That's interesting. I've seen seed balls for sale in catalogs and always thought they were fairly expensive to try as a lark. They look easy to make, I'll have to try it and see.

Slubberdegulion,

I have also seen these seed balls in catalogues selling very expensively. So I was very happy when I found this recipe since I get to choose what seeds go in the balls. This is the first year I will try them and already made seed balls with native, butterfly attracting seeds. I am very excited!

Enjoy the project,
Almendra

I was very intrigued with your seed balls Almendra and would like to try some.
First I need to find some CLAY!
Funny because at my last garden I was cursing the stuff, which was everywhere!

PattiOh

Patti, I was thinking along the same lines - my garden's topsoil sits on top of hardpan clay, so maybe I could use it for the same purpose, LOL!

Almendra, what an interesting method. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I had never heard of it before. Now I have a question: does this only work if the ground is clear of weeds and other plants? Or can simply be scattered in a area of soil gone wild? I have visions of scattering these balls on the vacant lot behind me, so that I could look at a meadow instead of weeds as tall as myself...

Eduarda

I was going through my seed stash last night and I realized that I have a bunch of stuff that will work really well with this project. We have some areas at church that would be nice filled with wildflowers.

Eduarda, the way I read it the ground doesn't have to be clear. It sounded like the neighbor's area was weedy already.

Almendra, Your link led me to PathtoFreedom.com which is a great site. To think that 3 tons of food can be grown on 1/5 of an acre! That led to some other interesting sites on biodiversity, intensive gardening, and a whole lot of interesting garden sites on Southern CA. Wow, the green movement is really strong on the West Coast. Our house is being built right now and I probably won't have a garden there this year, but the seed ball idea might be a way to do something in the area that is not within the "construction zone".

Pattioh: I think it would be easier if you bought the red clay powder from the store. I bought 25lbs. for about $9.00. It is already very fine and when I swifted it there were no big clumps at all. Using your own back yard clay will take a while because you have to let it dry and then pulverize it to a very fine grain. It seemed like to much work for me anyway, :)

Eduarda: I definetely think you can just throw the seed balls to the empty lot, and they will take over. There is a method used by the Green Guerrillas to cover empty lots and it is the Seed Bomb. I am including a link to a how to make a seed bomb site.

If you are curious these are links to some of the Green Guerrilla sites:

http://www.lizchristygarden.org/

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

myoneandonly: yes, there is a huge green movement that is slowly taking over this state. Here in the San Francisco Bay area, there is a movement called the Bayfriendly gardening which teaches residents how to do natural gardening. They start by teaching you how to start from creating a healthy soil to how to manage pests naturally.

You can check it out at:

http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=8

Congratulations on your new house, and the seed balls will definetely give you a head start.

Almendra

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Bomb

Almendra,
Please tell me WHAT KIND of store. Nursery, beauty supply, box store?
I'm sorry to say really have no clue where to begin looking for clay! Ha!
Thanks very much.
PattiOh

Hi PattiOh,

Your local ceramic supplier will carry it, and some of them will order it for you.

I heard from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, (the center also uses this method to propagate wildflowers in Austin, TX),that supposedly Michael's carries it, but the one in my town doesn't. So I did a google search and made a few phone calls and found it in Berkely which is about 20 minutes from where I live.

You might have to do the same if your local Michaels, ceramic supplier or like store doesn't carry it.

Wish you the best,
Almendra

Thanks! I'm looking forward to making a batch of seed balls soon!

I finally found some red clay. Had to buy it from a company up in Seattle. Although now I see a posting here that someone says they can get it in Berkeley which is not too far from me. Oh well.

My concern now though, is that I open the box and it says the clay contains crystalline sicilica which is carcenogenic and should not be inhaled. So now I don't want to use it! I saw the school project on the website posted and see all those kids with their hands in the clay. I tried emailing the site to ask for advice on using it with kids but the email came back returned.

Anyone know about this and have suggestions on how to use it without causing bodily harm??

Thanks!

The kids aren't using it dry; they're using it wet. But what you want to do is dry it, right? Then crush it to dust? (I haven't gotten to the linked website yet) That's when you can inhale the dust-like particulates, which is bad. They are large particulates, in the scheme of things, so one of those nose-mouth masks would work.

Lime

I followed the seed bomb link and was surprised to see that one of the bombs is made from old glass ornaments. So when the bomb lands the ornament breaks and there is broken glass there pretty much forever? Doesn't sound very green to me.

The other recipe uses a balloon, which I suppose would eventually break down, but still smacks of littering to me. Maybe I'm missing a greater point here and someone can set me straight.

ThinMan

PattiOh- If you want clay then come and get it!! Look no further! You can have it by the truck load and so can anyone else for that matter. LOL From Mass. it should take about 19 hours or so!

The recipies I've seen say to use dry red clay and mix with the compost and seeds. And you sift the red clay first. So there's lots of dust coming up at that point. After it's mixed, you sprinkle in enough water to be able for it to form balls. Maybe the adults wear a mask and mix it up and wet it. Then the kids get to take it from there. Still seems a bit risky? Anyone know how I can confirm that using masks will be ok?

Regarding the seed bombs, those sound awful. Broken glass or balloons left in the dirt? Doesn't seem like good options to me either.

I was wondering the same thing about the seed bombs when I read that link, originally. Wouldn't broken glass and balloons be considered both littering and a threat to local wildlife, neither of which is considered "green" ?

I must be missing something, too.

Marilyn

Hello,

I opened up my email and found these inquisitive and valid concerns about seed balls and seed bombs.

I looked through the green guerrillas websites and one of them gave the same instructions for seed bombs as the one I posted and said that these were used in the 1970s in New York. The balloons and glass spheres are non-biodegradable but NEW IDEAS to change these instructions are welcome.

This is a great opportunity for all of us to come up with ideas as to how to better the seed bombs. Any one?

I myself would not use the seed bombs. I was thinking more towards making seed balls and just throwing them in empty lots, (actually the empty area behind my backyard). Since they are not feather light you can throw them at whichever direction you want them to go and they will go that way.

In regards to the clay, we only made a few batches so I don't think my daughters were in great danger. In my opinion, it becomes of a bigger concern when one makes a dish out of the clay and keeps using it to eat or drink from it.

Good advice has already been given, such as using masks. Maybe a further step would be to let the parent mix it and wet the mixture, and then have the children wear plastic gloves to make the balls?

All the best,

Almendra

girlndocs,

That rationale makes a lot of sense to me....:)

I realize this is an old thread, but regarding the clay, I’ve seen videos and blogs suggesting unscented kitty litter as it’s predominantly clay.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sV89CDaAnbA