Seed Bombs

I was recently reading a Garden Magazine and learned of Seed Bombs! (pictured to the left) It's a great example of Urban Greening. You can buy Seed Bombs just about anywhere including Anthropologie who sells five seed bombs in a muslim bag fro $6. However, it is just as simple, and a lot more fun, to just make your own! Here's how...

Ingredients

Seed of your choice, or a mix
Dried organic compost of any kind
Finely ground dry red clay: You can use potting clay or dig clay out of the ground as long as you dig deep enough so there are no weed seeds in it. The subsoil in most of the country is clay, so it’s easy to find, especially at building sites or where roads are being built. If you use potting clay, be sure to use only red clay—other kinds might inhibit seed growth. Spread it out to dry, then grind it up between two bricks to make a powder.

1. Mix one part seeds into three parts compost.

2. Add five parts dry clay to the compost/seed mix and combine thoroughly.

3. Add a little water a bit at a time until the mix becomes doughlike. You don’t want it to be soggy.

4. Roll tightly packed little balls about the size of marbles, and set them aside to dry in a shady place for a few days.

5. To make the strongest impact, distribute these balls at the rate of about 10 balls per square yard of ground.

Remember that Seed Bombs work, so it's a good idea to strategically "throw" them. And you can check with your local nursery to find out which seeds might work best for your area. This particular recipe is from: http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/natural-landscaping/how-to-make-seed-balls.aspx#ixzz1WijXvw2I

Urban Homesteading

My latest read is Urban Homesteading by Rachel Kaplan and K. Ruby Blume. I was turned onto it by a friend and co-worker, who wrote about the book on our firm's Regenerative Landscapes blog. http://www.regenerativelandscape.org/

The book had me at the dedication, which reads: "This book is dedicated to the children who follow after us. May they inherit a fertile and abundant world filled with people who honor the diversity of life teeming around us: from the tiniest microbe, to the wondrous chicken, to the beauty of human community."

Often these books are overwhelming, they start off demanding you to build your own chicken coop and to quit your job to become a farmer. I'm am all about taking baby steps when it comes to lifestyle changes. The first chapter in this book, "Start where you are" -- What a refreshing concept!

But, as Grace Paley says, "The only recognizable feature of hope is action." So ideas and concepts, hope and dreams are all good, but at some point we all have to get our hands dirty. "And so we find ourselves in our backyards...pulling carrots, tending bees and gathering grapes."

The book has a Bioregional Quiz, that helps you discover where you actually are. Among the questions is can you trace the water you drink from precipitation to tap? Describe the soil around your house. Were the stars out last night? The quiz helps the reader to start thinking, to start living more aware and curiously. Knowing our surroundings can make us better stewards of the places we call home. It's the concept of being the change we wish to see in the world. It starts with you (and me) and we can start small.

Here are a few themes from the book:

Simplify.
Use Less.
Share More.
Localize.
Diversify.
Do it Yourself.
Indigenate.
Emobdy.
Relate.
Forgive.
Listen and Observe.
Create and Renew.
and likely the most important, Begin.

Start where you are. Make mistakes. Begin again.

The book is filled with inspiring, practical, insightful knowledge and tools that we can use to change the way we live and more, to change the way we view our surroundings. I will be writing more as I work my way through the book and hope that you will join me on the journey to more sustainable living. If not for oursevles, for "the children who follow after us."

Eat.Live.Breath.Organic