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Thursday, April 28

go wild over seed balls!

This Easter I shared wildflower seed balls with my friends.
They were so easy to make, I thought you might enjoy making them too. (Mothers' Day is coming...they'd be a terrific gift!)

My inspiration...an article in Good Housekeeping, April, 2010

Mixing up the "recipe" can be a bit messy, so have a big bowl on hand and lots of empty egg cartons to store your seed balls in as they dry. You can even get the kids involved in this...ours always like something "messy" to get their hands into!

You'll need:
16-oz. cup (one cup equals one part)
5 parts powdered clay (available at craft stores)
3 parts good soil
1 part seed of your choice
1 to 2 parts water

Mix together the clay and soil; toss in seeds to distribute evenly. Add only enough water to the mix so that it holds together,
but isn't crumbly. Roll the mixture into marble-size balls
(about one inch in diameter.) Store seed balls in egg cartons
for at least 2 days, or until thoroughly dry.

When you're ready to plant, simply scatter them in your garden, water, and wait for them to grow! When I made mine, I cut the "recipe" in half, as the original said it would make "hundreds of seed balls" and I didn't need quite that many! I ended up with approximately 75, but I did make them a bit larger than a marble.

Have fun...and let me know if you try making them!

By the way,
take time to visit some terrific farms...I'm linking up to:

Verde Farm at www.verdefarm.com
along with...

Dandelion House at www.deborahjeansdandelionhouse.com/

10 comments:

  1. Whar a really cool idea...I havae some seeds for wildflowers and old fashioned mix...this may be the ticket for them, thank you sharing this with me...

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  2. can I get the powdered clay at a craft store?

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  3. Faith, yes, you can find the powdered clay at craft stores. It was packaged in really large bags...more than I could ever use, so the store recommended a product called CelluClay (in a much more manageable size!) Good luck, let me know how your seed balls turn out! -Mary

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  4. What a great idea. I could see children having a lot of fun with a project like this. Jacinta

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  5. Hi I love your ideas! Thanks for sharing. Cheri

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  6. I love the idea of seed balls for gifts!

    I bought a bag of wild flower mixed seeds one year at my local hardware store. It was pretty large maybe almost 2 pounds. I was running out of day light and was in a hurry to throw a few seeds along a garden bed next to my house. In my haste I ripped open the bag and accidentally dumped 80% of the seeds in nearly one spot including the lawn. There I was trying to use a flash light to scoop up the worst of it and spread it else where. Needless to say the next year I made sure I had lots of daylight left and a pair of scissors. No more ripping open the bag for me...

    God Bless!

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  7. Wow! Just came here from Faith's place at Crochet By The Sea, and I LOVE this idea! Thanks for sharing it, and hope you're enjoying your weekend! ~tina

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  8. Love this idea and your May Day tips too... thanks for linking up with such refreshing words and ideas!
    Deb

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  9. That sounds like a really fun activity to do with kids!

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