Seed Ball Results!

The majority of the seed balls we made last September were for a fundraiser for the Edible Schoolyard at the Children's Museum in Greensboro, but we had enough left over to fill this back field chock full of red clover. Thanks to Lynn Book's Fall semester Wake Forest students for throwing them into the area, releasing exam stress and promised of results. Here they are!

Red Clover Field in the spring

What is a seed ball? A seed ball is a composition of seeds, compost, clay and water that is rolled into small balls and dried. An ancient tradition, seed balls were reintroduced by Japanese author Masanobu Fukuoka in the 1970s in his philosophical, universally relevant book on natural farming, The One-Straw Revolution.

Seedball packaging for Fundraiser

Seed bombing is also common in Africa to cover crop an arid area and in urban areas with Guerilla Gardening where populating and beautifying empty lots and off-limit areas with wildflowers is most common. The balls are thrown into a field, over a fence, or over your shoulder and left for the weather conditions to break the seed ball down, resulting in a low or no maintenance, sturdier, well-rooted plant.

Red Clover Seed Balls Courtesy of Eric Jackson and Salem Neff