Seed Bombs
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | March 26, 2009
It seems like everyone’s talking about gardening these days- and when the First Lady plants an organic garden on the White House lawn, we can be sure the trickle-down effect is going to spread far and wide. Seed sales are way up across the board, and whether it’s called “recession gardening” or “victory gardening” the result is the same: folks taking care of some of their own food needs, with their own hands and sweat.
Some of us, however, are not ready and/or able to plant gardens, whether due to time, location, or other restraints. So how can a Tiny Chooser spread the green love without making a big commitment?
Seed Bombs!
C’mon, even the phrase is awesome: Seed Bombs!
The basic concept is to make a hard-packed ball consisting mainly of compost, clay, & seeds, which can then be tossed into a vacant lot or planted in a sad, empty piece of dirt as you wander by with an eye towards making mischief. And after you bomb, there will grow a wild and happy explosion of wildflowers, herbs, or veggies- whatever kind of seeds you put into your compost balls.
A simple search of the intertubes turns up loads of recipes for making bombs, and here’s a seed bomb-making video containing the awesome quote: “One little seed bomb ready to wreck havoc on the urban wasteland”. You can also view a seedbomb-making photo gallery documenting the process with L.A.-based seed bomber Caroline Kim, who shares a handy tip: “To plant the seed bombs, she digs holes with a trusty tool — the heel of her shoe. “Stilettos work really well,” she says, grinning.”
Seed bombing is a subset of the larger Guerrilla Gardening movement, which has been described as “Gardening public space with or without permission.” Folks reclaim vacant land to grow flowers, plants, or veggie gardens in spaces as small as an abandoned planter and as large as an empty city block. There’s also a book on the subject!
While guerrilla gardening definitely bends the laws, there are always folks who appreciate the gorgeous mission of these gardeners and support their efforts- including this tale of encouragement by local law officials in L.A.
I’m going to order some native Northeastern-U.S. wildflower seeds, and make a whole load of seed bombs to carry around with me. Because if there’s anything NYC needs more of, it’s wildflowers.
Have you ever seedbombed? Guerrilla gardened? Does the idea appeal to your rebel nature?
[Image by Gojeffrey via Creative Commons]
Topics: Activism | 9 Comments »
9 Comments
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I love this idea! I was just talking to friend of tiny choices Michelle about this, too. There’s a lot in Brooklyn she pointed out to me recently.
hehehe, I was chuckling while watching the seed bomb video. I love it! I’ve read about seed bombs before but watching the video is even more inspiring. It looks so easy too :) The abandoned barn next to my last apartment could use some wildflowers. The only thing I need to do now is start composting…
This is AWESOME! I was just reading about Guerilla Gardening… did you know May 1st is International Sunflower Guerilla Day? So, start loading your sunflower seed bombs! ;)
i love it! perhaps because my ‘rebel nature’ is not super-developed, so this would feel really quite naughty to me, as well as simultaneously feeling altruistic and cool - like being an impish seed-bearing fairy…
and how cool would it be to see the fruits of your bomb grow? It would be really sweet to see a load of photos of seed-bombed areas before and after…
I love it! There are lots of patches of soil in my Montreal neighborhood that need brightening up after the winter. I got a huge bag of sunflower seeds from the dollar store that were labeled as birdseed. These grow just as well as the ones in the small paper envelopes.
[...] can we make this happen in Worcester MA?! Any one out there up for making seed bombs and greening an otherwise neglected corner of the city? I’ll buy the seeds and soil! [...]
We are so doing this tomorow night! Thanks for the guide. :-)
What a great idea! Really. Seed bombs!!! :-))
The phrase is awesome, you are right! And the idea is also great. It do appeal to my rebel nature :)