Dirt Clods for a good cause

Your little balls of dirt contain a mixture of clay, soil, and wildflower seeds native to southern California! You can use them to beautify empty lots, dying lawns, or use them to regenerate the soil in areas where you’ve been gardening. Seed bombing is a popular guerrilla gardening tactic used to spread natural biodiversity and invite pollinators in areas where the land has been overworked, or invasive and non-native species have been planted.

To use them, simply crumble them up, smoosh them, or throw them (with force!) where you want them to grow. Use your seed bombs sooner than later to prevent seedlings from sprouting inside the bombs! Now is the perfect time to use them since it’s the beginning of the rainy season, and wildflowers love the rain. The rain will help break apart the bombs and nourish the seeds inside. Wildflowers and grasses are pretty hardy and need little tending to in order to grow. 

It’s as easy as you think and a perfect activity for kids and adults who need a break from the dumpster fire whirlwind world we live in! You only need three ingredients: clay, soil, and seeds. 

While you can play around with which types of clay and soil to use, it is important to remember that the types of seeds you plan to use need to be indigenous, or it counteracts one of the fundamental goals of guerrilla gardening, which is to restore the natural landscape with native plant species and pollinators. Before purchasing seeds, look up which grasses, wildflowers, and other seed plants are native to your area.

Ingredients:

1 can of calcium bentonite clay (a powder used for diy facemasks, available in health food stores...I got mine from Whole Foods)

1 bag of worm castings (available at Home Depot, Lowes, and many nurseries. You can also get compost or even use wet strips of paper)

1 pouch of wildflower/wild grass seeds, indigenous to the area

A cup of water (or a tiny bowl, use as needed)

Big mixing bowl that you don’t mind getting dirty

Gardening gloves (optional)

Assembly: (use a 5-5-1 ratio with clay, worm castings, and seeds respectively. No exact yield but I used 16 oz clay powder, half a big pouch of seeds, and approx. 2 cups worm castings to make 28 seed bombs)

1) Add 5 parts clay powder to 5 parts worm castings into a large bowl

2) add water in small amounts, mixing with hands or large spoon in between, until a moldable, play-doh consistency is reached

3) add in seeds and mix well

4) roll mixture into balls (you pick the size!) and place on parchment paper

https://utopia.org/guide/guerrilla-gardening/

https://www.burpee.com/gardenadvicecenter/areas-of-interest/flower-gardening/guerrilla-gardening/article11016.html

and a must watch Ted Talk: