Seeds (not) Bombs

Thanks to everyone who came to our gARTen of Ideas at the Festival of New Ideas on Saturday! We had an amazing time making plantable seed sculptures with children, teens, and grown-up gardeners from all over the five burrows. Did you take a photo? We'd love to see it and also seed where you plant your sculpture. You can share your pic on the Seed Library Facebook page.

Here's a little more background and some ideas of what you can do with your seed sculpture.

Our SculptureGarden activity is based on the idea of guerrilla gardening with seed projectiles. They've been called seed bombs, green grenades, and earth dumplings and have been used for many years for growing plants in in accessible places from chain-linked vacant urban lots to repopulating forests with native species.

Your Seed Sculpture is a mix of seeds, clay, and compost. You can plant your seedy art anywhere there's some sun and dirt. The best day to plant your sculpture is a rainy day. The rain will help dissolve the clay, spread the seeds, and get them growing. Here are a few ideas of where you can plant your seed form.

1. Put it in a pot, water it everyday, and watch your sculpture dissolve and transform into growing seedlings.

2. On a rainy day, toss your seed art over a fence into a vacant lot that has dirt. Make sure to lob it high enough so it breaks apart a bit when it lands.

3. Make a Sculpture Garden in your community garden plot so your neighbors can watch your gARTen grow!

Tips:

Plant your sculpture as soon as possible.

If your sculpture is within arms reach and it's not dissolving or sprouting within 5-7 days, the seeds may need some help breaking free.

If too many seeds have germinated close to each other they may crowd each other out. You can gently pull a few out and transplant them or snip a few giving the biggest healthiest seedlings some elbow room to grow.