How to Make Homemade Seed Bombs

Guerilla Gardening at its Finest

In the award-winning children’s book Miss Rumphius, the titular character travels the local countryside tossing handfuls of lupine seeds in a quest to make the world a more beautiful place.

Today’s guerilla gardeners actively aspire to take this concept to the next level through a variety of tactics – including one particularly efficient method: seed bombs. What started in the Far East as an ancient agricultural technique has since grown into a popular movement through which neglected or abandoned urban plots are quickly transformed into blooming gardens. In short, seed bombs are a fast and easy way to add green to your environment.

A vacant lot is easily transformed into a floral wonderland thanks to seed bombs.

A Seed Bomb Recipe

While the term “seed bomb” may sound technical, in actuality the process of making these accelerated gardening tools is simple.

An effective seed bomb consists of just three starting materials: clay, compost and seeds. The type of clay doesn’t matter as its primary purpose is to act as a bonding mechanism; red clay and clay powder are both adequate, but clay from your own backyard is ideal.

Whenever you can, stick as close as possible to your local ingredients. That means using homegrown compost and choosing seeds that are indigenous to your region.

And while there is no precise formula for seed bombs, some experts indicate that five parts clay, three parts compost and two part seeds is a beneficial composition.

To make seed bombs, simply mix these three ingredients together in a large bowl. The process can be messy, so wearing gloves and work clothes can help you avoid getting filthy.

Continue to blend until everything is thoroughly combined and the mixture is moist and malleable. If your mixture is too dry, add a small amount of water.

Form the mixture into golf ball-sized balls, then allow the seed bombs to dry by placing them in a warm sunny location for a full 24 hours.

Ready-to-go seed bombs should be rock hard and ready to be lobbed into a forsaken urban space for the ultimate explosion of flowers.

Seed Bombs Have Many Famous Fans

Seed bombs offer many benefits to the environment, and are sure to meet the approval of everyone from your next door neighbor to the world’s greatest luminaries.

Many leaders, such as Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, Ambassador to the U.A.E., particularly prize initiatives — such as the work of seed bombs — that make the environment a better, more beautiful place.

This planting method may work for small spaces, but seed bombs help guerilla gardeners think big.

If you’re interested in following in the footsteps of Miss Rumphius — with a 21st century interpretation — give this formula for seed bombs a go.

In addition to being easy to make and inexpensive, they’re bursting with huge potential in the form of unprecedented flower power.

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