Seed Balls and How They Help Grow Your Quincy Garden

Seed balls, simply put, are a method for distributing seeds by encasing them in a mixture of clay and compost. This protects the seeds by preventing them from drying out in the sun, getting eaten by birds, or from blowing away.

Seed balls are scattered directly on the ground, not planted. Self-sufficiency and sustainability website Path To Freedom says seed balls are useful for seeding dry, thin and compacted soils and for reclaiming derelict ground (which is why they are often used in guerilla gardening). Seed balls are particularly useful in dry and arid areas where rainfall is highly unpredictable. I like ‘em because they’re easy to chuck over fences into empty lots.

You can “sow” your seed balls on a sunny day – and just leave them. When sufficient rain has permeated the clay, the seeds inside sprout and are aided by the nutrients and beneficial soil microbes surrounding them. I put one (shown above) in my garden so I can track its progress and show my readers that – yes! – seed balls do actually work.

In fact, the seed ball method has been working for centuries. I’ve read that some North American First Nations’ tribes used seed balls. More recently natural farming pioneer Masanobu Fukuoka has experimented with them. And in New York City, seed bombs were used in 1973’s revitalization of the Bowery neighbourhood and the development of the city’s first community garden.

According to Lawrence Haftl, “The most commonly used basic formula for making seedballs is to take one part of seeds (by volume), three parts of relatively dry and sifted compost, and five parts of dry powdered red clay. Mix the seeds into the compost to partially coat the seeds with the compost, and then mix the powdered clay in to coat the seeds/compost.

Then start adding water sparingly until you have a somewhat thick mud pile. Break off a small chunk (about the size of a marble) of this mud pile with your fingers or a small spoon and then roll the chunk in the palms of your hands until it feels firm. Set aside to dry, break off another chunk, and keep repeating until the mud pile is gone.”

Contributed in Part by Andrea Bellamy with Heavy Petal

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