Oyster gardening on Alabama coast catches on

Larry Meese walked around a small tomato plot in his front yard and headed down a pier to his real garden – a wire cage of oysters thriving in waters near the mouth of Mobile Bay.

Meese began gardening oysters in 2001, contributing his crop to fisheries scientists who place them on small oyster reefs not being commercially harvested.

Meese, who retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and moved to a bayfront retreat near Fairhope, said some of his neighbors along Baldwin County Route 1 also participate in oyster gardening.

Oyster gardening on Alabama coast catches on