvest sea salt from Salt Pond.
Well?
When, how and any hints?

[bert]

You can (technically) still collect salt from the saltpond (not to be confused with Salt Pond Bay - the saltpond sits right behind the bay). Some of the local ladies still collect once in a while but I'm not sure where the VINP stands on salt collection by visitors. It's a process that includes collecting, drying and cleaning the salt. Much easier to buy it ready-made from Starfish!

peace.... bert

[loria]

here is one description of larger scale salt harvesting, it's evaporation based.
http://www.duckkeyonline.com/duck_key_h ... _ponds.htm

[lprof]

I have always been on St John in October or November and have only seen a little foam around the edges of the pond. Apparently the salt is harvested in the summer. Maybe you will be lucky and see some. A little info is found here:
http://www.stjohntour.com/SaltPondBay.html

November 2007 Salt Pond
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridalin ... 462790995/" title="Lille Paradis by lprof, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/346 ... bd091f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Lille Paradis"></a>

[Teresa_Rae]

I would think that salt collection is illegal, just as taking shells or coral or anything else from the National Park is illegal. The salt pond is also kind of eerie looking, and I don’t think I’d want to consume anything that came out of it

[RidgeRunner]

You can collect the salt along the edges of the pond after an extended dry period - the water will evaporate down to a lower level leaving salt where it was.

You can do the same thing from any ocean water. Just collect your water (more water = more salt) and put in an open container and allow to evaporate. Leaving it out in the sun will speed up the process.

[hugo]

First, it is legal to collect salt for personal use from Salt Pond.
It doesn't usually require much processing.
When?
Well, right precisely NOW is good...
Generally salt only forms after several months of very low rainfall, and that usually means only between March and the end of April. Salt forming at any other time of year means we are under unusual drought conditions. In the summer of 1994, the driest year of the 20th century on St. John, you could collect rocks of pure salt the size of basketballs!
In normal late dry season times it's simply a crust of flakes you can lift off the mud, and it's very susceptible to disappearing with one heavy rain--not to be seen again until the following year.
It is very good salt.

[P-600]

When we were than in January the guy at the top of hill (entrance to salt pond bay beach) was selling large chunks of salt that he harvested from the water. He has some really interesting things that he makes himself I bought my 4 year old a musical instrument made from a tree branch which was colorfully wrapped in material and had beer caps on top. You shake it. He loves it~

[mindehankins]

Thanks! I'm going to try it. If they guy's there, I'd buy from him.