One-hundred thousand fit in the palm of your hand.
The nearly translucent Lady's Island triploid seed from the Beaufort oyster hatchery will grow in the salty water of the Stono over the next 13 to 18 months, absorbing different salinities and nutrients from the inlet where the Kiawah, Folly, and Stono rivers meet. And the triploid seed doesn't reproduce, allowing the oyster to spend all of its energy filtering, feeding, and growing.
When they're pulled from their cages after a year-and-a-half of growth, only one oyster will fit squarely between ring finger and thumb tip. Behold, the Crassostrea virginica, the East Coast oyster and the Lowcountry's precious pearl, available year-round as consistently delicious singles thanks to the growth of local oyster farming. Diners are enamored, restaurants are scouting, and vivacious, educated young farmers are strapping on their mud boots to answer the bivalve's siren call.