What are Seed Balls?

Seed balls are natural clay balls, full of seeds and soil. They can be easily dispersed to grow plants of all types without the need to dig holes or till land!

Want to make a seed ball? Click here for instructions!

Seed Balls and Bees

Since urbanization and modern agricultural practices have decreased pollinator habitats, it is important to bolster the nutritional landscape for bees and other pollinators. One way to do this is to take action by planting more food for our foraging friends! At Planet Bee, we make seed balls full of California poppy seeds with all our local students and visitors at public events. 

Seed Ball History and Impact

Making seed balls is an ancient agricultural technique, which has regained popularity in modern times. 

Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese philosopher and natural farmer born in 1913, and is the person often attributed with improving and popularizing this planting technique. 

“Fukuoka believed that tillage over large areas is laborious, destructive to soil health, and ultimately not needed and thus a waste of time and energy. Thus, seed balls have become an important aspect of many natural farming and conservation enterprises around the world.” 

A Community-Driven Success Story

In the early 1970s, New York City had endured riots and watched neighborhoods decline to abandon, as apartment buildings fell down and empty lots took their place. Artist Liz Christy began tossing what she referred to as “seed green-aids” into vacant lots. She filled water balloons with seeds, soil, and water, and threw them over fences, watching the contents scatter as the balloons burst on the ground. This practice is the definition of “guerrilla gardening” and was a first step in revitalizing the city by converting lots into gardens. By the 1980s, NYC was home to 800 community gardens!