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SEED BALLS -- NATURE AT WORK
Seed balls are a seed delivery system that protects seeds from drying out in the sun, getting eaten by birds and insects, or from being blown away by the wind. Additionally, the ingredients of a seed ball offer nutrients that the seed needs to germinate and grow properly.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1627/
"Native Americans . . . carried their precious seeds within tiny balls made of clay and soil and hardened in the sun. There was little loss of seeds since they were encased within the clay balls. When they arrived at their destination, the clay balls were placed wherever needed, and with the spring rains and summer sunshine, they grew where they were placed. A garden was planted . . ."
In 1973, a variation of this method of broadcasting seed was used to make 'seed bombs' to revitalize New York's Bowery neighborhood. (http://heavypetal.ca/tag/seedbomb/) Seed balls and bombs are also used by "Guerrilla gardeners." These are individuals that secretly plant various seeds in neglected public and private areas.
RECLAIMING BARREN GROUND
Seed balls are a convenient way to reclaim a bare patch of land that is arid, has an unpredictable rainfall, and where the soil is thin and compacted. This method can also be used to furnish an area with plants that attract beneficial insects, transforming it into a wild garden. Wildflower and herb seeds are well-suited this method. Seed balls offer the flexibility of scattering the balls on a sunny day and allowing nature to decide when it is best to start the seedl
"We use a combo of wild flower, mustards, radish seeds and wheat to create a haven for beneficial insects. We sow the balls in winter in our next-door neighbor's yard. They had a long piece of bare ground adjacent to our garden that was full of weeds and bermuda grass *yuck*."
(http://www.pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/gardening/seedballs.shtml)
HOW THEY WORK
When enough water penetrates a seed ball, the clay content softens, and holds the water close to the seed as it sprouts. The seedling then draws upon the other nutrients in the seed ball to establish itself in the soil. As the crop from one season matures, the seeds for the next season are formed into balls that can be scattered at harvest. Because much less seed is used than in conventional growing, there are fewer plants. But these plants are stronger and reportedly have a higher yield.
HOW TO MAKE SEED BALLS
1 * 3 * 5
Seed balls are made using a 1:3:5 formula -- 1 part seed mixture, 3 parts compost (manure or potting) soil, and 5 parts clay. For additional protection from insects, you can include a 10% addition of some insect repelling herbs such as red chili pepper, cayenne, catnip, pennyroyal or peppermint -- or a combination of them.
SEED BALL RECIPE:
1 part seed mix : wildflowers are best, avoid seeds of invasive plants.
3 parts dry organic compost . . . can blend manure or potting soil with this.
10 percent insect repelling herbs (wear gloves when using pepper).
MIX WELL
5 parts finely ground natural clay (terra cotta, gray or white)
MIX WELL
2 parts water (added gradually)
This can be done following these approximate measurements to make about 30 seed balls:
1/3 cup seed mix
3/4 cup compost
1 tbsp repellent herbs (wear gloves if using pepper)
1 1/4 cups clay
Mix the seeds into the dry compost by hand. Then add the clay to the mix and blend everything by hand until well-incorporated. Use gloves if you've added cayenne pepper to your mix. Mist water onto the mixture while stirring, just enough water to allow the mixture to bind together to the consistency of cookie dough.
Roll the moistened mixture into penny-sized round balls about the size of a marble. Once this is done, place the balls into the sun and allow them to dry completely for a day or two (24 to 48 hours).
When ready, the seed balls can be placed onto the ground you wish to seed. Place 1 ball per square foot of soil (9 balls per yard, 10 balls per meter). Consider bare spots that lack vegetation: driveways, exposed tree roots, etc. The process will begin with the first soaking rain . . . or as you decide to water them.
No-Till Gardening Methods
After years of springtime digging and plowing and turning soil in her large garden, I have a friend that has just learned the benefits of no-till gardening. She shook her head, amazed at how well the plants produced without the benefit of the backbreaking labor. "To think, all those years . . . and we could have had this much food WITHOUT all that digging!"
RUTH STOUT’S NO-WORK GARDEN
No-till gardening is not a new concept. It’s a concept that was documented by Ruth Stout in 1953 as she began to write about her adventures in gardening in articles published by Organic Gardening and Farming magazine. Twenty years later, these articles would be published in a bound volume called The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book (©1971 by Ruth Stout and Richard Clemence, ISBN 0-87857-000-4).
Ruth had become dependent upon having a neighbor plow her 40 by 60 foot plot before she could begin her spring planting. She decided to experiment with means and methods that required little outside assistance.
Ruth has maintained that most of the work associated with gardening – especially organic gardening – is unnecessary except for one thing: mulch. Permanent year-round mulch, in Ruth’s eyes, is the permanent year-round answer to all the garden chores – and anything else you expend energy on is surplus effort or just “playing.” (from the preface)
Ruth’s first chapter is entitled ‘Throw Away Your Spade and Hoe!’ She noticed that her asparagus plants had been growing without plowing for over 10 years. Rather than wait for someone to plow her garden, she decided to pull back enough of the fall mulch to make a trench and plant some seeds. She secured some “spoiled hay” from a farmer and used it as mulch to keep down the weeds, laying it 8 to 10 inches thick (not on top of the seeds). When the seedlings sprouted, she thinned the plants and pulled the mulch close to the plants. Ruth tossed decaying leaves and kitchen scraps (vegetables) into the garden and covered with the hay.
The pages are filled with her blend of blunt no-nonsense humor. She refutes her critics with reports of her harvest.
LASAGNA GARDENING
Yet another variation of the no-dig method is a process called Lasagna Gardening. Patricia Lanza introduced this method in her book Lasagna Gardening (©1998 by Patricia Lanza, ISBN 0-87596-962-3 – You can review the book online here: Google Book Review).
Rather than tilling up your garden area, the author recommends that you lay out several layers of wet newspaper or a sheet of damp cardboard over the area you wish to plant. On top of this, you lay several layers of organic material alternating with peat moss. She advocates having a compost pile to supply some of the layers of organic matter. You can also use mulched leaves, grass clippings barn litter, etc. You finish with a layer of peat moss and follow this with wood ash. This is left to ‘cook’ over the winter months.
The expense of the peat moss is one drawback to this method. If you already have an established garden site with enriched soil, you will likely find it unnecessary to do much more than lay down several layers of newspaper, some organic matter and a layer of wood ash.
“The great thing about lasagna gardening, though is that you don’t have to wait to plant – you can build the garden and plant it all in the same day. To make a planting hole in a new bed, simply pull the layers apart with your hands. Set the plant in the hole, pull the mulch back and around the roots, and water it thoroughly. To sow seeds in a newly built lasagna garden, spread fine compost or damp peat moss where the seeds are to go, then set the seeds on the surface. Sift more fine material to cover the seeds and press down. When the plants have two true leaves (the leaves that form after the first pair of “seed leaves”), pull some of the coarser mulch material around them to keep the soil moist and weed-free.”
Click below to view this video of Debi Pearl's lasagna garden.
Video courtesy of Pearl Outdoors
HAY BALE GARDENING
Another life-long gardener lives near me. He is determined to stay productive, even though he is in his mid-80s – although he has cut back to working only 55 hours per week at the local grocery.
The ground he gardens is hard-packed clay and rock – not my first choice for a garden plot. Undaunted, he decided that hay bale gardening was the way to go. Today, he has a thriving organic tomato garden that brings in a nice secondary income . . . all without digging or hoeing!
He told us that he starts with 8 layers of newspaper on bare ground. On top of the newspaper, he places the bales of hay. He has the rows two bales deep. He watches the trade papers and looks for bales of hay on sale. He prefers alfalfa bales. Lately, though, the price has been very high (more than $4 per bale).
An irrigation drip line is placed on top of the hay bales (where they butt together in the row) to water the plants.
To support the leggy tomato plants as they grow, he uses some old wire fencing that he places around the bales (they used to have horses and goats). The fencing is made up of grids about 4 inches square. The openings are large enough that it makes it easy to reach inside and tend the plants. If you were trying to protect your plants from squirrels or deer (as in corn), this open fencing wouldn't do the trick. The fencing is secured with the plastic cable zip ties that are used to hold electronic cords. These can be found cheaply at any hardware store.
Then he mixes up his special soil -- mushroom compost, Black Kow compost, organic potting soil and sphagnum moss and cricket poop as a fertilizer. He mixes his potting soil blend and places it into a large garbage container, closes the lid and lets it sit until he’s ready to use it.
It is interesting to note that the cricket poop was sent to the local extension service and analyzed. The results found it to be the perfect plant food. You can read about how Cricket Poo came to be used here: http://www.cricketpoo.com/cricket_poo_story.cfm
When it's time to plant, he uses a keyhole or wallboard saw (a small saw with one blade) and cuts an opening about the size of a quart jar into the bales. He his potting mixture into the hole and adds the tiny tomato plant.
For fertilizer, he makes a tea out of the cricket droppings, pouring about a cupful on each plant once or twice a week.
Apart from the initial setup, there is little expense. I would say that if you were growing low, bushy plants (as opposed to tomatoes, or climbing vines) the setup would be even less as you wouldn't need the wire support/fencing. . . . unless you needed a way to keep out critters.
When the garden is ready to be put to bed, the cable ties are cut and discarded, the bales opened and the ground is mulched with the decaying hay.
Maintaining the garden is a matter of looking over the rows each evening and picking the near-ripe tomatoes. He picks them when they aren't completely red; they pick up color as they mature. "Just don't ever put a tomato in the refrigerator," he said.
The advantages of no-till gardening are many. In this video Dr. Milton Ganyard, of Ganyard Hill Farm, shares with us the many advantages of no-till gardening and describes his own method.
If you are thinking that you haven't enough room or enough good soil to grow food for your family, watch this video about the Dervaes family from California. Little Homestead in the City
