Clam Digging for Beginners!

July 7

What an experience we had, and an unexpected ending!

First of all, like everything else we’ve set out to do… we had no idea what we were doing. All we knew is that we needed clam shovels, buckets and rubber gloves. We knew what time the tide was going to be the lowest, so we got everyone up early, unhooked the RV and headed for a place called Clam Glutch, known for the well sought after razor clam.

When we arrived, we were met with a very low tide and a 4 wheel drive ride in the jeep out onto the sandy shores. We got out and started our trek over the wet shore all way way out to where the low ride met the new shoreline:

Looking back at where we parked on the shore line before low tide:

The information we had was this: Locate a dimple in the sand, and start digging right next to it so that you don’t crack the shell. We had no idea what a dimple looked like! Nevertheless, we started digging at what we thought were dimples:

After a few discouraging digs, I sighted a man on his knees going at it and I decide to go and get a quick lesson from him. He was very willing to show me what a dimple looks like:

After that, we were confident that we would get our share of clams:




Want to know what a razor clam looks like?

Up close:

And even closer:

Jacob getting dirty:

Digging deeper:

Got it!

Zach catches on after a frustrating first hour:

And he gets one, and goes on to get about 15 more:


Too cool to smile?

Not exactly a clean project:

Dumping and counting the first batch:

Lisa looking on… didn’t dig because I couldn’t find my fishing license:

After three hours of digging, we head back to the beach.. notice the distance behind us:

Jay gets stuck carrying both buckets, full of 101 clams and water to keep them alive:

A potfull of clams:

Shelling them:

The cleaning table…we spent an additional 3 hours cleaning and preparing the clams for cooking.
Again, we had no idea what we were doing. I thought we were going to get the clams out of the shell, clean up all the dirt and put them in pot to cook. Oh no, oh how wrong we were! I spotted a couple not to far from us sitting at a table cleaning every clam one at a time and decided I better take a close look. What I found out was that clams had gills, guts and an intestinal system that all need to be cleaned. I found out that there are two parts to a clam. Again, this local couple was more than willing to give us a cleaning lesson, so we set up table next to theirs and formed an assembly line, each of us having a specific job in cleaning and dissecting each and every single clam:

Mom is designated to cleaning the intestinal track:


The cleaning crew and our trainers:

6 hours later, we have two ziplock bags, half full of cleaned clams:

Later that evening, some of the clams met their fate in a pot of homemade clam chowder:

Easy Clam Chowder Recipe Coming Soon: