Seedballs: the final result
Both of these concepts: guerilla gardening and seedballing, drew an instant fascination for me (even though I felt the guerilla gardening concept had quite a goody-nerd feel to all of it).
Guerrilla gardening: the idea that empty, plantless or shabby areas (whether in the city, towns wherever) get a makeover but usually done secretly as most of these places are private property. Most of the time, a group will get together at night, nip into an area, pull out their spades and pop in the plants or flowers they’ve brought along.
Seedballs are a combination of compost, clay and mixed seed rolled up into a marble sized ball. Because the seeds are protected within the ball, birds and other creatures aren’t so likely to get to them. They can be scattered out onto the ground surface and will germinate usually after the first good rains arrive.
The beauty of these little things is, that it’s just a matter of throwing them about and letting nature do the rest; no digging and no worrying about watering (they can sit about for ages until rain arrives, and when it does, they’ll start growing soon thereafter).
Though, if you are planning on doing something like this, pay attention to what you’re throwing around as I’m sure it wouldn’t be appreciated if the lucerne seed you threw out eventually carpets the lovely local park’s flora. Make sure it’s indigenous and will be beneficial to plants in the vicinity.
And I’ve just found a link to our own gardeners out there, although it dates back to last year:
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/wordpressblog/?p=145
How to make your own seedballs
Ingredients
• 1 part compost
• 1 part terracotta clay (check out the clay suppliers in your area)
• Mixed seeds (try a veg, herb and flower combination)
Method:
• Mix compost, seed and clay together
• You can also add a bit of peppermint or chilli pepper to deter any pesky bugs that might get at the seedballs
• Add water and mix, making sure it all binds together nicely
• Roll into marble sized balls
• Put out to dry for a day or two
• You’re ready, start throwing out some colour
2 Nov 09
After I’d written this post, my dad offered his comment (thanks dad), thought I’d add it in here:
I used the same technique while commercial farming to sow lucerne seed. We used to lay the seed out on a flat surface, add the nitrogen producing bacteria (which can be purchased from the local seed store or farmers co-op in small packets) sprinkle with water and then mix well . Lay out (not in direct sunlight) in well aired shade to dry.
The seed must be sown as soon as possible and rolled into the surface soil. The nitrogen fixing bacteria aid the lucerne off to a flying start to producing its own source of nitrogen which is why lucerne is such a great fodder plant. You do not have to fertilize it with nitrogen at all.
In the case of lucerne we did not use the compost/clay balling method as we had large acreages to sow using commercial sowing machines designed for fine seed. After sowing it is essential though to roll the soil surface. In the case of gardens a raking and watering will do the trick.
Lucerne is a deep rooted plant that prefers sandy loam soils and does definitely not like clay or heavy soils. It will get rootrot in wet soils. I have seen lucerne roots penetrate down to over 4 mts underground!
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