[Guerrilla Gardening. Creative Commons photo by Ondřej Lipár]
File this under genius! Carbon Copy has an easy recipe for making seed bombs. Carry these little home-made pellets around and toss them into places that could use a little bit of plant life. Here’s how you do it!
- Combine 2 parts mixed seeds (Maybe ones from a local solstice seed swap?) with 3 parts compost. (I bet that organic potting soil would work, as well.)
- Stir in 5 parts powdered red or brown clay.
- Moisten with water until mixture is damp enough to mold into balls.
- Pinch off a penny-sized piece of the clay mixture and roll it between the palms of your hands until it forms a tight ball (1 inch in diameter).
- Set the balls on newspaper and allow to dry for 24 – 48 hours. Store in a cool, dry place until ready to sow.
[Seed Bombs! Creative Commons photo by Jeff Wright]
Toss them at will! Please be respectful over other folks’ property, though. It’s a lot tougher to talk to people about green space and guerrilla gardening when they’re angry.
About Becky Striepe
This is genius. I would be a little pissed to find a bunch of plants I didn’t want in my yard though!
Dude, this is sweet. However I haven’t the time to fabricate my own are there any shoppes from which I can place an order?
I would be bummed about that, too, since we work pretty hard on our yard! The seed bombs are intended for more decaying areas, though, like vacant lots and abandoned property. Maybe add a little green to an ugly median?
Seed bombs are a great revolutionary tool! Start a secret society to include poppy and marijuana seeds in the “bombs” and cure the world of what ails it! Ugly roadsides can be bombed with pretty flowers, but include some veggie seeds the (GRD) great republican depression is closing in on America and hoards of hungry people will soon evolve! Plant barley everywhere, We can make home brew and avoid anarchy in our drunken stupor! Low impact living is about to be forced down the American throat, bugs, worms, roots and all!
Needs more C4
Do it with cannabis seeds and OVERGROW THE GOVERNMENT!
I was there when that picture was taken! I made some of those seed bombs! This was taken in Jacksonville, Florida last year. Some of my friends are trying to start guerilla gardening with Florida’s native protected species, and we’re looking at seed bombs as one of our methods. I’d forgotten the recipe, thanks for posting this.
Phil, I like your style. I also had a plan similar to that. Just keep every seed you get and toss them out at random places. I guess if you add fertilizer and good compost it would speed the process along. Hey, they can’t get rid of it all now can they?!?!?!?!
OH, and to add to what I just mentioned, do this on Earth day. Instead of planting a tree, plant pot everywhere! Make a new tradition!
I served these at the last football party and everyone thought they tasted like crap.
cute!
Be sure not to include invasive alien species. This well intended project may have some devestating consequences a few years down the line.
This would be great during like a rainy season, when you know the flowers would bloom nicely!
So, you throw these in random place and no one waters them and they die.
This is great!
This is pretty cool. If someone makes them, please toss them in my backyard because it is in need of some help.
That is too cool…I like it.
Jim, I am just now seeing your comment and it made me almost spit coffee all over my keyboard. Hahahaha.
Simply brilliant.
Fab idea, love.
Or use organic spraypaint. Just as rude and illegal.
Even though they are small, seeds can still be deadly shrapnel. They may be small and light, but when propelled by an explosive device, even seeds can kill you. Then again, something cool may begin to germinate during your funeral.
Think of the beauty we’ll spread. I love it.
Great! I’m going to start spreading seed bombs!
Everyone, please just be sure to only use seeds from local, ecosystem-specific plants.
Happy New Year!
Seed bombs are a great revolutionary tool! we at the CPU do not use them but are friends in the under ground brotherhood use them to plant cannabis plants all over
join the cannabis protection union now!
sincerely
Carl Stanley III
Member of the CPU Humboldt chapter board of directors
member #3
email carl@cpu420.com
Contact CPU at 1-877-420-0999
Email join@cpu420.com
I don’t use it myself but I think pot being illegal causes so many problems in society…I love the pot seed bomb idea(s). Passive Civil Disobedience that could change the world for the WAY better (in a season or two)!
another thing to add to the recipe – mix seeds of plants that help one another grow and be mindful of the climate and which seeds you choose.
And please, make your selections carefully, hopefully, from plants that are native to your locale.
Seed Bombs in an indie video:
Guerrilla Gardens. Can You Dig It?
http://www.5mindocs.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=9
are they actual bombs? i dont understand what they are. plz someone explain it to me!?!
Hey Griffin – They are not actual bombs. The purpose is to spread a little “explosion” of greenspace. Just make sure you’re using native seeds – you don’t want to plant invasive species!
Great idea! Plant flower, pot, and veggie seeds on all those ugly traffic medians and off-ramps! Think about how many bombs one dedicated person could plant in just a few hours. I like it. I’m doing it!
My Cincinnati-based studio has made a batch of seed bombs for people who would like to beautify their environments without taking the time to gather supplies and get their hands dirty. We used a mix of wildflowers that are native to the Midwest, where we live, but many are native in most of North America. You can purchase them via our Etsy shop:
http://visualingual.etsy.com
Green is good, flowers are nice, but have a care about what you plant. Lobbing balls of seeds of invasive plants isn’t as productive one would hope. On the one hand it is better to have plants growing than bare ground, good to have the photosynthetic action. But do a little homework, eh? Can you get some seeds of native plants? Call up your local state agricultural extension service or DEP or fish and wildlife and see if you can talk to a botanist about what sorts of plants really would be helpful.
Meadows are great. Lawns are wastelands. This isn’t just about making things “pretty”, it’s about habitat. Bump it up from FLOWERS ARE PRETTY to reclaiming space for birds and insects. It could move from cute to wonderfully radical.
no..please don’t throw cannabis seeds randomly like that…cause if they cross pollinate with my females and i end up with seedy weed, i’m not gonna be a happy stoner….
Absolutely inspired, thanks for passing this on. Seems simple enough to use these ONLY on Public property and never private property. Who could complain? Just brilliant
Johnny Apple Seed them fuckers from like an ultra lite or hang glider or better yet do it random, from a hot air balloon.
“We the People of the United States…” ;]
just throwin’ that out there.
you guys wanting poppy and MJ are precisely why this government is going broke.
YOU ARE ALWAYS WANTING A HAND OUT while you sit on your butt at home all day getting high.
Brilliant!
Please be aware of and avoid invasive species.