Taken from the Wikipedia Oyster Page

Oysters are filter feeders, drawing water in over their gills through the beating of cilia. Suspended plankton and particles are trapped in the mucus of a gill, and from there are transported to the mouth, where they are eaten, digested and expelled as faeces or pseudofaeces. Oysters feed most actively at temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F). An oyster can filter up to 5 litres (1.3 US gal) of water per hour. Chesapeake Bay’s once flourishing oyster population historically filtered excess nutrients from the estuary’s entire water volume every three to four days. Today that would take nearly a year.[3] Excess sediment, nutrients, and algae can result in the eutrophication of a body of water. Oyster filtration can mitigate these pollutants.

In addition to their gills, oysters can also exchange gases across their mantle, which is lined with many small, thin-walled blood vessels. A small, three-chambered heart, lying under the adductor muscle, pumps colorless blood to all parts of the body. At the same time, two kidneys, located on the underside of the muscle, remove waste products from the blood.

While oysters have two sexes, they may change sex one or more times during their life span. Because of this, it is technically possible for an oyster to fertilize its own egg. The gonads surround the digestive organs, and are made up of sex cells, branching tubules and connective tissue. Oysters cannot be sexed by examining the shell.

Rappahannock River Oysters, originally uploaded by Boot Boot.

Right now we have the Olde Salts from shore side Chincoteague and the Stingrays closer to the bay mouth in Mobjack Bay. This Friday we’ll have the Rappahannock Rivers in to share with you one of the most unique seafood products in the world, and its only 60 miles away, here’s a bit of geolocation for you. Sustainable as it gets and contributing to the health of the bay as well.

Softshell Season, originally uploaded by Boot Boot.

First of the year and tonight will fry ‘em up with a semolina
coriander crust and a nice spring slaw with Dijon gorgonzola aioli.
You like a glass of muscadet on the rocks?

Adonis Classic, originally uploaded by Boot Boot.

Dry Sherry, Vermouth and Bitters go a long way. Also be on the lookout
for O’Connor Brews made right here in Norfolk! We’ll hopefully have
that on tap either Friday or Saturday.

fresh cut this morning, originally uploaded by Boot Boot.

From Culipher Farm in Virginia Beach.

Olde Salts and Stingrays have arrived. Originally uploaded by Boot Boot

Olde Salts are shore side Chincoteague and the Stingrays are bayside near the mouth in Milford Haven.

Well it has been too long since our last update and we do apologize as we have been waist deep in recipe experimentation. Spring has got our brains a buzzin. Working on a parsley gelée with icey golden beet caviar, but honestly were lost in the woods or maybe lost at sea. It’s late and we’ve been munching on some dried oats for the past 3 hours. Another out of this world fact is a Boot cook recently completed 100 mile bike race raising money for Diabetes. Mr. Harvey is accepting notes of congratulations all next week. A few things of mention include – Apr 29 is Dining Out For Life, May 9 is Mother’s Day brunch, and on some Thursday in the next month we will have a beer dinner and a wine dinner. What day? Well our spring calendar is jammed like a radar so we can’t say right now. Also we want to do this idea for Monday nights called Boot Big Dinners where we serve a 3 course family style menu to the table. More news on that later.

Beetroot or garden beet was once commonly called the blood turnip. Here at Boot we like to think about each vegetable’s life force. Harness the power, increase productivity, lower blood pressure, fly planes and build bridges. This coming week is Norfolk Restaurant Week – Jan 24th-31st – and we will be offering 3 courses for $30. The menu will be posted soon and please note we will be open Sunday and Monday at the start of the week. We are open on Jan 31st but having a special literary reading event, thus not having restaurant week specials. Our online menus will be updated soon and we hope to see you during next week’s buzzfest. Expect our winter’s best.

The season is changing and we will be out enjoying the night air, tellin’ lies and eatin’ gourds. Boot style is easy to live but hard to grasp, na mean? The Fall Menu is upon us and while we have not announced any dishes yet, we will be switching over on Sept 29th. So if you come into the Boot and whine and moan about summer’s leaving, we will bump your head with a butternut squash and feed you cheese. In the words of Mr. Bowie, let us be heroes, if not, just for one day. Let us embrace the Fall! Also note your calendar for some spectacular shows – Black Hollies, Miss Tess, Tom Brosseau, Tigercity, plus many more!

Cheers to what’s popping out of the ground! Jeers to misued verbs and nouns!
Ah we are just being playful for grammar is not our forte, but then neither is farming. We’re good at rubbin ribs and butts (that’s a pun which is funny if you’re not vegan). Hey! Come celebrate our local vegetables for Norfolk Restaurant Week. It’s going down July 12-19 and we’ll be offering our entire menu at 3 courses for $30. Also note Ghent Summer Bar Tour on July 25th in which we plan to get wiggly like spaghetti. Two tents – MC Cornbread – Virginia Beer, Pork Sammys, Chickpea Cakes, and introducing the Boot Pickle. We know…